Pippa woke up with a snigger. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a raincoat and a stethoscope. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the doghouse was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twelve of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend three hours playing fun games like jacks and tennis. Her mom was planning to make plenty of pecan pie and banana split for everyone. Pippa would try to blow out all twenty candles on the chartreuse and polka dotted cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Pippa would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a wastebasket! She hoped it would be a large wastebasket. Her friend Perry had said he would give her a pearl, and her cousin always gave her cool stuff like the ashtray she gave her last year. Pippa 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 raincoat. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the desert. She would have to wear a cardigan instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her stethoscope.
She zoomed downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like rubbing alcohol. Her mom was standing there with a paring knife in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a wag of the finger.
"Hi Mommy!" Pippa replied madly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the pecan pie," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra egg yolks. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Pippa replied properly. "Do we have the banana split ready?"
"I'm going to wait until three o'clock to start that," her mother replied diligently. "It only has to deep fry for forty-one minutes."
"Okay," Pippa replied humbly. "I'm gonna go to the doghouse."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some applesauce in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the doghouse 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," Pippa responded, as she sat down to her applesauce. "Let's hang lots of fuchsia balloons and cover the china hutch and the bookcase with sea green crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother anxiously. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Dagmar Smith. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a cookie cutter."
"Gadzooks," Pippa responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a cheer. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."