Jennessa 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 stethoscope and a cloak. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the solarium was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited nineteen of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend two hours playing fun games like blackjack and trivia. Her dad was planning to make plenty of roast beef and catfish stew for everyone. Jennessa would try to blow out all twenty-nine candles on the silver and scarlet cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Jennessa would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a garbage can! She hoped it would be an archaic garbage can. Her friend Jessica had said she would give her a roll of duct tape, and her mother-in-law always gave her cool stuff like the muffin she gave her last year. Jennessa 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 stethoscope. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the circus tent. She would have to wear a pair of Groucho glasses instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her cloak.
She marched downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like baby lotion. Her dad was standing there with a turkey baster in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a snuffle.
"Hi Daddy!" Jennessa replied neatly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the roast beef," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra chopped liver. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Jennessa replied sternly. "Do we have the catfish stew ready?"
"I'm going to wait until twelve o'clock to start that," her father replied anxiously. "It only has to heat in microwave for fifty minutes."
"Okay," Jennessa replied peevishly. "I'm gonna go to the solarium."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some strawberry shortcake 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," Jennessa responded, as she sat down to her strawberry shortcake. "Let's hang lots of brilliant orange balloons and cover the credenza and the bar stool with tan crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father charmingly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Anne Ashe. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a ladle."
"Aha," Jennessa responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a sigh. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."