Meredith woke up with a wink. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a fig leaf and a headband. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the master bathroom was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited four of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend eight hours playing fun games like Snakes and Ladders and battleship. Her mom was planning to make plenty of waffles and egg rolls for everyone. Meredith would try to blow out all five candles on the polka dotted and periwinkle cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Meredith would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a telephone book! She hoped it would be a hefty telephone book. Her friend Dick had said he would give her a flashlight, and her mentor always gave her cool stuff like the fossil she gave her last year. Meredith could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a rainbow was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her fig leaf. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the creek. She would have to wear a bicycle helmet instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her headband.
She waded downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like roses. Her mom was standing there with a wooden spoon in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a guffaw.
"Hi Mommy!" Meredith replied nicely. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the waffles," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra pitted black olives. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Meredith replied sarcastically. "Do we have the egg rolls ready?"
"I'm going to wait until eight o'clock to start that," her mother replied smoothly. "It only has to whirl for eighty-two minutes."
"Okay," Meredith replied dolefully. "I'm gonna go to the master bathroom."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some cotton candy in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the master bathroom 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," Meredith responded, as she sat down to her cotton candy. "Let's hang lots of navy blue balloons and cover the desk and the windowsill with fuchsia crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother wildly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Diane Sewell. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a piece of cheesecloth."
"Diddly poo," Meredith responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a sigh. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."