Thanks, sister.

As of this evening, Jeanne and I will have logged around 61 hours at PJP this week.  And based on a few big projects on tap for the next two days, I would bet our sum total for the week will cap about 92 hours when 1 pm on Saturday rolls around and we close for the weekend.  (An all-nighter tomorrow night is inevitable to complete an order due on Saturday morning.  You would think all-nighters get easier the more often you do them, but...spoiler alert, they don't.)

And I don't mention this for any sympathy, but more as a placeholder in the PJP history books of just how hard it is to make a business prosper and grow.  (And anyone who has ever been in business for themselves just said "AMEN, SISTER" out loud because the struggle is so very real.)  I hope that when we achieve World Pie Domination, I don't forget how tired we both feel right now.  It is humbling and a bit overwhelming, actually...and I sort of like it, because that is what keeps all of this real.

I was talking with someone today who asked me to think a bit and identify what I love most about PJP.  And honestly, his question threw me a bit.  My gut reaction was well, EVERYTHING.  I love everything about PJP.  (Except for the corn syrup, the dishwasher, the occasionally backordered baby pie boxes, and the laundry list of items that regularly give me righteous indignation.  Ahem).  But then I realized that what I love most about PJP is that she consistently asks us to be stronger and more determined women.

Neither Jeanne nor I do well when we aren't challenged to our fullest extent and PJP knows that well.  Just when we start to relax a bit, she brings us more and asks us to work harder and push ourselves in new ways...and for that, she is my favorite.  We are different women than two years ago tonight (when we were just a few weeks shy of opening our doors for the first time).  We are different in all of the best ways (except for the undereye circles) and we owe that to PJP and her consistent demands that we bring our best every single day, every single week...even when the work week is 90 hours long and we are sort of over it all.

So, PJP, we owe you.  You believe in us enough to know that we will muster enough strength to push through whatever is required of us to make World Pie Domination a reality.  So thanks, sister.  You really are the best.