Kami woke up with a sniffle. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a set of football pads and a garland. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the master bathroom was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited three of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend five hours playing fun games like billiards and old maid. Her mom was planning to make plenty of hot dogs and lamb curry for everyone. Kami would try to blow out all thirty-five candles on the silver and khaki cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Kami would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a deck of cards! She hoped it would be a coarse deck of cards. Her friend Brandon had said he would give her a painting, and her grandfather always gave her cool stuff like the spider she gave her last year. Kami could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that an ice storm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her set of football pads. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the plain. She would have to wear a necktie instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her garland.
She zoomed downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like pencil shavings. Her mom was standing there with a meat thermometer in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a sneer.
"Hi Mommy!" Kami replied flightily. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the hot dogs," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra fresh peaches. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Kami replied timidly. "Do we have the lamb curry ready?"
"I'm going to wait until eleven o'clock to start that," her mother replied truculently. "It only has to arrange for sixty-seven minutes."
"Okay," Kami replied deliberately. "I'm gonna go to the master bathroom."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some potatoes and gravy in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the master bathroom 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," Kami responded, as she sat down to her potatoes and gravy. "Let's hang lots of burgundy balloons and cover the buffet and the cushion with brilliant orange crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother grudgingly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Josephine Hart. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a slotted spoon."
"Hush," Kami responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a grimace. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."