Well Now.

Well now. A belated Merry Christmas.  Happy Holidays.  Or just a simple early Happy New Year's, if that is easier.

You might be wondering how the days prior to Christmas shook out at PJP Buttonwood.  In fact, Facebook emailed me a message earlier this afternoon to remind me that I hadn't posted on our Facebook page in SIX DAYS.  And trust me, Facebook, the six days were entirely justified.  We enjoyed nine straight days of 3 am start times and then finished out with a straight 28-hour baking schedule for Christmas Eve pickups.  From there, we moved straight into Christmas Eve and Christmas Day celebrations and a weekend of even more Christmas.

I suspicion that today is the first day in weeks that either of us have felt marginally like ourselves...likely because we've both logged some long hours of sleep.  But back to last week - I was so terribly proud of us that I cried on Thursday (or I could have been overly tired, either way).  By our 9 am open on Christmas Eve, we had each order finished and bagged and even had extra pie for sale.  The baking space was cleaned to Jeanne's standards.  We were freshly showered, with full makeup and hair.  It was completely zen and holiday tunes played softly in the background.  In short, it was exactly how I saw our very first Thanksgiving at PJP (and we all know how that shook out...it only took five or six major pie holidays to make it finally happen.)  It was all very Nora Ephron's Shop Around The Corner, thank you very much.  Finally.

How we got there is an entirely separate story.  Baking for 28 hours without stopping is just as you would expect it to be.  (If you want a glimpse, think one argument, a pie tin crisis, and finding corn syrup in your hair).

But whatever, because PROGRESS.  At least now we know that facing a major holiday with a significant number of pie orders and finishing ahead of schedule is possible, indeed.  And I'll take that knowledge and hold onto it with a death grip into 2016.  I mean, you would, wouldn't you?

And while we are on the topic of owning Christmas, remember that we are closed this week.  Between you and I, I've suffered Xanax-level anxiety over this decision.  But that said, living a little non-PJP focused life for a few days is already spurring some creativity that I lost around mid-November.  Also, I'm binging on Netflix's Making A Murderer and living my preferred sleep schedule of going to bed at 1 am...not getting up at 1 am.  On Jeanne's end, we gifted her with a Roku for Christmas.  She's previously only had Netflix on her computer and now that it is on her television...well, you'll be lucky to even see her in 2016 honestly.

And long story short, in pursuit of creativity, television, long hours of sleeping, and seeing the sweet faces at home that missed us during November and December, I'm making peace with the next five days.