Janice woke up with a smirk. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a lab coat and a beanie. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the boiler room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-one of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend five hours playing fun games like red rover and ring around the rosie. Her mom was planning to make plenty of mashed potatoes and cookies for everyone. Janice would try to blow out all eleven candles on the black and maroon cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Janice would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a banana! She hoped it would be an odd banana. Her friend Patrick had said he would give her a baton, and her mom always gave her cool stuff like the compass she gave her last year. Janice could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a hot, sunny day was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her lab coat. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the gully. She would have to wear a shirt instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her beanie.
She ran downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like Chinese food. Her mom was standing there with a sharp knife in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a yawn.
"Hi Mommy!" Janice replied primly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the mashed potatoes," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra mint leaves. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Janice replied later. "Do we have the cookies ready?"
"I'm going to wait until ten o'clock to start that," her mother replied immediately. "It only has to broil for fourteen minutes."
"Okay," Janice replied speedily. "I'm gonna go to the boiler room."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some chocolate-covered ants in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the boiler 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," Janice responded, as she sat down to her chocolate-covered ants. "Let's hang lots of chocolate brown balloons and cover the rocking chair and the washstand with golden crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother tensely. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Tamara Lee. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a Sham-Wow!."
"Okay," Janice responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a belly laugh. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."