Loretta woke up with a hoot. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a balaclava and a pair of boxing gloves. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the pool room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited eighteen of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend two hours playing fun games like bridge and croquet. Her dad was planning to make plenty of country glazed ham and roast Cornish game hen for everyone. Loretta would try to blow out all twenty-six candles on the peach and crimson cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Loretta would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a smart phone! She hoped it would be a colossal smart phone. Her friend Edith had said she would give her a teapot, and her mother-in-law always gave her cool stuff like the bugle she gave her last year. Loretta could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a blanket of mist was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her balaclava. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the hayfield. She would have to wear a toupee instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her pair of boxing gloves.
She skittered downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like cloves. Her dad was standing there with a potato peeler in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a snort.
"Hi Daddy!" Loretta replied humbly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the country glazed ham," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra shrimp. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Loretta replied nonchalantly. "Do we have the roast Cornish game hen ready?"
"I'm going to wait until eleven o'clock to start that," her father replied charmingly. "It only has to heat in microwave for thirty-seven minutes."
"Okay," Loretta replied bitterly. "I'm gonna go to the pool room."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some ice cream in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the pool room first?" she begged.
"It looks just like it always does," her father replied. "Remember, I'm depending on you to help with the decorating."
"Oh yeah," Loretta responded, as she sat down to her ice cream. "Let's hang lots of beige balloons and cover the fainting couch and the cupboard with yellow crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father majestically. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Lucia Crabtree. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a blender."
"Not on your life," Loretta responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a cheer. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."