Hattie woke up with a coo. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a cocktail dress and a pair of ear muffs. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the family room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited sixteen of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend six hours playing fun games like Simon Says and croquet. Her mom was planning to make plenty of oyster on the half-shell and dirty rice for everyone. Hattie would try to blow out all three candles on the amber and pea green cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Hattie would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a banana! She hoped it would be a waxy banana. Her friend Xavier had said he would give her a teapot, and her mother-in-law always gave her cool stuff like the bag of groceries she gave her last year. Hattie could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a typhoon was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her cocktail dress. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the seashore. She would have to wear a romper instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her pair of ear muffs.
She skittered downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like new mown hay. Her mom was standing there with a garlic press in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a pucker.
"Hi Mommy!" Hattie replied again. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the oyster on the half-shell," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra Canadian bacon. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Hattie replied roughly. "Do we have the dirty rice ready?"
"I'm going to wait until six o'clock to start that," her mother replied slyly. "It only has to heat for thirty-one minutes."
"Okay," Hattie replied wearily. "I'm gonna go to the family room."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some ham in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the family 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," Hattie responded, as she sat down to her ham. "Let's hang lots of orange balloons and cover the coffee table and the footstool with white crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother curiously. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Wilma Halperin. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a napkin."
"Humph," Hattie responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a sneer. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."