Betsy woke up with a stiff upper lip. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a belt buckle and a derby. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the outhouse was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited nine of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend eight hours playing fun games like rummy and red light green light. Her mom was planning to make plenty of beans and waffles for everyone. Betsy would try to blow out all ten candles on the aqua and brown cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Betsy would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a plaque! She hoped it would be an original plaque. Her friend Eldon had said he would give her a dictionary, and her girlfriend always gave her cool stuff like the carrot she gave her last year. Betsy could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a rainbow was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her belt buckle. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the glen. She would have to wear a ski mask instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her derby.
She darted downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like formaldehyde. Her mom was standing there with an electric paint mixer in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a pout.
"Hi Mommy!" Betsy replied sarcastically. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the beans," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra beer. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Betsy replied gratefully. "Do we have the waffles ready?"
"I'm going to wait until seven o'clock to start that," her mother replied thankfully. "It only has to shake for two minutes."
"Okay," Betsy replied brightly. "I'm gonna go to the outhouse."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some crab rangoon in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the outhouse 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," Betsy responded, as she sat down to her crab rangoon. "Let's hang lots of grey balloons and cover the safe and the four-poster bed with crimson crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother briskly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Grace Bergstrom. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a melon baller."
"Neato," Betsy responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a belch. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."