December 18. Sunday Night.

Hi Journey.

Good weekend. No matter what Dakota's words, just hearing her voice this weekend reassured me. Rang her up right after I got home from teaching Sunday school. (Yes, J, Tee and Jack are all practiced up for their part in the Nativity next weekend.)

Felt like sleeping in all day yesterday. Still not completely caught up on shut-eye, yet, but much better than last week.

Dakota maintains she's not worried about me, but that's smoke. She offered to shift her Christmas plans to stay in Manhattan and lunch with me next weekend rather than fly back to Chicago to hook up with her cousins for the Holiday. These are some of her favorite cousins from her grammar school days, and the extended family all flies in just every-other year for Christmas. Dakota is a rare friend.

I told her the fire's effects are well under control by now. Shelly and Joni spent most of the day Friday on the phone to our suppliers. We'll have replacement swatches DHL'd in by the end of this week. Dana and Vivian came in and worked yesterday finishing up our Christmas cards and returning phone calls to clients who had rang up on Thursday and Friday. Three called up on Thursday, checking in. But 15 phoned on Friday, making sure we were OK. I couldn't believe it, Journey. It floored me that so many clients cared. Most told us they waited until Friday to make sure we were alright and asked if there was anything we could do.

Not one called up to make sure that their project was still on schedule. Guess that's a testament to the type of clients we have as well as the type of image we have. People just know we will somehow get the job done.

Dakota is wicked, though. She thought maybe I could milk some free publicity out of the fire. And she shamelessly asked me if any of the girls had scored a phone number from a firefighter.

Truth be told, Journey, I think one of them slipped Dana his number. But it's hard to be sure. I wasn't there, but I overheard Shelly teasing her about it yesterday when they were finishing up addressing the last of the Christmas cards. I did see Dana blush, but there's no use pushing it. Whatever else I am, I am the boss, and there is nothing to gain from prying into their personal lives.

Overall not a bad weekend. In some ways the fire has bonded those of us at the shop together. Strength and camaraderie can arise from adversity, and I saw plenty of that yesterday at the shop. Even Vivian seemed more than happy to pitch in and help out with some extra duties. She was vacuumed the carpets and wiped down the walls in both the store room and Tethered Helium with ammonia

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