Pippa woke up with a bow. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a pair of panties and a nightgown. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the workshop was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited ten of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend six hours playing fun games like rummy and charades. Her mom was planning to make plenty of potatoes and gravy and fried eggs for everyone. Pippa would try to blow out all six candles on the yellow and sparkly cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Pippa would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a joint! She hoped it would be a gigantic joint. Her friend Klaus had said he would give her a hacksaw, and her grandma always gave her cool stuff like the African violet she gave her last year. Pippa could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a sandstorm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her pair of panties. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the briar patch. She would have to wear a visor instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her nightgown.
She paraded downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like black pepper. Her mom was standing there with an egg cutter in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a sniff.
"Hi Mommy!" Pippa replied surreptitiously. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the potatoes and gravy," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra calamari. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Pippa replied woefully. "Do we have the fried eggs ready?"
"I'm going to wait until ten o'clock to start that," her mother replied immediately. "It only has to bake at 450 degrees F for eighty-seven minutes."
"Okay," Pippa replied despondently. "I'm gonna go to the workshop."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some omelet in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the workshop 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," Pippa responded, as she sat down to her omelet. "Let's hang lots of rose balloons and cover the card table and the card table with violet crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother warily. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Wendy Cox. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a meat thermometer."
"Dadgum," Pippa responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a honk. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."