E.T.'s L.J. U.R.L.

As some of you know, tonight was my mother's surprise or it would have been if she hadn't figured it out over the weekend birthday party. She was skittish about going, because she doesn't really like being the focus of attention, but she appreciated the effort I had put into it so she agreed to "behave." It went wonderfully. Everyone loved the desserts (I got a lot of awed compliments), and once my mother realized that these really are all people she likes she was able to relax. There was a lot of smiling and laughing. The last few stragglers didn't leave until after 11 (it started at 7:30), and my mom just called to thank me and say how much she enjoyed it. Yay! The only less-than-ideal aspect was that I apparently was too optimistic about how much people would eat, so there's quite a bit left over. But we can deal with that. I'm just very pleased and relieved that it went so well and she did enjoy it in the end. I'll try to post pictures in the next day or two so you can see the desserts. :-)

OK, back to Arisia mail...

The cake is done. Bears only a slight resemblance to the idea I based it on, but I think it looks pretty good. Cleared sugar off all the kitchen surfaces, etc. ... no energy to answer e-mail, will have to catch up in the morning. G'night, all...

Been busy, just a quick update...

The Arisia resume (furniture needs, power requirements, et al) has been submitted to the hotel; hopefully I haven't left anything out!

I've baked and taken over to the hosting friend's freezer most of the desserts for my mom's party (2 cakes, 6 pans of squares, 6 kinds of cookies) - just the "centerpiece" cake left. I'm planning to do that the week before the party, hopefully it'll go smoothly.

Between the two projects I've been pretty consumed, I haven't really had time to answer social mail or read LJ posts since Tuesday night. I apologize for being out of touch, I'll try to catch up soon.

We're leaving to visit sdavido's parents tomorrow morning. We have a 6:30 a.m. flight (ugh!) so we have to get up pretty early... not sure whether or not it's worth going to bed tonight. If I have time after packing, etc. and still have energy I'll try to do a little LJ catch-up. If not, maybe while we're away, if there's time... we'll see.

Hope you are doing well!

I've been making lists of what I need to do for my mom's surprise party. So far I've come up with three cakes, six cookies, and six kinds of squares that I want to make. I'm going to have to start the actual baking soon... :-)

Too tired to answer mail, too tired to read posts, but I had to put up an update...

For those of you who have been waiting to hear how sdavido's surprise party went - it worked! Yay! (For those of you who didn't know about it, sorry, I was trying to keep it from getting too big - even as it was I was terrified someone would slip and say something.)

To review, I've been planning a surprise party for SD-'s 35th birthday, which is coming up. This has involved a bit of sneaking around on my part - it's been so hard to not tell him things! I was worried that he'd find out, or that something else would go wrong... but thank G-d everything went smoothly. The weather was perfect. He was surprised. :-) And a good time was had by all. The main problem was that there was too much food left over (a common problem in my family), but we'll find something to do with it.

I did take some pictures, if they come out well maybe I'll post a couple. For now, though, I think I need sleep. :-) Will say more later, if I have more to say...