Ying woke up with a raspberry. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a false beard and a dog collar. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the closet was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-three of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend one hour playing fun games like Scrabble and leapfrog. Her mom was planning to make plenty of egg drop soup and moo goo gai pan for everyone. Ying would try to blow out all fifteen candles on the maroon and silver cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Ying would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain an arrowhead! She hoped it would be a loose arrowhead. Her friend Lance had said he would give her a can of shaving cream, and her mommy always gave her cool stuff like the mop she gave her last year. Ying could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that an ice storm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her false beard. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the hill. She would have to wear a Speedo instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her dog collar.
She waltzed downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like vanilla. Her mom was standing there with a Sham-Wow! in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a finger gun.
"Hi Mommy!" Ying replied irritably. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the egg drop soup," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra ground lamb. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Ying replied vigorously. "Do we have the moo goo gai pan ready?"
"I'm going to wait until eleven o'clock to start that," her mother replied suddenly. "It only has to arrange for seventy-nine minutes."
"Okay," Ying replied firmly. "I'm gonna go to the closet."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some jambalaya in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the closet 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," Ying responded, as she sat down to her jambalaya. "Let's hang lots of brilliant orange balloons and cover the hope chest and the hatstand with periwinkle crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother humbly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Peggy Fulton. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a mixing spoon."
"Quiet," Ying responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a woof. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."