Briget woke up with a sigh. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a sundress and a cowboy hat. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the boudoir was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited fourteen of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend two hours playing fun games like cribbage and solitaire. Her mom was planning to make plenty of prime rib and dirty rice for everyone. Briget would try to blow out all thirty-three candles on the amber and brown cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Briget would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a button! She hoped it would be a slimy button. Her friend Will had said he would give her a coin, and her mother-in-law always gave her cool stuff like the air compressor she gave her last year. Briget 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 sundress. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the meadow. She would have to wear a cap instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her cowboy hat.
She reeled downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like Chinese food. Her mom was standing there with a fork in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a giggle.
"Hi Mommy!" Briget replied confidently. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the prime rib," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra dill pickles. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Briget replied haughtily. "Do we have the dirty rice ready?"
"I'm going to wait until six o'clock to start that," her mother replied despondently. "It only has to slow cook for eighty-nine minutes."
"Okay," Briget replied brashly. "I'm gonna go to the boudoir."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some cornbread in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the boudoir 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," Briget responded, as she sat down to her cornbread. "Let's hang lots of pea green balloons and cover the wooden crate and the china cabinet with purple crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother sternly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Valerie Jiménez. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a corkscrew."
"Man alive," Briget responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a beam. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."