Jody woke up with a wrinkled nose. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a bowler hat and an armband. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the ballroom was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-three of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend eight hours playing fun games like rummy and Rummy. Her mom was planning to make plenty of lobster bisque and cherries jubilee for everyone. Jody would try to blow out all nineteen candles on the periwinkle and pea green cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Jody would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a vase! She hoped it would be a crusty vase. Her friend Dave had said he would give her a pop bottle, and her grandma always gave her cool stuff like the rock she gave her last year. Jody 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 bowler hat. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the desert. She would have to wear a pair of gloves instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her armband.
She skidded downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like beef stew. Her mom was standing there with a pair of chopsticks in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a death glare.
"Hi Mommy!" Jody replied recklessly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the lobster bisque," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra shortening. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Jody replied demurely. "Do we have the cherries jubilee ready?"
"I'm going to wait until nine o'clock to start that," her mother replied happily. "It only has to grill for fourteen minutes."
"Okay," Jody replied quickly. "I'm gonna go to the ballroom."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some chicken chow mein in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the ballroom 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," Jody responded, as she sat down to her chicken chow mein. "Let's hang lots of silver balloons and cover the wine rack and the pillow with olive drab crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother daintily. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Penelope Ming. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a pair of tongs."
"Alright," Jody responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a sigh. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."