Kristi woke up with a grunt. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a pair of glasses and a jogging suit. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the solarium was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited sixteen of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend three hours playing fun games like baseball and dominos. Her mom was planning to make plenty of enchiladas and blueberry pie for everyone. Kristi would try to blow out all twelve candles on the ivory and emerald green cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Kristi would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a feather! She hoped it would be a gaudy feather. Her friend Damon had said he would give her an amulet, and her sister always gave her cool stuff like the piece of paper she gave her last year. Kristi could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a drizzle was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her pair of glasses. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the swamp. She would have to wear a beret instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her jogging suit.
She cantered downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like a laundry. Her mom was standing there with a meat tenderizer in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a cringe.
"Hi Mommy!" Kristi replied peevishly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the enchiladas," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra ground lamb. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Kristi replied reluctantly. "Do we have the blueberry pie ready?"
"I'm going to wait until three o'clock to start that," her mother replied deliberately. "It only has to whirl for fifty-five minutes."
"Okay," Kristi replied wearily. "I'm gonna go to the solarium."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some squash blossom soup in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the solarium 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," Kristi responded, as she sat down to her squash blossom soup. "Let's hang lots of fuchsia balloons and cover the futon and the hamper with brown crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother intensely. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Amanda Eaton. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a candy thermometer."
"Bilge," Kristi responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a coo. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."