Jeanne-ology: Making Pies & Bows

It’s Thursday and Jeanne surprised me by emailing me a blog post to share tonight. This week has been so hectic that I doubted she even remembered that today was Thursday. We’ve both worked a lot this week, so I know she’s exhausted. Let’s see what she has to say! Rebecca

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Hello, Thursday Readers! Another week has passed and it has been eventful! My granddaughter turned 16 on Tuesday. We had a big celebration and a wonderful dinner out. She wasn't expecting anything major, but her parents surprised her with a car! Rebecca had spent most of the day with her and keeping her busy. Jason and I went shopping for a large bow to put onto the top of the car. We went to Hobby Lobby and yes, they had big bows, but were mounted for a door hanger. They were $100.00 and way too expensive for a photo op. He was willing to pay that price, but I insisted that we could make our own bow. After yards of wide ribbon, he and I managed to make a pretty impressive large bow. Then we parked in front of her new car so that she couldn't see the car when she and Rebecca pulled into their driveway. It was fun seeing her surprised face and the shock of getting a car. It couldn't have gone any better. Of course she drove me around the area, and then mom and dad. (Rebecca editing to add: She wasn’t expecting a car because a used car is so hard to find right now and we told her it might take some time. She was so surprised that we was actually speechless and like me, she is never without words. She’s thrilled and I have mixed emotions - it will be much easier for her to go between home, school, and both PJPs to merchandise…but now I have to worry about her driving, other drivers, and all the rest. Gah.)

I had ordered her a gift and paid overnight shipping so that her gift would arrive on Tuesday, her birthday. The package never arrived in time. It came today! I was so angry that I had paid for overnight shipping (very expensive) and not be able to give her a gift on her birthday. I called the well known company to complain. Thankfully, they refunded the shipping charge. (Rebecca editing to add: She ordered from Bath and Body Works because she thought the location in the mall had gone out. It hasn’t, but it was a fair assumption since our mall is on the steady decline.)

We have been short on staff this week, of course, and that makes Rebecca and I’s schedule difficult. When you think the schedule will be good, someone calls in sick and everything is turned up side down. Scrambling to cover the position, Rebecca or Jason or I will need to pick up the slack. Hopefully, things will even out as we get closer to fall. With our new store opening and the fall holidays approaching, things will become more intense. I just hope I can schedule a day off somewhere in there! (Rebecca editing to add: I went in a fair number of mornings this week at 5 am simply so I could work alone and listen to my favorite podcasts. That is peak worn out entrepreneur.)

I am ready for cooler weather, I know you must feel the same. We all need a break from these high temperatures. Heck, the electric bill needs a break, also. (Rebecca editing to add: I’ve been hot all week. Our store has been hot all week.)

We have pie tasting on Friday and will be offering some new flavors, I will anxious to see the final likes and dislikes of each flavor. We will probably have one more pie tasting event in September and not restart again until January. So be on the look out for the September pie tasting event! (Rebecca editing to add: We have a lot of fall flavors on tomorrow’s tasting menu and we are super excited to see how they work out. The event sold out so quickly that we considered selling a second August date, but then we lost gumption (please see above reference to being short staffed and hot. And busy making car bows.)