CheriGENERAL

Finally, I’ve got some new pictures!
It’s Thursday…which means it’s Girls Night In!
Jackie showed me how to use Picasa for blogging my pics…it’s easy and fun!
Thanks for helping me Jackie…you are a really good teacher!

I really have been busy….here’s the scoop….

Saturday, June 10
Nate’s graduation open house – noon – 3pm
Guests include: my mom and her husband, my sister Deedee and husband Scott and their 3 girls, my sister Amy and her husband Dirk and their 4 kids, Kirk’s sister, Sandy and her husband Bob, and Kirk’s Dad. Amy, Dirk and the kids stayed here at the house along with Dee’s girls. Everyone else stayed at a nearby hotel.
Served everyone dinner. Cara drives to friends house in cities to be near airport.

Sunday, June 11
A big birthday BREAKFAST celebration for Kirk’s dad’s 75th b’day. Mom/Tom, Dee and family all head back home. Cara flies out of MSP airport to Hilton Head, SC. Shopping with Amy, Sandy, and Danae at TJ Maxx…kids swim, eat more.
Monday, June 12:
Breakfast, Swim, Lunch,
Dad, Sandy, Bob, Amy, Dirk and kids leave.
Kirk and Cheri drive to Minneapolis
to pick up the car Cara drove to her friend’s house
(friend drove her to airport at 4:30 am.)

Tuesday, June 13
Day off to recouperate and clean up.
Wednesday, June 14 – Friday June 16
Back to work

Saturday, June 17
Nate’s 19th Birthday….dinner, ice cream, pack.
Sunday, June 18:
Nate and Danae leave for Washington, DC for a missions trip with church.
They are working in homeless shelters, food banks, and talking with the homeless on the streets of DC. (They called tonight…sounds like a very interesting week…and insightful for them. Danae said they took toiletries to some homeless in the parks and talked with them, asking them about their stories, etc. Sounds like they really liked the experience…seeing the homeless as people with stories and souls.)

For Cara….last week was a vacation/nanny job all in one.
Her expenses were paid and she was paid for the week to hang with about 5 middle school age kids. There was plenty of time off too. The people that hired her are the couple that she will be living with in Cincinnati…..

Which segues into the next chapter…..
Cara is heading to Cincinnati to attend The Christ College of Nursing and Health Sciences. She leaves in mid-August to start nursing school. She will be living with Jerry and Patty Kirk…a wonderful couple in their 70’s. Cara was hooked up with them by their daughter who she met at camp. Cara is also friends with the Kirk’s grandchildren….and after spending a week at Hilton Head with nearly all the family (5 children and 26 grandchildren) she is like one of the family now!

So….this past Sunday,
Nate and Danae leave for DC and Kirk and I drive to Cincinnati…
11 straight hours in the car (but who’s counting??)
Monday
We went with Cara to register for classes at the school and get a tour, then head to a mall for Cara to see about working at the GAP in the fall (looks promising)….we have lunch…and get back in the car…less than 24 hours after arriving in OH.
DRIVE to Elgin, IL …via sitting in traffic on the tollway in IN/IL for 3 hours…get to my sister, Amy’s house and hop in the car with her and the kids for a 30 minute drive to my other sister, Deedee’s house in Crystal Lake (she moved there about 3 weeks ago). We get pizza, have fun, talk, catch up, get a tour of the new place (very NICE) play with kids ..then back to Amy & Dirk’s and go to bed….then the drive back to MN. My butt hurt SO bad from all the sitting!
Get home around 5:30 pm….unpack and hoe the garden!
Wednesday
Back to work, then a work dinner til 9,
quick swim in the pool and hot tub soak, then bedtime.

Thursday (today)
Work til 2pm, Ladies night, blog…hooray!
Tomorrow (Friday): Off work! Yippee!
Now for some wonderful relaxing!
Time for bed now….this is the worlds longest blog….at least for me! Goodnight.