Though you wouldn’t necessarily know it by looking at my home, I’m a pretty detailed organizer/planner. When given a giant plateful of stuff, I’ve always had a talent for ordering the information into a series of steps, deciphering then completing tasks in their order of operations: How to go from A to Z and on to triple z subset iii, if you will. (A little formatting humor for you there.) (ah-GEEKchoo!). The only part of mathematics I’ve ever excelled at (let alone understood) was the proofs in Geometry. Thing A, thing B, set of rules for getting there. Follow rules in order. Done.

Knowing I could have a truly excellent military career as a battle planner, along that same line, I became a mom.

In addition to my planning skills and my bowstaff skills, are my creative WILL NOT EVER QUIT skills. These skills have served me in good stead, if only to prove that yes, you can make a pair of binoculars out of an empty tuna can and a stick of gum. Just go with it.

And so, when our sixteen-year old to-be decided she wanted a Sweet Sixteen party, and the theme would be Roaring Twenties, I was all flippin’ over this thing. Major events, famous people, music of the bygone era... Each room had a theme. The loft was going to be a jazz club; the bathroom was going to be the Stock Market Crash. The party was completely outlined within a week, give or take.

And when theme became an Evening in Hollywood, NOT A PROBLEM. I was so all over that like white on rice. Easy as pie. I had the entire thing dialed in from palm trees to red carpet to Lindsay Lohan’s arrest. It was elegant. It was mind-blowing. Naturally, it was changing.

I was nonplussed. I could handle anything she threw at me—even though we were a mere six weeks out. I am a party planning genius, I told myself. So, what’s it going to be?

“I’m thinking like, cities, but different.”

“Cities? Like, A Night in Paris?” DONE.

“Mmmnn.. no, more like, lots of cities.”

Lots of cities?

“Like, you know, like… the world.”

*blink*

She narrowed the theme down to… the WORLD??

Thank gawd I am a party planning genius. Even better, thank gawd I am a procrastinator extraordinaire. Because, let me tell you, it takes both of those things to stage The World in six weeks.

Just ask God. Though a slightly better planner than I am, she'll tell you the same thing.