Jennessa woke up with a chuckle. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a sari and a wedding dress. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the master bathroom was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited ten of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend one hour playing fun games like duck duck goose and seven-up. Her mom was planning to make plenty of succotash and smoked salmon for everyone. Jennessa would try to blow out all twenty-seven candles on the green and navy blue cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Jennessa would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain an Egyptian mummy! She hoped it would be a waxy Egyptian mummy. Her friend Bruce had said he would give her a camera, and her dad always gave her cool stuff like the microphone she gave her last year. Jennessa could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a dense fog was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her sari. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the marsh. She would have to wear a pair of Bermuda shorts instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her wedding dress.
She scampered downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like pine trees. Her mom was standing there with an egg cutter in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a crow.
"Hi Mommy!" Jennessa replied repeatedly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the succotash," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra green bell peppers. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Jennessa replied busily. "Do we have the smoked salmon ready?"
"I'm going to wait until nine o'clock to start that," her mother replied pitifully. "It only has to sear for seventy-two minutes."
"Okay," Jennessa replied sharply. "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," Jennessa responded, as she sat down to her cotton candy. "Let's hang lots of ivory balloons and cover the umbrella stand and the ping-pong table with azure crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother zestily. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Ella Cantrell. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a whisk."
"Okay then," Jennessa responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a wink. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."