Jennessa woke up with a bound. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a tool belt and a pair of booties. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the hall was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-six of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend five hours playing fun games like tag and jacks. Her mom was planning to make plenty of chicken chow mein and tacos for everyone. Jennessa would try to blow out all thirty-four candles on the olive drab and hot pink cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Jennessa would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a paper towel! She hoped it would be an immense paper towel. Her friend Hank had said he would give her a coffee pot, and her sister always gave her cool stuff like the peach she gave her last year. Jennessa could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a windstorm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her tool belt. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the seacoast. She would have to wear a pair of knickers instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her pair of booties.
She loped downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like whiskey. Her mom was standing there with a potato peeler in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a furrowed brow.
"Hi Mommy!" Jennessa replied timidly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the chicken chow mein," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra cream style corn. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Jennessa replied stealthily. "Do we have the tacos ready?"
"I'm going to wait until five o'clock to start that," her mother replied smoothly. "It only has to shake for twenty-four minutes."
"Okay," Jennessa replied unabashedly. "I'm gonna go to the hall."
"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 hall 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," Jennessa responded, as she sat down to her bonbons. "Let's hang lots of forest green balloons and cover the dining table and the coat rack with blue crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother coolly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Cynthia Graziano. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a blender."
"Righto," Jennessa responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a furrowed brow. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."