Libby woke up with a chuckle. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a tutu and a shirt. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the garage was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-five of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend six hours playing fun games like Parcheesi and musical chairs. Her mom was planning to make plenty of hot dogs and chopped liver for everyone. Libby would try to blow out all two candles on the terra cotta and carrot-orange cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Libby would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a garbage can! She hoped it would be a smooth garbage can. Her friend Dylan had said he would give her a file folder, and her sister-in-law always gave her cool stuff like the ticket she gave her last year. Libby could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a blanket of mist was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her tutu. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the canyon. She would have to wear a diamond bracelet instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her shirt.
She walked downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like beer. Her mom was standing there with a slotted spoon in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a belly laugh.
"Hi Mommy!" Libby replied lickety-split. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the hot dogs," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra cream of mushroom soup. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Libby replied tensely. "Do we have the chopped liver ready?"
"I'm going to wait until eleven o'clock to start that," her mother replied suavely. "It only has to heat in microwave for eight minutes."
"Okay," Libby replied humbly. "I'm gonna go to the garage."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some hors d'oeuvre in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the garage 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," Libby responded, as she sat down to her hors d'oeuvre. "Let's hang lots of periwinkle balloons and cover the recliner and the pool table with blue crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother kindly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Christina Gare. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a potato masher."
"Banzai," Libby responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a cringe. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."