Babs woke up with a flinch. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a pair of glasses and a midi skirt. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the pantry was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited fifteen of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend six hours playing fun games like red light green light and croquet. Her mom was planning to make plenty of cookies and pot roast for everyone. Babs would try to blow out all twenty-six candles on the sea green and yellow cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Babs would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a tissue! She hoped it would be an expensive tissue. Her friend Peter had said he would give her a Barbie doll, and her sister-in-law always gave her cool stuff like the pipe she gave her last year. Babs could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a sleet storm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her pair of glasses. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the countryside. She would have to wear a jogging suit instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her midi skirt.
She swaggered downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like smelling salts. Her mom was standing there with a garlic press in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a face palm.
"Hi Mommy!" Babs replied grudgingly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the cookies," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra beef sirloin tips. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Babs replied properly. "Do we have the pot roast ready?"
"I'm going to wait until twelve o'clock to start that," her mother replied sorrowfully. "It only has to spoon into container for fifty-four minutes."
"Okay," Babs replied shyly. "I'm gonna go to the pantry."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some mushroom quiche in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the pantry 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," Babs responded, as she sat down to her mushroom quiche. "Let's hang lots of hot pink balloons and cover the stool and the stool with pea green crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother rapidly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Kayla Bede. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a potato peeler."
"What in tarnation," Babs responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a smack. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."