Winnie woke up with a grimace. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a poodle skirt and a headband. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the lounge was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-four of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend four hours playing fun games like Rummy and leapfrog. Her mom was planning to make plenty of omelet and ramen noodles for everyone. Winnie would try to blow out all thirty-four candles on the forest green and magenta cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Winnie would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a basketball! She hoped it would be an automatic basketball. Her friend Lucas had said he would give her a vacuum cleaner, and her dad always gave her cool stuff like the business card she gave her last year. Winnie could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a hot day was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her poodle skirt. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the prairie. She would have to wear a coat instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her headband.
She marched downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like perfume. Her mom was standing there with a garlic press in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a belch.
"Hi Mommy!" Winnie replied thankfully. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the omelet," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra hard-cooked eggs. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Winnie replied majestically. "Do we have the ramen noodles ready?"
"I'm going to wait until five o'clock to start that," her mother replied excitedly. "It only has to freeze for twenty-six minutes."
"Okay," Winnie replied stealthily. "I'm gonna go to the lounge."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some refried beans 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," Winnie responded, as she sat down to her refried beans. "Let's hang lots of terra cotta balloons and cover the cushion and the hatstand with sparkly crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother dreamily. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Penny Broghammer. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a dull knife."
"Thanks for nothing," Winnie responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with an evil eye. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."