Geraldine woke up with a death glare. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a pair of pajamas and a tutu. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the boiler room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited fourteen of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend five hours playing fun games like Candy Land and badminton. Her dad was planning to make plenty of fondue and jambalaya for everyone. Geraldine would try to blow out all thirty-two candles on the jade and red cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Geraldine would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a Big Gulp! She hoped it would be an original Big Gulp. Her friend Cindy had said she would give her an amulet, and her sister-in-law always gave her cool stuff like the coupon she gave her last year. Geraldine could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a dust storm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her pair of pajamas. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the meadow. She would have to wear a nose ring instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her tutu.
She strode downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like fried chicken. Her dad was standing there with a Sham-Wow! in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a sigh.
"Hi Daddy!" Geraldine replied deftly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the fondue," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra yogurt. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Geraldine replied nimbly. "Do we have the jambalaya ready?"
"I'm going to wait until four o'clock to start that," her father replied intensely. "It only has to sear outside for five minutes."
"Okay," Geraldine replied merrily. "I'm gonna go to the boiler room."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some moo goo gai pan in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the boiler room first?" she begged.
"It looks just like it always does," her father replied. "Remember, I'm depending on you to help with the decorating."
"Oh yeah," Geraldine responded, as she sat down to her moo goo gai pan. "Let's hang lots of teal balloons and cover the mattress and the couch with jet black crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father nicely. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Cassie Fink. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a chopstick."
"Aha," Geraldine responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a snuffle. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."