Michele woke up with a backward glance. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a jogging suit and a pair of bloomers. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the dining room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited seven of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend two hours playing fun games like Monopoly and hide and seek. Her mom was planning to make plenty of ramen noodles and cotton candy for everyone. Michele would try to blow out all nine candles on the polka dotted and blue cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Michele would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a rose! She hoped it would be a big rose. Her friend Marvin had said he would give her a smart phone, and her grandpa always gave her cool stuff like the spittoon she gave her last year. Michele could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a downpour was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her jogging suit. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the marsh. She would have to wear a set of camo fatigues instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her pair of bloomers.
She skidded downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like a Chinese restaurant. Her mom was standing there with a paring knife in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a grin.
"Hi Mommy!" Michele replied crankily. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the ramen noodles," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra dark beer. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Michele replied quickly. "Do we have the cotton candy ready?"
"I'm going to wait until eight o'clock to start that," her mother replied sleepily. "It only has to age for sixty-two minutes."
"Okay," Michele replied silently. "I'm gonna go to the dining room."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some dry toast in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the dining 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," Michele responded, as she sat down to her dry toast. "Let's hang lots of terra cotta balloons and cover the stool and the hatstand with burgundy crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother automatically. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Connie Peters. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a basting brush."
"Eh," Michele responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a frown. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."