Andrea woke up with a coo. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a sweater and a pair of cycling shorts. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the corridor was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited eight of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend eight hours playing fun games like treasure hunt and duck duck goose. Her mom was planning to make plenty of pecan pie and lobster bisque for everyone. Andrea would try to blow out all twenty-nine candles on the terra cotta and jet black cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Andrea would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a diagram! She hoped it would be a grubby diagram. Her friend Blake had said he would give her a padlock, and her fiancée always gave her cool stuff like the pencil sharpener she gave her last year. Andrea could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a tornado was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her sweater. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the hillside. She would have to wear a set of dentures instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her pair of cycling shorts.
She sneaked downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like vanilla. Her mom was standing there with a strainer in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a hoot.
"Hi Mommy!" Andrea replied grudgingly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the pecan pie," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra shallots. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Andrea replied shyly. "Do we have the lobster bisque ready?"
"I'm going to wait until ten o'clock to start that," her mother replied fervently. "It only has to simmer for three minutes."
"Okay," Andrea replied lickety-split. "I'm gonna go to the corridor."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some crab rangoon in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the corridor 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," Andrea responded, as she sat down to her crab rangoon. "Let's hang lots of carrot-orange balloons and cover the stairway and the stairway with silver crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother sleepily. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Mary Lou John. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has an oven mitt."
"Is that a fact," Andrea responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a yawn. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."