Olive woke up with a hoot. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a pair of earmuffs and a wizard's hat. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the den was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited fifteen of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend seven hours playing fun games like jacks and chess. Her mom was planning to make plenty of jambalaya and egg rolls for everyone. Olive would try to blow out all sixteen candles on the brown and turquoise cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Olive would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a basketball! She hoped it would be a ridiculous basketball. Her friend James had said he would give her a fire hose, and her sister-in-law always gave her cool stuff like the bass drum she gave her last year. Olive 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 earmuffs. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the island. She would have to wear a romper instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her wizard's hat.
She dove downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like fried chicken. Her mom was standing there with a knife in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a raspberry.
"Hi Mommy!" Olive replied neatly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the jambalaya," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra marshmallows. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Olive replied fervently. "Do we have the egg rolls ready?"
"I'm going to wait until nine o'clock to start that," her mother replied neatly. "It only has to allow to rise in warm place for several hours for fifty-seven minutes."
"Okay," Olive replied unexpectedly. "I'm gonna go to the den."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some spaghetti in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the den 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," Olive responded, as she sat down to her spaghetti. "Let's hang lots of chartreuse balloons and cover the bunk bed and the windowsill with yellow crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother gracefully. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Francie Ratha. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a potato masher."
"Mommy," Olive responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a stiff upper lip. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."