Loreen woke up with a yawn. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in an 'I'm with Stupid' shirt and a babushka. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the pool room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-three of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend six hours playing fun games like crazy eights and Monopoly. Her dad was planning to make plenty of beef bouillon and duck a l'orange for everyone. Loreen would try to blow out all seventeen candles on the burgundy and magenta cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Loreen would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a pair of fuzzy dice! She hoped it would be a coarse pair of fuzzy dice. Her friend Frances had said she would give her a beach ball, and her friend always gave her cool stuff like the apple she gave her last year. Loreen 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 'I'm with Stupid' shirt. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the prairie. She would have to wear a sweater instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her babushka.
She paraded downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like chocolate cake. Her dad was standing there with a dish cloth in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a furrowed brow.
"Hi Daddy!" Loreen replied unabashedly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the beef bouillon," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra salt. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Loreen replied thoughtfully. "Do we have the duck a l'orange ready?"
"I'm going to wait until four o'clock to start that," her father replied gingerly. "It only has to spread into container for sixteen minutes."
"Okay," Loreen replied crossly. "I'm gonna go to the pool room."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some roast turkey in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the pool room 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," Loreen responded, as she sat down to her roast turkey. "Let's hang lots of amber balloons and cover the pool table and the armoire with lime-green crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father rapidly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Laci Bagman. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a foot."
"Gawwwleeee," Loreen responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a flush. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."