Mim woke up with a cackle. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a letter jacket and a leotard. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the game room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited eight of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend two hours playing fun games like Parcheesi and trivia. Her mom was planning to make plenty of apple pie and oatmeal for everyone. Mim would try to blow out all five candles on the navy blue and carrot-orange cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Mim would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a ball! She hoped it would be a synthetic ball. Her friend Christian had said he would give her an ironing board, and her fiancée always gave her cool stuff like the duffel bag she gave her last year. Mim could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a sandstorm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her letter jacket. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the battlefield. She would have to wear a wizard's hat instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her leotard.
She trotted downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like aftershave lotion. Her mom was standing there with a wooden spoon in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a bound.
"Hi Mommy!" Mim replied primly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the apple pie," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra cream of tomato soup. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Mim replied nicely. "Do we have the oatmeal ready?"
"I'm going to wait until six o'clock to start that," her mother replied nonchalantly. "It only has to slow cook for fifty-eight minutes."
"Okay," Mim replied nimbly. "I'm gonna go to the game room."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some egg rolls in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the game room 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," Mim responded, as she sat down to her egg rolls. "Let's hang lots of turquoise balloons and cover the water bed and the bookcase with crimson crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother sternly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Susanne Fischer. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has an electric paint mixer."
"Can it," Mim responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with an air kiss. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."