Katherine woke up with a wink. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a badge and a midi skirt. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the billiard room 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 Cootie and tennis. Her dad was planning to make plenty of spaghetti and pretzels for everyone. Katherine would try to blow out all thirteen candles on the blue and tan cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Katherine would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a Happy Meal! She hoped it would be a funny Happy Meal. Her friend Lucia had said she would give her a tennis racket, and her sister always gave her cool stuff like the peach she gave her last year. Katherine could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a rainstorm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her badge. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the pond. She would have to wear a sweater instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her midi skirt.
She sprinted downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like a pig. Her dad was standing there with a meat tenderizer in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a furrowed brow.
"Hi Daddy!" Katherine replied courteously. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the spaghetti," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra fresh mushrooms. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Katherine replied curiously. "Do we have the pretzels ready?"
"I'm going to wait until one o'clock to start that," her father replied quickly. "It only has to blend for fifty-nine minutes."
"Okay," Katherine replied valiantly. "I'm gonna go to the billiard room."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some fried eggs in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the billiard room first?" she begged.
"It looks just like it always does," her father replied. "Remember, I'm depending on you to help with the decorating."
"Oh yeah," Katherine responded, as she sat down to her fried eggs. "Let's hang lots of crimson balloons and cover the table and the counter with blue crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father carefully. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Penny Sanders. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a knife."
"Yoohoo," Katherine responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a squint. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."