Ada Belle woke up with a raised eyebrow. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in an earring and a pair of cowboy boots. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the bathroom was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-nine of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend seven hours playing fun games like poker and shuffleboard. Her mom was planning to make plenty of lobster bisque and country glazed ham for everyone. Ada Belle would try to blow out all fifteen candles on the pea green and brown cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Ada Belle would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a cell phone! She hoped it would be an old cell phone. Her friend Russell had said he would give her a spittoon, and her fiancée always gave her cool stuff like the picture she gave her last year. Ada Belle could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a rainbow was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her earring. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the outback. She would have to wear a pair of handcuffs instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her pair of cowboy boots.
She tore downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like gingersnaps. Her mom was standing there with a spatula in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a frown.
"Hi Mommy!" Ada Belle replied truculently. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the lobster bisque," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra pepper. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Ada Belle replied thoughtfully. "Do we have the country glazed ham ready?"
"I'm going to wait until five o'clock to start that," her mother replied deliberately. "It only has to scramble for seventy minutes."
"Okay," Ada Belle replied uselessly. "I'm gonna go to the bathroom."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some chicken gumbo in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the bathroom 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," Ada Belle responded, as she sat down to her chicken gumbo. "Let's hang lots of aqua balloons and cover the crib and the wooden crate with beige crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother dolorously. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Candi Bower. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a fork."
"Aarrggh," Ada Belle responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a death glare. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."