My crazy chaotic week...

This is what happens when your 12 year old is home from school all week, sick ...

And your husband is out of town.

And you have deadlines that have you not only putting in extra hours, but bringing work home so your evenings are filled with other things besides taking care of the domestic requirements... all while trying to keep your commitment to the boot camp program you paid $125 for AND run hilly-nilly all over town looking for 2 more plates to complete your collection that goes so well with the table you're decorating for the Valentine's Dinner - ahem, the SAME table you swore you were NOT going to fret over, or spend any money on... The same table that has presently cost you $175, not including an outfit, or the dinner fee, and is still in need of a few more items. Yep, that table.

And this is what happens when you're fighting with school over excused vs. unexcused absences and whether or not your dear, darling, sick child will be able to make up the missed assignments...

And this is what happens when you just can't take it anymore!  You give up!  You give in!  YOU DIVE IN and get it done.  And it is such a GREAT freakin' feeling.

Ya.  HOO!

(and whew!)

Desk Shot - table decorating at it's finest...

The annual Valentine's Dinner is next Saturday and as been the case for the past several years, I am in charge of coordinating the table decorators.  What started out as an attempt to cut costs by having a decorating contest has become our tradition - and my heartache. 

The competition is fierce, the prize minimal.  It's about the glory of the win, not the reward itself...  We've had everything from towering chocolate fountains to The Christmas Story leg lamp.  Some of designs are simple & beautiful, some are over-the-top.  They make us "ooh," and "aah" and "LOL."  As Table Decorator Coordinator I've had my fair share of frustrations - the extraordinary measures my friends go for the honor of displaying a cheap-a$$ plastic trophy for one year is enough to deter the sweetest of home entertainers from ever volunteering again.  And in these hard economic times, it's even worse.

Somehow, although Valentine's Day is the same date every year, the dinner seems to creep up on us unexpectedly and we end up in a mad scramble to throw it all together.  Such is definitely the case this year.  I've had no time to think about who has volunteered and how many tables are covered and will it be enough for all our guests much less however will I decorate a table of my own...  THAT will definitely be my focus this week.

Using what I have, or what I mostly have already.  Here's my progress so far (since yesterday):

The starting point...

with a fluffy, flower inspired cupcake...

  Or the decadent chocolate covered mini cheesecake topped with a chocolate strawberry...

My use what I already have has cost me $145 so far...  Not to mention the $70 to attend the dinner, my up-coming haircut (when?), an outfit (what?), another $50, at least to finish the table...

~sigh~

And so ironic because, alas, I never win.