Deirdre woke up with a roar. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a bowler hat and a pair of socks. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the salon was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited seventeen of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend four hours playing fun games like croquet and bridge. Her mom was planning to make plenty of candy and Swiss cheese for everyone. Deirdre would try to blow out all twenty-two candles on the olive green and blue cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Deirdre would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a paper airplane! She hoped it would be a cardboard paper airplane. Her friend Keith had said he would give her a fire hose, and her mommy always gave her cool stuff like the hubcap she gave her last year. Deirdre 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 bowler hat. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the creek. She would have to wear a pair of booties instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her pair of socks.
She sidled downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like a beauty salon. Her mom was standing there with a cheesecloth in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a snort.
"Hi Mommy!" Deirdre replied suddenly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the candy," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra Cheerios. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Deirdre replied grandly. "Do we have the Swiss cheese ready?"
"I'm going to wait until six o'clock to start that," her mother replied sharply. "It only has to allow to rise in warm place for several hours for eighty-five minutes."
"Okay," Deirdre replied viciously. "I'm gonna go to the salon."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some hash 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," Deirdre responded, as she sat down to her hash. "Let's hang lots of orange balloons and cover the display case and the bookcase with olive drab crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother grandly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Abbie McCoy. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a pair of chopsticks."
"Aaaw," Deirdre responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a sneeze. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."