Jeanne woke up with a snort. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a bandana and a fez. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the parlor was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited eleven of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend three hours playing fun games like blackjack and red rover. Her dad was planning to make plenty of egg drop soup and Cheerios for everyone. Jeanne would try to blow out all nineteen candles on the aquamarine and hot pink cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Jeanne would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a toilet plunger! She hoped it would be a worn toilet plunger. Her friend Jennifer had said she would give her a cigar, and her mother always gave her cool stuff like the orange she gave her last year. Jeanne could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a sleet storm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her bandana. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the briar patch. She would have to wear a bikini instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her fez.
She walked downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like pipe tobacco. Her dad was standing there with a slotted spoon in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a sniffle.
"Hi Daddy!" Jeanne replied grudgingly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the egg drop soup," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra cream of mushroom soup. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Jeanne replied admiringly. "Do we have the Cheerios ready?"
"I'm going to wait until two o'clock to start that," her father replied glumly. "It only has to marinate for ten minutes."
"Okay," Jeanne replied dolefully. "I'm gonna go to the parlor."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some macaroni in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the parlor first?" she begged.
"It looks just like it always does," her father replied. "Remember, I'm depending on you to help with the decorating."
"Oh yeah," Jeanne responded, as she sat down to her macaroni. "Let's hang lots of metallic red balloons and cover the buffet and the toilet with orange crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father kindly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Mama Dion. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a cookie cutter."
"Shucks," Jeanne responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a wince. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."