The One in Which I Have a Dream

(Hint: Scroll down to the update if you'd rather not reminisce about last year.)
♬ "I had a dream..."🎶

Shameful admission on the get-go: MOST sensible adults associate that phrase with Martin Luther King, Jr., but I've more than proven myself to be a not-so-sensible adult...
So, I sing this phrase (mostly in my head) every time I think of it, like Ethel Merman in Gypsy, singing "Everything's Coming Up Roses"...

You don't know it? You heathens!

 I googled that sh-sh-sh-ssssstuff....I feel that it would be inappropriate to use the real "s" word when talking about Ethel Merman because she is a Dame or something, isn't she? If she isn't, she should be...and damned if she isn't on youtube!

Everything's Coming Up Roses!

If you haven't ever seen the play, it's about an Uber Stage Mom who eventually pushes her "less talented" daughter into a life of stripping. That's an oversimplification of the plot, but it's a real tear-jerker. Trust me. Not AT ALL like "Dance Moms". Except possibly the stripper part.

AS I was saying...before my brain took a little bird walk...(#freepass)
I had a dream. Steven and I had a dream.

For the better part of 18 years, Steven has been commuting to Livermore while we've lived in San Jose, It's  a 40- 45 minute commute (if there's no traffic). Of course, some people have it a lot worse in the Bay Area. I get that.  But it still sucks. And Harvest Time is a whole 'nother dimension. It calls for 17 hour days and very little sleep.

But we were fully ensconced in the San Jose community - I have been working here, and it seemed like we always had at least one kid in high school here. It seemed cruel to have them switch schools in that very "delicate" time in their lives.

Now, we were ready to move to Livermore. We even had a plan.  August 2015.  Kids are (mostly) out of the house, grandbaby on the way...The two of us and our two rescue doggies on some property, a stone's throw from downtown Livermore (which is really cute!) and the winery. Eventually, we wanted to live on vineyard property, make and sell the wine right there.

Then life threw us a curve ball.

THANKS, LIFE! (said in a really snotty, sarcastic way. Think: Mean Girls.)

But what Steven and I were talking about on our daily walk yesterday (I told you sometimes we talk about BIG stuff!)....is that if that was really our dream...It is STILL our dream.

But there's nothing like having a potentially deadly illness to wake a person up, and shake them around, and say, "If not now, when????"

There are a lot of trite, bullshitty quote things about overcoming challenges on the interwebs. (Pinterest practically has the market cornered, so don't bother investing), but I happen to like this one:

"The positive thinker sees the invisible, 

feels the intangible, 

and achieves the impossible."

So, this our dream, our vision (as I see it right now):  

Family events at the winery

A table to share good wine and food with our family and friends.

Adirondack chairs overlooking the vineyard are not optional. I don't know why. I love them.

Walks with the puppies. And don't tell Capi that she's not "winery dog material". I'll cut you.

Steven has another another vision of driving his grandbabies on a John Deere, but this was the best that I could come up with:

I think it is an actual John Deere baby stroller???

I challenge Steven to do the same - really envision what we want - and then we make that mother fucker happen! 

<Dorky high fives!!!!>

I love you, Schmoopy! <-- I'm pretty sure this sounds even better when we're sitting in Adirondack chairs.
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Update - 9/5/15 This is happening! We are packing and moving to Livermore within the next two weeks! We've already started to move stuff into the garage up there! Very exciting times! We both can't wait until we can be a part of the Livermore community full-time. And just in time for Harvest '15! The whites are in, and the reds will begin being picked within the next three weeks, according to Schmoopy.

In case you haven't heard, our new place will be right in the middle of Ghielmetti Vineyard, which will make it much more convenient for Steven to manage. And we may not have The Hill to walk around, but instead, we'll have rows and rows of vines. 

Here's a sneak peek at the view out the back of our new house:

The doggy fence needs some work, and we'll have to figure out where the Adirondack chairs belong!

Stay tuned, Livermore peeps because we plan to have an open house soon - with the understanding that we're still moving in, so it will probably still be disaster. But you know what my motto is: Don't Wait! Live NOW!  

We will also be celebrating my Cancerversary! It's just a few short weeks until it's been a YEAR since my surgery and diagnosis (September 24, 2014). Unfortunately, we're going to have to wait a few weeks though, because I'm scheduled for chemo that week. Wheeeee! Hey, I'm still here, and that's something to celebrate, right?!