Bobbie woke up with a pout. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a poncho and a beanie. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the workshop was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-four of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend six hours playing fun games like charades and chess. Her mom was planning to make plenty of prime rib and mulligan stew for everyone. Bobbie would try to blow out all eight candles on the jade and magenta cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Bobbie would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain an apple! She hoped it would be a puzzling apple. Her friend Leroy had said he would give her a tube of glue, and her dad always gave her cool stuff like the hammer she gave her last year. Bobbie could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that an earthquake was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her poncho. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the hill. She would have to wear a set of vampire fangs instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her beanie.
She trotted downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like pipe tobacco. Her mom was standing there with a ladle in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a sneeze.
"Hi Mommy!" Bobbie replied warmly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the prime rib," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra salt. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Bobbie replied fondly. "Do we have the mulligan stew ready?"
"I'm going to wait until seven o'clock to start that," her mother replied openly. "It only has to deep fry for eighty-nine minutes."
"Okay," Bobbie replied sarcastically. "I'm gonna go to the workshop."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some enchiladas in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the workshop 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," Bobbie responded, as she sat down to her enchiladas. "Let's hang lots of rose balloons and cover the bench and the computer with purple crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother daringly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Bianca Everett. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a piece of cheesecloth."
"Whoopee," Bobbie responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a giggle. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."