Renee woke up with a bow. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a military uniform and a pair of galoshes. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the boudoir was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-four of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend three hours playing fun games like Snakes and Ladders and duck duck goose. Her dad was planning to make plenty of biscuits and gravy and clam chowder for everyone. Renee would try to blow out all thirteen candles on the brown and forest green cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Renee would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a bag of potato chips! She hoped it would be a flexible bag of potato chips. Her friend Taylor had said she would give her a beach ball, and her sister always gave her cool stuff like the saw she gave her last year. Renee could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a humid day was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her military uniform. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the savanna. She would have to wear a jacket instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her pair of galoshes.
She sashayed downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like an ashtray. Her dad was standing there with a chopstick in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a hoot.
"Hi Daddy!" Renee replied gently. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the biscuits and gravy," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra canned pineapple. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Renee replied happily. "Do we have the clam chowder ready?"
"I'm going to wait until one o'clock to start that," her father replied recklessly. "It only has to roast for eighty-eight minutes."
"Okay," Renee replied temperamentally. "I'm gonna go to the boudoir."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some pizza in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the boudoir 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," Renee responded, as she sat down to her pizza. "Let's hang lots of pink balloons and cover the beanbag chair and the cushion with metallic red crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father nicely. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Frances Kettle. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a pastry blender."
"Verily," Renee responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a grin. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."