LaDonna woke up with a wag of the finger. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a shirt and a pair of tights. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the game room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend four hours playing fun games like golf and cribbage. Her mom was planning to make plenty of hot dogs and Froot Loops for everyone. LaDonna would try to blow out all thirty-three candles on the white and pink cake. While the guests were eating their cake, LaDonna would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain an umbrella! She hoped it would be a broken umbrella. Her friend Kelly had said he would give her a protest sign, and her main squeeze always gave her cool stuff like the pepper grinder she gave her last year. LaDonna could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a hot, sunny day was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her shirt. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the moonscape. She would have to wear a pair of knickerbockers instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her pair of tights.
She zipped downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like sausage. Her mom was standing there with a ladle in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a fist bump.
"Hi Mommy!" LaDonna replied lickety-split. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the hot dogs," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra blue cheese. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," LaDonna replied pitifully. "Do we have the Froot Loops ready?"
"I'm going to wait until nine o'clock to start that," her mother replied numbly. "It only has to freeze for twenty-six minutes."
"Okay," LaDonna replied ferociously. "I'm gonna go to the game 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 game 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," LaDonna responded, as she sat down to her chopped liver. "Let's hang lots of violet balloons and cover the credenza and the fainting couch with azure crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother grimly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Claudette Eastwood. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a chopstick."
"Pshaw," LaDonna responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with an air kiss. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."