Sydney woke up with a grin. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a pair of tights and an award medal. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the front porch was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-four of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend seven hours playing fun games like shuffleboard and poker. Her mom was planning to make plenty of bread and butter and Hamburger Helper for everyone. Sydney would try to blow out all thirty-one candles on the violet and lavender cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Sydney would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a firecracker! She hoped it would be a funny firecracker. Her friend Rover had said he would give her a can of sardines, and her grandmother always gave her cool stuff like the apple she gave her last year. Sydney could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a dust storm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her pair of tights. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the badlands area. She would have to wear a pair of flip-flops instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her award medal.
She danced downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like cigarette smoke. Her mom was standing there with a pastry blender in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a growl.
"Hi Mommy!" Sydney replied fervently. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the bread and butter," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra shallots. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Sydney replied tensely. "Do we have the Hamburger Helper ready?"
"I'm going to wait until nine o'clock to start that," her mother replied sleepily. "It only has to freeze for eighty-nine minutes."
"Okay," Sydney replied slyly. "I'm gonna go to the front porch."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some falafel in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the front porch 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," Sydney responded, as she sat down to her falafel. "Let's hang lots of peach balloons and cover the water bed and the washstand with white crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother ingeniously. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Heidi Mancini. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a piece of cheesecloth."
"Unreal," Sydney responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a stiff upper lip. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."