Ellen woke up with a clenched fist. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a feather boa and a tailcoat. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the salon was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-nine of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend one hour playing fun games like golf and solitaire. Her mom was planning to make plenty of borscht and pizza for everyone. Ellen would try to blow out all sixteen candles on the olive green and purple cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Ellen would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a sponge! She hoped it would be a gooey sponge. Her friend Calvin had said he would give her a hot potato, and her mother-in-law always gave her cool stuff like the air compressor she gave her last year. Ellen could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a hot, sunny day was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her feather boa. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the stream. She would have to wear a pair of pajamas instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her tailcoat.
She climbed downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like a laundry. Her mom was standing there with an electric mixer in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a grunt.
"Hi Mommy!" Ellen replied cleverly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the borscht," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra raisins. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Ellen replied ferociously. "Do we have the pizza ready?"
"I'm going to wait until seven o'clock to start that," her mother replied caustically. "It only has to scramble for fifty-two minutes."
"Okay," Ellen replied warily. "I'm gonna go to the salon."
"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 salon 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," Ellen responded, as she sat down to her wienerschnitzel. "Let's hang lots of brown balloons and cover the stool and the umbrella stand with lime-green crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother grudgingly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Pleasance Ostrander. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a melon baller."
"Be still, my beating heart," Ellen responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a snigger. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."