Empty nesters once again

Well we helped Gerry move into his apartment Saturday. It is a nice 3 bedroom, 2 bath with a sunroom, in a gated swim, tennis community. We have mixed emotions about him moving. Of course you all know we would love to have the kids with us but it was time for Gerry to move on and stretch and grow. He is living with John who is one of the guys he taught with last year at Lithia Springs, Ryan who was one of his biggest rivals in high school (how time can change anything) you is a para-pro, and Ryan's girlfriend Ashley. I really wanted Gerry to buy a house instead of rent, but he plans on saving and buying next year.
Charlie had spoke with his boss about doing something other than food service at Disney. She (Nancy) got him in touch with another guy who told Charlie the best thing for him to do was to go back and finish school, they would give him "eligible for rehire" status, and then they could find him something more in line with what he ultimately wants to do if and when he came back. There has been over 250 students on the college program that have wanted to get out of their apartment leases and Charlie has been the only one approved, thanks to Nancy. So Charlie will be home next Friday or Saturday. He has been busy connecting with some of his contacts at Kennesaw and has already arranged free room and board, an internship and a job. All he has left is his thesis and an intership and he will graduate in December.
I don't know if any of you have seen Failure to Launch with the gorgeous Matthew McConaughey and the girl (her name escapes me) from Sex in the City (Sarah Jessica Parker) and Terry Bradshaw. Well once Matthew moved out Terry (his dad) turned his room into a naked room. NO we are not turning Gerry's room into a naked room, BUT it will sure be nice to be able to run around in our underwear or go naked when we want.
Well that is the update on our family - what is going on with the rest of you?
Love, Barbara

Cruising!!

OMG! Can I just say OMG! If we don't do Melissa's reunion thing, or even if we do, this is something we all need to save up for and do together! It is so amazing!! Rome was great. We went to mass on Sunday at St. Peter's Basillica. Amazing! Beautiful, the congregation included more than 66 members of clergy. And the singing was lovely! We stopped in Naples and we went up to Mt. Vesuvius volcano, steep steep climbing. Saw the ruins of Pompei. Then today we stopped at Dubrovnic and went Sea Kayaking. THAT was FUN!! And Mom, the tour guide there gave us his info, he heard me talking to the lady next to me about Medjugorge, they do tours there, so I'll see what that's about when I get home. Now we're on our way to Venice. 2 days there. OK, gotta go. We've taken tons of pictures (but nothing compared to Mary) and will have to post them when we get home. Gotta go, Pete's waiting for me with a bottle of champagne. Oh yes, he bought me a Tag watch. The most beautiful one and THE ONLY ONE like it on the boat. I went back in to have it sized and two of the guys were like, Oh, you're the one who got it!! Yippee!!! And Kathy, I must hear about your eyes!!! Love ya'll!

John and I just got back from Myrtle Beach. We had a great time. There is something for everyone there. Lots of things to do. We were just hanging out at the beach.

Reunited and it feels so good (to be sung aloud)

Hello All.
First- Happy Belated Birthday Christy. And I'll go ahead and throw in a double whammy and say Happy Belated Birthday Brittany because (even though I reminded myself ten times to call her) I didn't call the Brit-ster to send my love.

Second- Congratulations Linsey. Waking someone from a coma rocks! That's right up there with turning a gay man straight. I've done neither, and therefore I consider my life a waste thus far. So congratulations Linsey- you're done. You can die now.

Third- The family reunion. I don't want to start a fight with this suggestion, but how does everyone feel about just having the Official Braun Family Reunion in Cape Hatteras Labor Day Weekend of 2008? With that much notice, nobody will have an excuse! Plus, we can make lots of plans and invite extended family (like the Faiellos). This year, if we want to get together, we can probably do so for Tony's wedding. They haven't made any plans yet, but there's a possibility they will want to do a small reception. I hope I'm not speaking out of turn here, but I think Erin wants a beach wedding, and we can even use that time to scope out the Avon Cottages and what the beach has to offer. I just don't like the idea of calling it a family reunion when the whole family can't be there.

So how does that sound- Labor Day Weekend 2008- NO EXCUSES?!
Love you all,
Melissa

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHRISTY!!!

We Are FAAM-I-LY! (to be sung aloud)

So now that I've got this blogging thing down (I'm not computer-stupid, it just would NOT work for me for a while there) I will start posting about the family reunion.

From what I've gathered (from the posts and from my mother's gossip) this is what you all think so far/and my responses:
-We don't want to be hit by a hurricane or lose our money being evacuated.
--This is a logical concern and a good point. What if we did the reunion closer to late May/Early June when school is first out. The prices are the same until July 1st. The only pitfall is that we lose the Holiday Weekend, but perhaps that's not a problem?

-We don't want to wait a WHOLE year and a half.
--Be patient young grasshoppers. But, keep in mind that if we move things to June, we've solved the problem?

-Nancy needs lots of extra notice & doesn't know when Labor Day is AND she's lived over in Wales for just one year and she's begun spelling things funny (I quote "Labour").
--It would not be a Family Reunion without The Caltabianos, and so we can probably work around that. Just let us know how you feel about the new date range suggested and what dates/times work for you all.

-We like the idea of Cape Hatteras?
--My pitch: It's an in between since we're now scattered all over the world. The beaches are beautiful, and the houses are HUGE- which helps when you're looking at housing the BIG (yet beautiful) Braun Family. The Avon Cottages will let us spread out a little, but stay close together. They're reasonably priced (I think we'll be able to do housing for up to one week for about $100 each!) and they are RIGHT on the beach.

-You'd like to know more?
--Nearby is Ocracoke Island which the famous pirate Blackbeard was killed on. They have ferries running there, and it's supposed to be a fun place to visit. Lots of history there and the people still speak with an Old English Accent (Nancy can translate). I figure that would be a fun day trip for the kids & adults. Also, I encourage everyone to look into Geocaching- which I think would be a fun team game for us to do. Check out www.geocaching.com. I'm addicted... to the idea (I haven't actually done it yet). But I'm pretty sure we could have a good time with it. AND there is a small town where we can do shopping. With all the decks and the large living spaces, we'll be able to gather nightly. And don't forget the Beach!

So that's all. As soon as we settle on a date, we can start this thing for real (presuming my sales pitch of Cape Hatteras was convincing).
Love you all!

Carl in Iraq

Carl and his Navy buddies doing the work that the Army should be doing.

Family Reunion

What do you all think of Cape Hatteras in the Outer Banks for a reunion?
What do you think of next Labor Day?
Here is a link to some cottages there http://www.avoncottages.com/
Melissa is looking forward to responses