Perspective.

Lately, I've been fairly obsessed with watching the television show Wicked Tuna on the National Geographic channel.  And if you aren't familiar, the entire premise behind Wicked Tuna is the reality of fishermen (and women) trying to catch massive bluefin tuna.  IF they catch one, then the whole boat crew stands around while a guy weighs it and determines the quality of the tuna before he can determine a per pound price.  Add in multiple boats seeking a limited supply of tuna and the drama of the fishing season providing the sole opportunity for these fishermen to earn a year's worth of paychecks and well, you can see why I'm hooked.  (See what I did there?  Hooked?  Fishing?  I KNOW.) And in every slightly formulaic episode, a crew experiences mechanical issues on the boat or sideswipes the bridge that leads to open water, or almost loses a man overboard in high seas.  Bluefin tuna are hard to catch and in short supply and if I've learned anything, it is that market price for seafood is completely legit.  $16 a pound for tuna caught moments after a boat almost capsizes and washes a crew into the sea seems fair, in my non-fishing opinion.

But here is why I really like the show...it gives me a little PJP perspective.  It is fairly easy (for me especially) to get a bit wrapped up in the PJP pie vortex.  In fact, we probably said the word "pie" more today than you said in all of 2014.  We are the very best at obsessing about what we do and how to do it better and how to do it on a grand scale.  (Have you heard of #World Pie Domination?)

That said, I'm also really great at waxing poetic about how tired I am and how this is super hard work...both mentally and physically.  And when I need to reschedule my full set of highlights for another week because we are busy with orders and I can't leave the shop, I will be VERY DRAMATIC, INDEED.

So a 42-minute, commercial free Wicked Tuna reminder that while what we did today at PJP was mentally and physically challenging, at no point did we almost die doing it is actually a very nice balance.  We had fun today.  I started my morning with a venti iced coffee.  We baked a lot of pie and sold a lot of pie.  We saw a lot of our friends and made quite a few new ones.  At my very lowest point, I wrote a check for federal tax withholding that made me want to call the IRS and yell a lot.

But at no point did I almost wash overboard.

Or crash my boat into a bridge in the wee hours of the morning.

Or stab myself with a fishing hook.

Or watch a $10,000 fish fight his way off my line.

So there's that.

Perspective.