Mary went into a shop, Eco Chic Baby, to drop off her resume. She ended up with an interview, and a job! This is in addition to her job at Fleet Feet running store, where she works retail as well as leading a running group. She is also a yoga instructor at In Shape, which is a gorgeous brand new fitness club. We were blessed to get to view one of her classes (actually, Craig partnered with her for her first partner yoga class). He also took a gentle yoga class with her the night before. Her new position will be teaching prenatal stretch and strengthening for all three trimesters. She is so excited about this!
After that, we walked around town, to a coffee shop, and to the library. The whole town is bursting with the fragrance of rosemary..hedges lining everything were gorgeous full rosemary bushes.
We grabbed groceries for dinner, and headed home for a relaxing evenign together. Christopher arrived home late Saturday night from Army duty. He was so excited to see us, and it was such a joy to see his happy face!
Early Sunday morning, I awoke to the sound of birds, but different birds. Kind of like the feeling of "I'm not in Kansas anymore". It is amazing how familiar, and yet different, the bird songs can be. Mary was out of the house by 5:30 am, because she was leading a 20 mile run with her running club from Fleet Feet, one of her employers. She ran all through the hills surrounding Vacaville. After lunch, we jumped in the car and drove to Napa Valley! It took my breath away! I have tried imagine what this would be like, but there is no way my imagination could touch the beauty in this gorgeous area.
We had decided to tour the Castle Winery-Castello di Amorosa (The Castle of LOVE). The name thrilled Mary especially...since she calls everything...
The ____ of love. She is very lovey lol It was hard to pinpoint ONE winery to spend the afternoon at, but they had never been here either, so the Love Castle won.
It was only about an hour's drive from Chris and Mary's front door. We walked around the castle, and if you know Chris and Mary, you know how much fun this was. They are F U N!
We finished up with a wine tasting downstairs in the cellar. Now, I was a bit apprehensive about this for myself, as I react badly to red wine, but was dying to taste everything. The GOOD news is, I am not used to GOOD wine, which doesn't use sulfites, because the tanning agent in the barrels is all the preservative they need. So, I was part of the gang, and got to sample 5 of the best wines I have ever tasted. The kids have much more experience at this, but let me tell, Craig is a natural! It was great! I did not have any bad reaction at all! Our server was a friendly young man from South Italy, and he was able to give some advice to the kids regarding where to visit over there, as they are planning a trip for next summer.
One of the other servers was a woman also married 27 years, who got to chatting with us about New Jersey etc. Someone from Toms River had been standing in our spot the day before. We neded up telling her about Christopher being an Army Reservist, and also mentioned our dear friends, the Petersons, who died in Flight 93 (yesterday was the 10th anniversary of 9/11, and I was acutely aware of that alld ay long). She got very choked up, and told us she was compeled to give us something. She ran to her office and came back with a cd that she had made soon after 9/11, with a song that she had written in memory , and to raise donations for the firefighters' families. She wanted us to have a copy. She was such a sweet woman.
We walked the grounds a bit, and then headed back through the valley to St. Helena. We had coffee and treats at "Model Bakery" and then walked down to "Woodhouse Chocolate", which makes it's delicacies right there in Napa Valley. Craig loved this.
Then we headed back to Vacaville and had dinner at The Olive Garden...delicious!
After that, we headed home to watch a movie, and attempted to keep our eyes open through the whole thing. Jet Lag is no joke! I am still feeling it!
My thoughts yesterday were of family and friends, and what we have to be thankful for....we did lose so much that day 10 years ago, but we cannot lose memories, relationships, or our faith. That day, 10 years ago, I spent with dear friends and my family, and it was precious, and terrible, all at once. The world really did seem to stop turning. But, eventually you begin to move forward again. As respectful and honoring as folks are out here in Northern California, they do not have the understanding of the feeling of that bond we Northeasterners formed that day...we stood as one, didnt we? Our whole country did, but we who saw the smoke, and had to attend the funerals, and memorial services, experienced the raw pain. Not to mention those were there in the city, and saw the horror firsthand. I wasn't, but I know those who were. I didn't lose a husband, or a child. But I know those who did. I lost 2 friends, and my comfort is in knowing they are with the Lord. Other than that, there is no comfort. But we have the knowledge that our God is sovereign, and that He is in control even when it feels momentarily that evil has won. It did NOT win, and never will. We have to trust the LORD, who knows the big picture--it is so easy to get caught in the trauma of the small picture. We have to remind each other, and ourselves, of this daily. Katy spent yesterday in her beloved NYC yesterday, and I am sure that she was glad she did. We were blessed to speak with her early in the day, and she also was pondering these things in her heart. So thankful for God's blessings, and comfort. And again, so thankful for all the firefighters, police, service men and women, first responders, religious leaders, victims, and citizen heroes who gave their ALL that day-figuratively and literally. I do remember...we all remember...
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