Kathryn woke up with a sigh. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a bracelet and a tuxedo. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the conservatory was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-five of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend one hour playing fun games like Clue and Simon Says. Her mom was planning to make plenty of candy and pot roast for everyone. Kathryn would try to blow out all twelve candles on the olive drab and terra cotta cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Kathryn would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a church key! She hoped it would be a broken church key. Her friend Phineas had said he would give her a banana, and her girlfriend always gave her cool stuff like the pom-pom she gave her last year. Kathryn could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a dust storm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her bracelet. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the circus tent. She would have to wear a pair of earrings instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her tuxedo.
She strolled downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like beer. Her mom was standing there with a candy thermometer in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a belly laugh.
"Hi Mommy!" Kathryn replied kindly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the candy," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra mozzarella cheese. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Kathryn replied furiously. "Do we have the pot roast ready?"
"I'm going to wait until eleven o'clock to start that," her mother replied furiously. "It only has to press for thirty-eight minutes."
"Okay," Kathryn replied obediently. "I'm gonna go to the conservatory."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some cabbage rolls in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the conservatory 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," Kathryn responded, as she sat down to her cabbage rolls. "Let's hang lots of sea green balloons and cover the bed and the wardrobe with fuchsia crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother later. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Claire Nabokov. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a chopstick."
"Aaack," Kathryn responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a hoot. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."