Headed back to OHare from our early Thanksgiving along with all the college kids headed home for theirs. Smells like one of them did quite a bit of partying last night.

One of my friends back in Winston-Salem, Kent, works with stained glass for a living. He's had many cool creations. The latest he had to show us was this box. When closed it can be turned every which way and the lid stays tight. In order to open it you twist the knob one way, lift up, twist the other way, and lift the lid off. I want one! He says he's also working on some more boxes, influenced by the Hellraiser puzzle box.

I got my waffle house breakfast finally! Waffle, bacon egg and cheese sandwich, and some of the best sweet tea in the world. Mmmm so good!

Waffle House 513 Jonestown rd Winston-Salem, NC

Due to geographical distances and schedules and fairness, brit and I are officially splitting the holidays this year. Thanksgiving belongs to my side, and her's gets christmas. We had our Thanksgiving dinner tonight as we are flying out on tuesday. Mom and her fiance, David, came over to dad's house to have dinner with dad, his wife (Jeanne Marie), the sister, britni, and I. Britni spent almost the entire day cooking with JM while I spent most of it cleaning dad's harddrive and running back and forth to the grocery store on his bike. Dinner was delicious and included a spinach and artichoke dip with pita chips, a butternut squash soup, and the typical thanksgiving fare: turkey, mashed potatos, green beans, stuffing, and pecan and apple pie for dessert. After dinner and wine we sat around and my sister and I held another "What we got away with as kids" session. It was nice to have the core family together as well as the new additions. :)

One of the tallest and most recognizable buildings in Winston-Salem has an odd shape to it...

Went down to the local grocery store to stock up on items so we can cook our "Thanksgiving dinner" tomorrow. You know you're in the country of NC when the grocery store has a "New Age" section in the soda aisle and NASCAR tins. Tossed in the obligatory kale pic too.

Britni and I went out to brunch with my mom and sister. Mom suggested a place called Mary's, Of Course. It has kind of a diner/small cafe feel to it with lots of local art on the walls made using unique materials. Several skate decks that had been snapped and then painted over, some nice glass blown pieces, and other various little trinkets and whatnot. A nice comfortable place without any attitude and very interesting. Their webpage has frames but we won't hold that against them :) Recommended for the atmosphere if nothing else.

Mary's Of Course 301 Brookstown Avenue Winston-Salem, NC 27101

Dad apparently uses any excuse he can get to take his new (and first) bike, a Honda Shadow 750 Ace, out on the road. This morning it was for half and half and frozen waffles.

After a sprint across Ohare with a 41.2lb monster of a bag that United wouldn't let us check because we were 6 minutes past the 45minute "bag check cutoff" we literally walked onto the plane and "checked" the bag on the tarmac. My vision was about as clear as these pics after that workout. But an uneventful flight, touchdown in Greensboro, picked up dad's car in the parking lot and now we're headed home with the aid of an oem gps unit and the sounds on XM radio ch82.

Finally got over to the new apartment to give it the walk through and nothing serious to report as far as problems. Place is a tad smaller but is a 2 floor townhouse with no upstairs neighbors and considerably cheaper. Not sure what the deal is with mirrors everywhere (huge one over the fireplace) but we're not complaining. Location is good too and will only add a few minutes to our daily commutes. We'll have to throw an aparment warming party soon.