Clara woke up with a hoot. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a bib and a mortarboard. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the parlor was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-two of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend seven hours playing fun games like solitaire and Scrabble. Her mom was planning to make plenty of chicken soup and dry toast for everyone. Clara would try to blow out all twenty-four candles on the aquamarine and brilliant orange cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Clara would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a magnifying glass! She hoped it would be a gleaming magnifying glass. Her friend Mookie had said he would give her a ball, and her friend always gave her cool stuff like the backpack she gave her last year. Clara could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a sandstorm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her bib. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the canyon. She would have to wear a business suit instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her mortarboard.
She galumphed downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like pesto. Her mom was standing there with a pair of tongs in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a hoot.
"Hi Mommy!" Clara replied lickety-split. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the chicken soup," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra frozen spinach. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Clara replied immediately. "Do we have the dry toast ready?"
"I'm going to wait until five o'clock to start that," her mother replied calmly. "It only has to press for forty-seven minutes."
"Okay," Clara replied cruelly. "I'm gonna go to the parlor."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some pot roast in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the parlor 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," Clara responded, as she sat down to her pot roast. "Let's hang lots of khaki balloons and cover the piano and the windowsill with periwinkle crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother glumly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Jessi Woodruff. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a melon baller."
"Alrighty," Clara responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a dope slap. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."