A Day in the Flower Shop

With Mother's Day quickly approaching, I was called in to work at a local florist shop. I'll work for a couple of days taking flower orders for Mom's and wives. The days go by so quickly.

For the past three years, working the week of Valentine's Day has turned into a family affair. We love delivering these beautiful flowers. It is so much fun to see the smiles when someone finds out the flowers are for them! These two holidays are the busiest of the year for florists and things can get really wild! But we love the craziness.

For Mother's Day, they didn't need help with delivery -- but they needed someone to help answer the phones. For some reason, the shop owner likes me or maybe she was just desperate for help! So today, me and Becky worked among the beautiful flowers. I helped with the phones and Becky helps by prepping roses, pulling the poop off of lilies (yes, this must be done!), filling vases, etc.

Working the phones is always an adventure! Its amazing how men will call at the last minute and can't understand why the flowers can't be delivered before noon tomorrow (because their wife is taking off work at noon!). It is just sooooo hard not to tell them --"Poor planning on YOUR part, does NOT constitute an emergency on MY part!" I did tell one man "how fast we get them there depends on how much you want to spend!" (Of course I was kidding, but it got his attention!)

It wasn't quite as crazy as Valentine's. Men always know what to say to their mother, but what to say to their sweetheart isn't always so easy. You wouldn't believe how many times I have to tell them what to say on cards to their wife or sweetheart.

A wonderful part of working in the flower shop is watching the designers make up the orders. I LOVE flowers and these ladies do such beautiful work. Each arrangement is always different and each seems prettier than the last. I could never come up with such variety.

But my MOST favorite part is walking into the cooler and smelling the fantastic smells of roses, stargazer lilies, carnations and so many more. I guess if I worked around flowers all the time I might get tired of it. But since I usually only work 4-5 days per year I don't think I'll ever get tired of those wonderful smells and beautiful petals.

Having lost my own mom 29 years ago, Mother's Day could be a sad time--and it was for many years until my dd was born. Now I can experience the joy of being a mother...and remember the joy of having one!