A job, or something like it

"Be careful what you ask for," was what the winery owner said to me Saturday night, at the end of a wonderful wine dinner we'd attended.  There had been fantastic food, dancing, and great company. In fact, it was so much fun that after most of the crowd had cleared out, purely out of habit I picked up a bar towel and began helping dry wine glasses as they came out of the industrial dishwasher behind the tasting room bar.  I guess you never stop being a Mom.  When the party is over and all the kids go home, you hang around to help clean up, even if it wasn't your party.  It's what we do.

And that was somewhere during that time that mentioned I really thought it would be fun to work at the winery, pouring for the guests and helping out with events, and that was when the owner told me to be careful what I asked for, saying he could pencil me in on the staffing schedule if I really wanted to work there.

But it had been a crazy night with much wine, and so I honestly was not sure if he was serious or not, until we went back today for brunch and the topic came up again ... the opportunity to work there, in exchange for wine, and help them out when they expected a busy day.  And if I enjoyed it, to eventually be put on a regular salary.

I jumped at the chance, and so next weekend I will spend Saturday and Sunday getting educated about the wines and learning the art of pouring.  I'm thrilled beyond words to finally be able to try my hand at this, to share my love for great wine with visitors from near and far and hear their stories, or answer their questions.

I'd be lying if I told you I'm not nervous about this new endeavor; it's nothing close to what I've done before, although I tend to believe my first career as a public relations person, my second as a teacher and my third as a journalist will stand me in good stead as far as meeting new people and remembering talking points about each wine, but time will tell.

Until then, I'm excited to check something off my bucket list that I've had on it since moving here.  When people asked if I was going to continue writing when I moved here, I told them no, I was going to work in a beautiful winery and make people happy all day long by pouring them wonderful wines.

Soon there will be a check in the box next to that goal!