Who The Heck Knows

So today, we were marginally busy at PJP. And that’s fine…it’s just that usually this is the time of year, we are preparing to bake 3,000 tarts and dozens of cookies for Roots and Blues. We also usually have all sorts of fun projects going on for tailgating and other fall activities, so regular busy just feels marginally busy. And here is how I know we are all antsy for some normal: today I received SEVEN inquiries about ordering for Thanksgiving. And one for Christmas. Gulp.

It’s well documented that Thanksgiving at PJP brings me ALL the emotions. And honestly, I’ve been avoiding thinking about our biggest day of the year in a pandemic. Because actually, will it be our biggest day? Will people travel? Will they stay home? Will they gather with extended family and close friends? Are we not supposed to do that? Do turkeys get COVID? I don’t think any of us quite know just yet. Terrifying.

And when it comes to the PJP plan…do we offer more flavor choices on the assumption we won’t be quite as busy as usual? Or do we offer less flavors to accommodate even MORE orders because people are so desperate to celebrate with their loved ones and enjoy a sense of normalcy? WHO THE HECK KNOWS.

We’ve also discussed all sorts of completely crazy pie pickup ideas to avoid too many people in our space at one time. (I live in fear of the health department…I don’t want to mess up and have eight customers in the foyer instead of the hypothetical six the health department decides to allow in and then get shut down an hour into a 2,000 pie pickup scenario. Seriously.). A little part of me looks out our front windows at the massive shipping container that Hyvee uses for online grocery pickup and is wistfully jealous. Of course, we don’t have a shipping container, a place to put one, or the bravado needed to welcome people to our shipping container pickup location. (Well, we could probably muster that last part up. Ahem.)

And while I’m on a panic spiral, let us discuss an order I received today for Christmas. Christmas morning. 10 am pickup. Huh.

We have a lot of decisions to make before our self-imposed October 1st deadline. A holiday morning 10 am pickup is a pretty simple decision. The rest though? GAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. I wonder how much shipping containers cost?