Thursday, November 29, 2007

Thanksgiving Weekend

Okay, here goes: (Note: Pictures are from the internet as our digital camera is stinky. Picture here and below is courtesey of Uncle Jim and Aunt Beth's lovely working camera.)

Wednesday: Woke up sick as a dog and called in sick to work. Spent the rest of the day sleeping and slowly packing for our upcoming overnight drive to Fairfield. I gabbed all day to Matt about possibly canceling our trip but then I didn't like the idea of bailing on relatives and being alone on Thanksgiving. We were really looking forward to our trip, aside from Sicky McGee feeling, well, sicky.

Thursday: We left the kitties with plenty of food and water, and took off about 3:30am. We got on I-5 with zero traffic - I remember at one point there were just 4 cars on our side of the freeway. I didn't fall asleep until after breakfast at Jack in the Crack somewhere over on the other side of the San Fernando Mountains.

I woke up around 5:30am to Matt pulling over near some orchards and mumbling how he needed a nap before he could continue driving. Totally ok! No accidents please! So he pulled over and fell asleep. At this point I was wide awake, enjoying the peace of country life. I really wanted to go out and walk around but brrrrrrr!!!! It was cold. Wish I had my stinky camera, there were some great shots that would have made for good blogging.

We arrived in Fairfield, CA around 10am (I think?) exhausted and full of drive-thru food (blech). Our legs needed to be stretched and I just wanted to go to bed. I was completely impressed with Jim and Beth's home. It was beautiful! Sweeping views of Green Valley included nearby vineyards, beautiful homes, and farmland. Jim said it was his dream home and he would be sad to leave next year (he commutes 1.5 hours to Sonoma every day). They also had a hotub which Matt took advantage of every night.

After an hour of gabbing and catching up, Matt and I headed to bed, becoming unconcious almost immediately. I slept as long as possible because I was feeling worse. I made myself respectable and headed out to the family room full of people and more arriving by the minute. (Family tree: Jim is Matt's Uncle on his mom's side, Beth is Aunt by marriage, and everyone else was from Beth's side of the family). I think there must have been 20 people over for dinner and it was really fun to get to know all of these new faces. I think my favorite guest was Beth's mom, Grandma Peg. She was a hoot and such a kind woman. She made me realize how much I missed having a grandma in my life. She also made me think about how you can never be too old to travel - she is in her 80's and going to Egypt next year!

Around 7:30 I had started to fade, and by 8:00 Grandma Peg told me for the third time to go to bed. I obeyed, and fell into a deep sleep, waking up only to take care of cold related issues.

Friday: I woke up feeling much better, and Matt felt very relaxed. We hadn't watched TV, checked our email, or even listened to a radio in over a day. A life without technology - it was great! After some discussion over breakfast (homemade oatmeal, pears, and tea), we decided Napa Wine Country sounded like the best plan. Low key, close by, and of course, wine! We had so much fun going in and out of Beth's favorite stores, including a little clothing boutique where I was allowed to indulge in a new pair of jeans, a scarf, and a pair of earrings. Matt and Jim tried on a few hats...We ended our day in Napa with a great dinner at Taylor's Refresher which included yummy garlic fries. When we got home, Jim and Matt hit the hot tub while Beth and I talked and read books by the fireplace. We can't wait to go back and try out the Napa Wine Train next time!

More details to come on our day in San Francisco - I need to get back to work!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great picture of you and Matt! Sounds like a great Thanksgiving, other than being sick.

Cindy said...

The Napa Wine Train sounds like so much fun!

And, yes, that is an awesome picture of you and Matt! Looks like those yoga lessons are starting to pay off.

EGV said...

What is the deal with all the thanksgiving illnesses. My brother was as sick as the proverbial dog and then, due I suspect to the cloud of pollution China calls "air" I went down too. I slept for 20 hours yesterday. I haven't done that since I almost died of a respiratory infection. Man, this is why people used to think that colds were little demons that were corrupting your body.

Anonymous said...

Sounds like you guys had a MUCH better T-giving than we did in Vegas. We need to go up there next year.