Jordan woke up with a chortle. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a coonskin hat and a loincloth. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the solarium was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend one hour playing fun games like marbles and musical chairs. Her mom was planning to make plenty of chicken soup and pot roast for everyone. Jordan would try to blow out all twenty-two candles on the maroon and tan cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Jordan would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a watering can! She hoped it would be a ruined watering can. Her friend Jürgen had said he would give her a paper bag, and her main squeeze always gave her cool stuff like the clipboard she gave her last year. Jordan could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a humid day was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her coonskin hat. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the lakeside. She would have to wear a pith helmet instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her loincloth.
She scurried downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like pipe tobacco. Her mom was standing there with an electric mixer in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a yawn.
"Hi Mommy!" Jordan replied jokingly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the chicken soup," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra canned oysters. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Jordan replied deliberately. "Do we have the pot roast ready?"
"I'm going to wait until eight o'clock to start that," her mother replied stupidly. "It only has to scramble for twelve minutes."
"Okay," Jordan replied firmly. "I'm gonna go to the solarium."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some bonbons 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 mother replied. "Remember, I'm depending on you to help with the decorating."
"Oh yeah," Jordan responded, as she sat down to her bonbons. "Let's hang lots of emerald green balloons and cover the coffee table and the rocking chair with khaki crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother quickly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Claudette Noonan. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a wooden spoon."
"Doggone," Jordan responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a pout. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."