Nadine woke up with a smile. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a pocket watch and a pair of gloves. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the basement was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited six of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend seven hours playing fun games like dodge ball and tennis. Her mom was planning to make plenty of brownies and borscht for everyone. Nadine would try to blow out all thirty-two candles on the fuchsia and olive drab cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Nadine would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a bugle! She hoped it would be a soft bugle. Her friend Mark had said he would give her a ball, and her grandfather always gave her cool stuff like the grease gun she gave her last year. Nadine could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a hurricane was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her pocket watch. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the mountain. She would have to wear a ring instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her pair of gloves.
She whirled downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like peanut butter. Her mom was standing there with a Sham-Wow! in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a jeer.
"Hi Mommy!" Nadine replied speedily. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the brownies," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra mustard seed. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Nadine replied temperamentally. "Do we have the borscht ready?"
"I'm going to wait until two o'clock to start that," her mother replied gingerly. "It only has to bake at 450 degrees F for twenty-two minutes."
"Okay," Nadine replied timidly. "I'm gonna go to the basement."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some roast Cornish game hen in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the basement 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," Nadine responded, as she sat down to her roast Cornish game hen. "Let's hang lots of indigo balloons and cover the cupboard and the cupboard with olive green crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother slowly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Tracy Knotts. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a corkscrew."
"Ugh," Nadine responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a pound of the chest. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."