Tess woke up with a furrowed brow. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a hoop skirt and a diamond necklace. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the solarium was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited eighteen of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend five hours playing fun games like dodge ball and treasure hunt. Her dad was planning to make plenty of chopped liver and lobster for everyone. Tess would try to blow out all twenty-eight candles on the rose and brown cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Tess would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a cotton ball! She hoped it would be a weird cotton ball. Her friend Patricia had said she would give her a toilet plunger, and her grandma always gave her cool stuff like the washrag she gave her last year. Tess could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a blanket of mist was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her hoop skirt. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the seashore. She would have to wear a false moustache instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her diamond necklace.
She sailed downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like pencil shavings. Her dad was standing there with a potato masher in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with an air kiss.
"Hi Daddy!" Tess replied frantically. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the chopped liver," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra blue cheese. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Tess replied grimly. "Do we have the lobster ready?"
"I'm going to wait until three o'clock to start that," her father replied craftily. "It only has to microwave for sixty-three minutes."
"Okay," Tess replied crazily. "I'm gonna go to the solarium."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some sweet potatoes in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the solarium 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," Tess responded, as she sat down to her sweet potatoes. "Let's hang lots of turquoise balloons and cover the coat rack and the end table with aquamarine crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father nimbly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, April Usher. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a bare foot."
"Praise the Lord," Tess responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a wince. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."