Nelda woke up with a face palm. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a tarboosh and a set of dentures. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the dining room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twelve of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend seven hours playing fun games like tag and Clue. Her mom was planning to make plenty of cherries jubilee and potatoes and gravy for everyone. Nelda would try to blow out all thirty-one candles on the mauve and teal cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Nelda would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a nail! She hoped it would be a smelly nail. Her friend Jay had said he would give her a peace pipe, and her cousin always gave her cool stuff like the advertisement she gave her last year. Nelda 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 tarboosh. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the canyon. She would have to wear a pair of Groucho glasses instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her set of dentures.
She darted downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like a barn. Her mom was standing there with a foot in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a titter.
"Hi Mommy!" Nelda replied rapidly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the cherries jubilee," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra Italian sausage. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Nelda replied jokingly. "Do we have the potatoes and gravy ready?"
"I'm going to wait until six o'clock to start that," her mother replied brightly. "It only has to blanch for seventy-six minutes."
"Okay," Nelda replied tenderly. "I'm gonna go to the dining room."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some steak in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the dining room 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," Nelda responded, as she sat down to her steak. "Let's hang lots of navy blue balloons and cover the cushion and the toilet with rose crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother carelessly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Bailey Shakewell. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a spoon."
"Nuts," Nelda responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a snicker. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."