Ok, the post today is taking place over at my mom's house here in Vacaville... the weather is beautiful and it is Thanksgiving....One of my favorite days of the year. I wont even comment about the traffic that we had to get through. There are a few people here and the house is beautiful as usual...I would like to just comment for a moment about my grandfather...I picked him up about 12:30 and he was definitely ready for the trip. I dont think he was ready for the hour and a half trip though....Traffic was horrendous. I am so glad that he rode with Mar and I. It will remain in my memory forever...I will write more tonight....So to every one...Have a wonderful Thanksgiving....

You have to try some Shirley Q Liquor if you are at work.....Just have an MP3 player installed and be sure you close the door cause you're gonna be laughing...Nothing like a little Shirley to get the day through.

Nothing like a little hot Peroshki in the morning....Good for ya. The drive wasnt so bad this morning, but I'd sure like to work closer to home. Yesterday it took me over an hour to get home.. Ok, I hear ya!!! Waaaa!!!. It is nice to have a job at this time...I know how fast they come and go. I've done " just about everything " But there are still a bunch of crappy jobs out there waiting for me...I'm thinking alot about this Thanksgiving....I really am so grateful for the past few years....I've been able to reconnect with my boys and make them a part of my day. No matter that it is a really small part. I know that compared to the past, it is a large part....They just want to be close...I dont think they have that knowledge of love, other that they like how they feel when they are close....I know that when I interact with Rylee, it seems that all my worries go away, and finally I am caught in the moment...the moments are beautiful....Enough about that for now...No use in getting all teary eyed at work... Last night consisted of "Shakespeare in Love" quite a good movie if you have someone there to hold on to....Check it out for yourself. I hope to go and see Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings soon....Probably not until next week. Well, I have to go back to work now...a piece of "Romeo and Juliet" by William Shakespeare.....Before he could entertain a conjecture, to imagine how these fatal accidents had fallen out, Juliet awoke out of her trance, and seeing the friar near her, she remembered the place where she was, and the occasion of her being there, and asked for Romeo, but the friar, hearing a noise, bade her come out of that place of death, and of unnatural sleep, for a greater power than they could contradict had thwarted their intents; and being frightened by the noise of people coming, he fled: but when Juliet saw the cup closed in her true love's hand, she guessed that poison had been the cause of his end, and she would have swallowed the dregs if any had been left, and she kissed his still warm lips to try if any poison yet did hang upon them; then hearing a nearer noise of people coming, she quickly unsheathed a dagger which she wore, and stabbing herself, died by her true Romeo's side.

Nice weekend in Calistoga I'd have to recommend the Petrified Forest for sure!!! Although its pricing was alot better for the buck, I still have to consider what it must cost to run these tourist sites. Ok, so we finally got out of the house around 12:00pm and started our short journey to Calistoga from Berkeley. Something like 70 miles away. The weather was cloudy with sunshine there in Berkeley and turned pretty dark near Vallejo. By the time that we got to Napa there was spots of sunshine. There is nothing like sticking your head out the window in Napa California saying yahoo because the sun has decided to join along. Going down 29, we finally got to the intersection for Calistoga. We, (Mar and I) decided that we should continue north to see the two things picked out for the day...One, the Petrified Forest, and two, the Old Faithful Geyser. Ok, so back to the drive...Taking a Left at Petrified Forest Drive, you go about 3 miles up and over some wooded areas, then you have to take a right to enter the parking area for the area. Five dollars for each adult is well spent when you see what it is that Petrified Forest truly is. I mean, any rock you pick up may be .......100 million years old....but to look at giant redwoods that 3.4 million years ago were just casually, very casually....biding there time...then Whammoooo!!! The top of the mountain blew up and leveled them. Burying them in volcanic ash...then throught the millenia, organic fiber was replaced by the silica....cell by cell, until now you have this totally cool replica, made of stone of an ancient redwood....kind've awe inspiring.....I took lots of pictures, so maybe later I will put some of them in here....Next we went to the "old faithful" geyser....all right....8 dollars to get in. Now, I know that I have ruined by tv, and the internet and everything else that is virtually free.....but I wasnt too excited about this one....It is all hidden in the middle of a bamboo stand and has a few Palm trees around...like those two species are native or something....Every twelve minutes, super heated water erupts from between this pile of rocks, into the air about 60 feet....fairly impressive if you have never seen it before....Then we were off to the Silverado trail back to Napa...I cant wait for thes pictures to develop cause I have to say, Mar was crazy!!! She would have me stop the car and then she would run into the grape field and take pictures, maybe I am too conditioned but I was worriied that someone would come out and say that we were under arrest for trespassing....can you believe that??? The views were beautiful because the grape vines had changed color to bright yellow down to the deepest red....with the green hills in the background...it was a wonder....Next year though I could recommend going about a week or two earlier....but that would mean that the hills would not be as bright green....After a few phot ops....we decided to stop in at the Bakers Square in Napa and have some turkey sandwich and a big ol slice of carrot cake....Back on the road we stopped at Sonya's to celebrate her birthday.....my o my....there are some really attractive Spanish women in this country...I know cause I am with one, but the ladies at the party made me smile...they are so "proper". Alright, at this point I am stuffed with food....time to go home and get ready for the early morning wakeup...Goodnight