Lorena woke up with a grimace. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a thong and a gunny sack. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the laundry room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited eight of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend six hours playing fun games like jump rope and volleyball. Her mom was planning to make plenty of succotash and moo goo gai pan for everyone. Lorena would try to blow out all seventeen candles on the periwinkle and maroon cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Lorena would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a dollhouse! She hoped it would be a greasy dollhouse. Her friend Horsie had said he would give her a pen, and her mom always gave her cool stuff like the iPad she gave her last year. Lorena could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a gale was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her thong. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the countryside. She would have to wear a pair of Bermuda shorts instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her gunny sack.
She lumbered downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like a locker room. Her mom was standing there with a whisk in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a snigger.
"Hi Mommy!" Lorena replied slyly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the succotash," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra lemon zest. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Lorena replied hungrily. "Do we have the moo goo gai pan ready?"
"I'm going to wait until two o'clock to start that," her mother replied threateningly. "It only has to roast for thirty minutes."
"Okay," Lorena replied unexpectedly. "I'm gonna go to the laundry room."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some brownies in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the laundry 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," Lorena responded, as she sat down to her brownies. "Let's hang lots of salmon balloons and cover the display case and the washing machine with polka dotted crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother confidently. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Monica Giddings. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a wooden spoon."
"Glaack," Lorena responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a twitch. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."