Nookie woke up with an air kiss. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a cummerbund and a heavy layer of makeup. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the porch was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited eleven of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend six hours playing fun games like red rover and trivia. Her mom was planning to make plenty of roast beef and beef bouillon for everyone. Nookie would try to blow out all eleven candles on the white and striped cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Nookie would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a box of candy! She hoped it would be a damaged box of candy. Her friend Kellen had said he would give her a bouquet, and her mommy always gave her cool stuff like the Barbie doll she gave her last year. Nookie could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a typhoon was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her cummerbund. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the hill. She would have to wear a pair of dungarees instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her heavy layer of makeup.
She sidled downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like flowers. Her mom was standing there with an electric paint mixer in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a laugh.
"Hi Mommy!" Nookie replied courageously. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the roast beef," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra graham crackers. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Nookie replied tenderly. "Do we have the beef bouillon ready?"
"I'm going to wait until six o'clock to start that," her mother replied angrily. "It only has to place on serving dish for twenty-three minutes."
"Okay," Nookie replied wryly. "I'm gonna go to the porch."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some pizza in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the porch 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," Nookie responded, as she sat down to her pizza. "Let's hang lots of amber balloons and cover the chair and the carpet with white crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother sarcastically. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Celeste DomÃnguez. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a Sham-Wow!."
"Yoohoo," Nookie responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a cringe. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."