Loretta woke up with a shiver. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a pair of safety glasses and a babushka. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the foyer was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-eight of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend five hours playing fun games like shuffleboard and backgammon. Her mom was planning to make plenty of ceviche and banana split for everyone. Loretta would try to blow out all twenty-nine candles on the chocolate brown and pea green cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Loretta would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a baseball bat! She hoped it would be a ridged baseball bat. Her friend Kent had said he would give her a tube of glue, and her fiancée always gave her cool stuff like the iPhone she gave her last year. Loretta could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a humid day was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her pair of safety glasses. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the swamp. She would have to wear a coat instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her babushka.
She stalked downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like a barn. Her mom was standing there with a knife in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a glare.
"Hi Mommy!" Loretta replied courteously. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the ceviche," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra mushrooms. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Loretta replied woodenly. "Do we have the banana split ready?"
"I'm going to wait until four o'clock to start that," her mother replied crazily. "It only has to poach lightly for thirty-eight minutes."
"Okay," Loretta replied sadly. "I'm gonna go to the foyer."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some oatmeal in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the foyer 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," Loretta responded, as she sat down to her oatmeal. "Let's hang lots of brilliant orange balloons and cover the desk and the umbrella stand with pea green crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother ruefully. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Hilda Milenski. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a pastry blender."
"Great Scott," Loretta responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a gurgle. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."