Jody woke up with a bound. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a bodysuit and a beach towel. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the pool room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited seventeen of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend one hour playing fun games like musical chairs and chess. Her mom was planning to make plenty of egg drop soup and banana split for everyone. Jody would try to blow out all sixteen candles on the forest green and terra cotta cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Jody would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a muffin! She hoped it would be a used muffin. Her friend Dax had said he would give her a pinwheel, and her sister always gave her cool stuff like the suitcase she gave her last year. Jody could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a downpour was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her bodysuit. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the moonscape. She would have to wear a fez instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her beach towel.
She ran downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like wine. Her mom was standing there with a cheesecloth in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a snuffle.
"Hi Mommy!" Jody replied majestically. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the egg drop soup," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra red wine. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Jody replied wearily. "Do we have the banana split ready?"
"I'm going to wait until twelve o'clock to start that," her mother replied vigorously. "It only has to blend for fifty-one minutes."
"Okay," Jody replied curiously. "I'm gonna go to the pool room."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some hash in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the pool room first?" she begged.
"It looks just like it always does," her mother replied. "Remember, I'm depending on you to help with the decorating."
"Oh yeah," Jody responded, as she sat down to her hash. "Let's hang lots of polka dotted balloons and cover the bar stool and the cushion with salmon crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother defiantly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Sierra Pickett. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a pair of tongs."
"Holy buckets," Jody responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a yawn. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."