Nelly woke up with a smile. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a jogging suit and a pair of moccasins. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the kitchen was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited five of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend five hours playing fun games like crazy eights and seven-up. Her dad was planning to make plenty of clam chowder and beef bouillon for everyone. Nelly would try to blow out all thirty-three candles on the chartreuse and peach cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Nelly would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a can of beer! She hoped it would be an important can of beer. Her friend Alissa had said she would give her a hair brush, and her grandfather always gave her cool stuff like the ironing board she gave her last year. Nelly could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a blizzard was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her jogging suit. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the prairie. She would have to wear a space suit instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her pair of moccasins.
She scooted downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like fish. Her dad was standing there with an ice pick in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a yawn.
"Hi Daddy!" Nelly replied bitterly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the clam chowder," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra shredded coconut. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Nelly replied ruefully. "Do we have the beef bouillon ready?"
"I'm going to wait until six o'clock to start that," her father replied awkwardly. "It only has to fry carefully in gross skillet for six minutes."
"Okay," Nelly replied grandly. "I'm gonna go to the kitchen."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some lobster bisque in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the kitchen 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," Nelly responded, as she sat down to her lobster bisque. "Let's hang lots of jet black balloons and cover the overstuffed chair and the mattress with fuchsia crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father warmly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Yvonne Metzger. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a garlic press."
"Huh," Nelly 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."