Holy Wah! Escanaba was GREAT, eh!

For those of you able to attend the Escanaba in Da Moonlight performance on Thursday night: Thank you! For those unable to attend, I have to tell you, you missed an incredible night filled with fantastic entertainment. I hate to admit, but I wasn't quite expecting the quality of performance that was presented. By intermission my cheeks hurt from laughing so hard. It felt so good to be able to laugh out loud next to Johnny and surrounded by so many of our friends. They even challenged Johnny to chug some of their leftover "Mooseball Milkshake" after the performance. You'll have to ask Johnny about the "protein chunks" some time.

And to Stephanie Stowe Salisbury: Thanks from the heart of our bottoms and the bottoms of our hearts. This was just exactly what we needed at just the right time. You and all of the actors/actress created something special on stage that we will not soon forget. "Holy Wah!"

Next in line for The Fighting Toad event calendar is the golf outing, Saturday, October 10th. I may start sounding like a broken record here, but WOW are there a lot of prizes. Seriously, even if you don't golf you should come out to Hampshire Country Club just for the raffle. I'm not sure of the total, but I know for sure there are 6 or 7 prizes with values over $500!

And if you do golf you really need to get your registration sent in soon (or at least call to reserve your spot). As of Thursday there were already 45 teams signed up (!) and we have been told that the course only has enough golf carts to accommodate 60 teams. So, quick like a bunny, send in your registration.

I would love to post a list of all the prizes being offered, but I don't want to ruin the surprise. I guess you'll just have to join us that day to find out! It is still not too late to offer your volunteer services. Please call Larry Larson or email him (see info on the registration form) if you are interested in helping on October 10th.

The Brawley Family Fish Fry is also fast approaching. I have had so many friends from out of town call to let us know they will be joining us. I can't tell you how excited that makes me!

The BFFF will be at the Eagle's Lodge in downtown Niles (across from the Riverfront Cafe) from 12 noon on Friday, October 16th, until 8 pm. We had to extend the hours due to expected high numbers of people. Evidently, Johnny Brawley knows a lot of people around here that like to eat fish! We are looking for volunteers for this event as well. If you are willing to help out, please call my wonderful crazy MIL, Ginger, and she will assign you a task and a time. Please reach her by calling 269-683-9001. There will be additional prizes raffled off at this event as well.

I'm going to need a vacation when all of these events are finished! We are really being kept busy by all of this stuff! But it is a happy kind of busy, so we really don't mind.

Monday is a big day. Johnny is a bit anxious about what the new dose of chemo will do to him and how his body will respond. I just hope the Emend will still hold the nausea/vomiting in check for him. Just in case it doesn't, I've been reading up on some other options (meds) for nausea control. There are several tricks still left for us to try, and I am not afraid to call the office and ask for more help if Johnny needs it.

I am just happy that after treatment on Monday we will be half way through with chemo and should start to look for surgeons (I would think, anyway). I think it is kinda crappy that my birthday (WOOT!) has to be spent worrying about Johnny's new chemo dose, but I just feel like this will entitle me to a nice warm tropical birthday celebration next year when Johnny has officially kicked the booty of this nastiness we call cancer.

Side note about my birthday: On Monday I will be 42. Funny thing is, I thought I was going to be 43. At some point during this past year, I started saying that I was 42 and evidently I believed myself enough to confuse the be-jeebies out of me when my birthday started approaching. I said something about being 43 not too long ago to Johnny, and he said, "I'm 43, you have to be 42." Hey, he's right! What a pleasant surprise, I get to be 42 all over again!

I hope that because I haven't been preaching about prayer that nobody has been taking a break from it. If you have, that's OK but please start up again. I want Monday to be as smooth as possible for Johnny and I would love it if the nausea and vomiting don't become an issue with the new dosage.

Thanks for keeping our whole family in your prayers. We don't take it lightly, believe me. Prayer is some powerful stuff, people, and we want to put it to good use on Johnny. Pray along with me, will you?