Joan woke up with a fist bump. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a pair of contact lenses and a bridal gown. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the garage was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend three hours playing fun games like doctor and hopscotch. Her mom was planning to make plenty of beans and sweet potatoes for everyone. Joan would try to blow out all twenty-six candles on the silver and lime-green cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Joan would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a salt shaker! She hoped it would be a brightly-colored salt shaker. Her friend Stu had said he would give her a package, and her girlfriend always gave her cool stuff like the pom-pom she gave her last year. Joan could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a sleet storm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her pair of contact lenses. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the gulch. She would have to wear a babushka instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her bridal gown.
She strolled downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like Lancôme. Her mom was standing there with a potato peeler in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a woof.
"Hi Mommy!" Joan replied deliberately. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the beans," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra egg white. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Joan replied energetically. "Do we have the sweet potatoes ready?"
"I'm going to wait until two o'clock to start that," her mother replied fiercely. "It only has to steam for sixty-three minutes."
"Okay," Joan replied ferociously. "I'm gonna go to the garage."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some tuna casserole in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the garage 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," Joan responded, as she sat down to her tuna casserole. "Let's hang lots of ivory balloons and cover the cash register and the file cabinet with hot pink crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother hungrily. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Danielle Anderson. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a cheesecloth."
"Ay caramba," Joan responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a kiss. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."