Kathy woke up with a snuffle. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a helmet and a beret. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the lounge was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twelve of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend four hours playing fun games like croquet and chess. Her mom was planning to make plenty of lamb curry and spaghetti for everyone. Kathy would try to blow out all eleven candles on the striped and navy blue cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Kathy would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a tote bag! She hoped it would be a dry tote bag. Her friend Albert had said he would give her a tube of glue, and her grandfather always gave her cool stuff like the mushroom she gave her last year. Kathy 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 helmet. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the cliff. She would have to wear a pair of bloomers instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her beret.
She straggled downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like cigars. Her mom was standing there with a pair of chopsticks in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a finger gun.
"Hi Mommy!" Kathy replied brashly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the lamb curry," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra poppy seeds. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Kathy replied urgently. "Do we have the spaghetti ready?"
"I'm going to wait until six o'clock to start that," her mother replied doubtfully. "It only has to refrigerate overnight for sixty-nine minutes."
"Okay," Kathy replied violently. "I'm gonna go to the lounge."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some succotash in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the lounge 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," Kathy responded, as she sat down to her succotash. "Let's hang lots of chartreuse balloons and cover the recliner and the floor with terra cotta crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother awkwardly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Kristi Tyson. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a pastry blender."
"I doubt it," Kathy responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a hiccup. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."