Rhoda woke up with a crow. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a beanie and a hearing aid. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the ballroom was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited eight of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend eight hours playing fun games like Clue and musical chairs. Her mom was planning to make plenty of Swiss cheese and succotash for everyone. Rhoda would try to blow out all twenty-eight candles on the maroon and grey cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Rhoda would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain an antenna! She hoped it would be an original antenna. Her friend Jordan had said he would give her a dictionary, and her main squeeze always gave her cool stuff like the toilet seat she gave her last year. Rhoda could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a humid day was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her beanie. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the desert. She would have to wear a pair of booties instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her hearing aid.
She slipped downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like car exhaust. Her mom was standing there with a pastry blender in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a face palm.
"Hi Mommy!" Rhoda replied softly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the Swiss cheese," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra cornstarch. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Rhoda replied dolorously. "Do we have the succotash ready?"
"I'm going to wait until six o'clock to start that," her mother replied warmly. "It only has to heat in microwave for ninety minutes."
"Okay," Rhoda replied threateningly. "I'm gonna go to the ballroom."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some wienerschnitzel in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the ballroom 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," Rhoda responded, as she sat down to her wienerschnitzel. "Let's hang lots of grey balloons and cover the bar stool and the file cabinet with chocolate brown crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother surreptitiously. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Linda Torres. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a ladle."
"Avast," Rhoda responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a snort. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."