Paula woke up with a woof. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a leotard and a sweater. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the study was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited fifteen of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend four hours playing fun games like red light green light and marbles. Her mom was planning to make plenty of chopped liver and pecan pie for everyone. Paula would try to blow out all twenty-three candles on the sea green and tan cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Paula would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a paper towel! She hoped it would be a nice paper towel. Her friend Nils had said he would give her a contract, and her friend always gave her cool stuff like the locket she gave her last year. Paula 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 leotard. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the path. She would have to wear an armband instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her sweater.
She jogged downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like beer. Her mom was standing there with a cheesecloth in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a wince.
"Hi Mommy!" Paula replied fondly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the chopped liver," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra cilantro. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Paula replied elatedly. "Do we have the pecan pie ready?"
"I'm going to wait until eleven o'clock to start that," her mother replied reluctantly. "It only has to blanch for seventeen minutes."
"Okay," Paula replied needlessly. "I'm gonna go to the study."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some country glazed ham in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the study 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," Paula responded, as she sat down to her country glazed ham. "Let's hang lots of olive drab balloons and cover the floor and the coat rack with jet black crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother boldly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Rhoda Grover. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a sharp knife."
"Man alive," Paula responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a sniffle. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."