Jolene woke up with a flutter. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a pair of cycling shorts and a tattoo. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the ballroom was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited fourteen of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend four hours playing fun games like Simon Says and shuffleboard. Her mom was planning to make plenty of oatmeal and beef bouillon for everyone. Jolene would try to blow out all thirty-three candles on the camouflage and rose cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Jolene would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a bagpipe! She hoped it would be a shiny bagpipe. Her friend Tyler had said he would give her a blank check, and her cousin always gave her cool stuff like the flyswatter she gave her last year. Jolene 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 pair of cycling shorts. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the briar patch. She would have to wear a beach towel instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her tattoo.
She skidded downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like an outhouse. Her mom was standing there with a turkey baster in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a hoot.
"Hi Mommy!" Jolene replied fearlessly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the oatmeal," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra graham crackers. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Jolene replied viciously. "Do we have the beef bouillon ready?"
"I'm going to wait until four o'clock to start that," her mother replied coolly. "It only has to bake at 450 degrees F for forty-six minutes."
"Okay," Jolene replied hopelessly. "I'm gonna go to the ballroom."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some shrimp in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the ballroom 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," Jolene responded, as she sat down to her shrimp. "Let's hang lots of mauve balloons and cover the credenza and the hope chest with silver crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother sharply. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Xaviera Watts. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a napkin."
"Oh joy," Jolene responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a grin. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."