finally took the plunge and changed my valve cover gaskets. the rear 3 plug boots were all covered in oil so in hoping this fixes my leak.
took it for a quick drive around, parked it, came back found the same 3 inch round puddle ive been seeing lately. put it up on the ramps and it was still pretty dry from when i wiped it down a few days ago, as im wiping the top of the trans from underneath i get wet oil, clean it up best i can, let it sit for a while, come back and i see a oil trial from the top of the trans, so i hope that the old covers were leaking on top of the trans and just left it all wet.
i parked in a spot i dont park in, the ground was clean where i parked, the waiting game begins.
EDIT: i found no need to loosen up the alt bracket to get the rear valve cover off. from info i saw in a few threads.