Sale, Crashes and Thoughts

I know it has been over a week since I put anything on the blog, I'm still adjusting to life with a blog. This week has been somewhat eventful in a non-dramatic way.

Last week was my daughter's 12th birthday. I took the day off and we went shopping. She was so excited that it was just the two of us. She's my middle child and never feels we have enough "alone" time. She was in heaven, shopping for her only. Didn't buy anything for anyone else. The day was all about her. (OK, after lunch I did go to Costco to get a refrigerator for the winery.) We had lunch at the Olive Garden, her choice, and she ate bread sticks, salad and lasagna and had a huge glass of raspberry lemonade. She ate every bite of her lunch. We even got a free dessert because the assistant manager said our lunch took too long. We had a great day!

Monday I went to work and continued to work on our label printing situation. Most of them are approved and ready to go. A couple are lagging behind. They all need to be ready before printing can begin. Finally got a .jpg image to send to the ttb (government agency in charge of labeling laws) and the Internet is so slow I kept getting disconnected. I finally sent the file to my house where I have satellite internet. Got it taken care of.

Because it was spring break and the last week of our March warehouse sale, we were open noon until 5 PM. I met a lot of people that were travelling and several people who were in Oregon visiting their college student kids. The weather was so crazy here I told them to come back this summer and visit us. Being open for tasting and trying to get paperwork done is not an easy task. My papers on the desk are piling up fast...Monday is always coming!

I know most people think there is a lot of romance involved with wine making, I'm here to say there is a lot of work and clean up. Clean, clean, clean, just ask Rob what he does 50% of the time at the winery, I bet he will say "clean things". He also tops barrels, moves wine, moves barrels, restocks shelves, moves pallets of wine around and is always so nice when I ask him to do one more little thing for me! He is truly worth his weight in gold around the winery. He is a quiet, humble man who is always thinking. He comes up with great ideas, some off the wall, some perfect. If you enjoy our wines, when you see Rob thank him and give him a pat on the back.

About the crashes, we had a freak accident in the winery yesterday. Stuff gets moved around all the time, pallets of wine, corks, barrels, shipping boxes and empty glass. During a routine moving of wine about 4 cases fell off. OOOPS! When Rob came into the tasting room I could tell something was wrong. He took me back to show me what happened. There it was, Malbec running out of boxes. It looks a lot like blood running out when you have that much in one place. I think we only ended up losing 12-18 bottles. It took about an hour to clean up the mess, what fun!

My thoughts. Yesterday afternoon was rough, I didn't realize how much until I got into the shower and just cried. I'm not big on crying but it just came. Rob was upset about the Malbec accident, David was upset about a glass order, I was trying to get the ttb thing worked out and trying to show our customers a good time. I guess it all came down when I was showering. Then I started thinking about why. I still feel like an outsider sometimes. What do I expect? I'm the daughter of the owners, I have no experience in the wine business, so what gives me the right to ask certain things or give my opinion? I am the low man on the totem pole. I don't always do the right things, choose the right wines and say the right things (or at least pronounce them correctly). I am not cultured, well travelled, well spoken or well to do. This business is a hard one. Is it OK to just be a country girl with simple tastes? To love wine, even when it isn't the "right" one? To visit downtown Eugene only when it is absolutely necessary? Maybe this is just what it feels like to have a new job and adjust. I love my job, sometimes I'm not sure if I'm the right person for it. Maybe yesterday still hasn't worn off.

I need to get on with my Saturday. I will go to Eugene and cheer myself up!