Nan woke up with a wag of the finger. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a surgical mask and a pair of flip-flops. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the tool shed was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited five of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend three hours playing fun games like red rover and baseball. Her mom was planning to make plenty of Swiss cheese and ham for everyone. Nan would try to blow out all ten candles on the chartreuse and black cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Nan would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a pair of fuzzy dice! She hoped it would be a weird pair of fuzzy dice. Her friend Arnold had said he would give her a rock, and her cousin always gave her cool stuff like the spool of thread she gave her last year. Nan could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a snowstorm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her surgical mask. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the park. She would have to wear a set of braces instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her pair of flip-flops.
She scampered downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like tacos. Her mom was standing there with a dull knife in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a cackle.
"Hi Mommy!" Nan replied unabashedly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the Swiss cheese," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra hot water. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Nan replied viciously. "Do we have the ham ready?"
"I'm going to wait until one o'clock to start that," her mother replied gently. "It only has to fry peevishly in tiny skillet for forty-nine minutes."
"Okay," Nan replied strangely. "I'm gonna go to the tool shed."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some pizza in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the tool shed 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," Nan responded, as she sat down to her pizza. "Let's hang lots of salmon balloons and cover the coat rack and the bench with maroon crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother tensely. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Leslie Jensen. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a spatula."
"Wow," Nan responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a bow. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."