200. And 21.

While Monday is usually the day of the week that Jeanne and I use to discuss PJP in terms of big goals and long-term plans, today found us making 200 baby pies for a customer who needed to pick them up this afternoon.  200 BABY PIES.  TODAY. And surprisingly enough, we were able to make the pies, bake the pies, and box the pies in just a little over five hours.  This either means that we have gotten faster at what we do or that we've gotten smarter about what we do...or more likely, a fortuitous combination of both faster and better.

A few observations about today...

1. We've gotten exceptionally better at preparing for large orders.  You may have thought you heard the four horsemen of the apocalypse signaling the end of time, but it was just Jeanne and I having 200 tins, 200 boxes, 200 Dutch Apple stickers, 25 brown kraft bags, and enough apples to make 200 baby pies without any visits to Hy-Vee.  A moment in PJP history, indeed.
2. We work seamlessly together.  Working in tandem without any glitches while still discussing how the person who broke Adele's heart really feels about her entire album "21" is really a skill.
3. Melting 18 pounds of butter for six batches of Dutch Apple topping will leave you sticky for HOURS.
4. And when you go to Staples while waiting for the pies to cool down to box and find a hunk of buttery brown sugar stuck to your forearm when checking out with packing tape, 500 post-it notes, and a box of highlighters, it will be just as embarrassing as you would expect.
5. But when the customer shows up and pies are cool and boxed and we aren't terror sweating and swearing at each other, it will feel like we are unstoppable on the way to #WorldPieDomination, if only for the briefest of moments.   We will happily take it, thanks.