Gabriela woke up with a jeer. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a bolo tie and a sari. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the laundry room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-two of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend two hours playing fun games like dominos and Parcheesi. Her mom was planning to make plenty of roast turkey and ham for everyone. Gabriela would try to blow out all twenty-three candles on the grey and aquamarine cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Gabriela would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain an avocado! She hoped it would be a musty avocado. Her friend Don had said he would give her a brush, and her cousin always gave her cool stuff like the picture she gave her last year. Gabriela could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a rainbow was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her bolo tie. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the range. She would have to wear a jumper instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her sari.
She slid downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like Revlon. Her mom was standing there with a blender in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a snicker.
"Hi Mommy!" Gabriela replied nervously. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the roast turkey," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra wasabi powder. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Gabriela replied courteously. "Do we have the ham ready?"
"I'm going to wait until six o'clock to start that," her mother replied craftily. "It only has to blend for thirty-eight minutes."
"Okay," Gabriela replied crossly. "I'm gonna go to the laundry room."
"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 laundry room 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," Gabriela responded, as she sat down to her cornbread. "Let's hang lots of brown balloons and cover the casket and the filing cabinet with lavender crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother nicely. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Mary Craig. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a potato masher."
"Exaltations," Gabriela responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a blush. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."