Jennifer woke up with a tear. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a diamond bracelet and a pair of ear muffs. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the boiler room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-six of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend three hours playing fun games like checkers and marbles. Her mom was planning to make plenty of sushi and lobster for everyone. Jennifer would try to blow out all four candles on the purple and khaki cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Jennifer would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain an oriental vase! She hoped it would be a gross oriental vase. Her friend Stu had said he would give her a thumb drive, and her fiancée always gave her cool stuff like the flowerpot she gave her last year. Jennifer could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a bit of precipitation was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her diamond bracelet. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the park. She would have to wear a pair of Bermuda shorts instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her pair of ear muffs.
She slipped downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like Listerine. Her mom was standing there with a piece of cheesecloth in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a flush.
"Hi Mommy!" Jennifer replied ferociously. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the sushi," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra mustard seed. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Jennifer replied cleverly. "Do we have the lobster ready?"
"I'm going to wait until seven o'clock to start that," her mother replied sweetly. "It only has to broil for thirty-four minutes."
"Okay," Jennifer replied tensely. "I'm gonna go to the boiler room."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some dry toast in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the boiler 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," Jennifer responded, as she sat down to her dry toast. "Let's hang lots of aqua balloons and cover the washing machine and the coffee table with purple crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother sadly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Bonnie Yang. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a whisk."
"Oh," Jennifer responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a shout. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."