I am losing my ever lovin' mind. It is my dear friends' 25th anniversary in early April. Back in 1987 they were so young and he got her a little 1/5 carat ring that she adores to this day. She has always admired my "honkin' rock" as she calls it, but follows it up with, "I'd never replace my wedding ring. It means way too much to me."

Out of the blue and for the first time ever, she said the other day, "I should have a big 'ol Moissanite! It's been 25 years and I deserve it!" Suddenly I've dropped everything to try to accommodate her anniversary dream on 5 weeks' notice. I'm going back and forth with the boy on the sly, telling him what the girl wants, and trying to dig up setting ideas to email to him without her knowing. They live on a very tight budget with three teenagers, and the boy gets fishing lures but doesn't have a clue about jewelry. So you understand my challenge.

He agreed to a 1 carat moissanite for something substantial but not too flashy. He's even considering Amora-izing it because he doesn't want her to be unhappy with it in overcast weather. So far so good.

But we're totally falling apart on a setting plan. I said I do NOT want to be responsible for choosing a setting; that's too personal. But I can't get him past the plain solitaire 2-ring set, and I know for a fact that she wants something with a little pizzazz. I'm trying to talk him into a 3-stone, a trellis, something. He just hangs on the sidelines and says, "I like the plain one but I don't know what she would like."

So do I let him order the plain one that I know she doesn't want because then he chose it? Or do I pick from the six options I have on the table as possibilities and hope I guessed right for her? Or do I get out of it and tell him to present her with a loose stone and let her choose her own setting, knowing that this will kill her because she'll be so excited to have her own "honkin' rock" and then she'll have to send it somewhere for setting and be without it (we all know that impatience thing!)

Too. Much. Stress.