Lorna woke up with a face palm. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a ribbon and a fez. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the rec room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-five of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend six hours playing fun games like musical chairs and Candy Land. Her mom was planning to make plenty of hors d'oeuvre and macaroni and cheese for everyone. Lorna would try to blow out all two candles on the sparkly and metallic red cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Lorna would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a cork! She hoped it would be a hand-carved cork. Her friend Nestor had said he would give her a pair of knitting needles, and her sister-in-law always gave her cool stuff like the notepad she gave her last year. Lorna could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a rainstorm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her ribbon. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the hill. She would have to wear a balaclava instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her fez.
She tramped downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like an ashtray. Her mom was standing there with an oven mitt in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a hoot.
"Hi Mommy!" Lorna replied sorrowfully. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the hors d'oeuvre," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra curry powder. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Lorna replied frantically. "Do we have the macaroni and cheese ready?"
"I'm going to wait until eleven o'clock to start that," her mother replied sagely. "It only has to blend for thirty-eight minutes."
"Okay," Lorna replied immediately. "I'm gonna go to the rec room."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some chopped liver in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the rec 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," Lorna responded, as she sat down to her chopped liver. "Let's hang lots of red balloons and cover the ironing board and the table with scarlet crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother courteously. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Nicki Rajashree. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a basting brush."
"Mother of peanut butter," Lorna responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a hoot. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."