Ana woke up with a hiccup. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a cocktail dress and a romper. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the bedroom was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-eight of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend six hours playing fun games like baseball and poker. Her mom was planning to make plenty of Swiss cheese and burritos for everyone. Ana would try to blow out all eleven candles on the salmon and beige cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Ana would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a bowl! She hoped it would be an expensive bowl. Her friend Vilmer had said he would give her a bouquet, and her grandfather always gave her cool stuff like the billiard ball she gave her last year. Ana could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a hot, sunny day was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her cocktail dress. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the seashore. She would have to wear a raincoat instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her romper.
She crept downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like vinegar. Her mom was standing there with a candy thermometer in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a backward glance.
"Hi Mommy!" Ana replied coldly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the Swiss cheese," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra brown sugar. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Ana replied glumly. "Do we have the burritos ready?"
"I'm going to wait until ten o'clock to start that," her mother replied lazily. "It only has to bake at 450 degrees F for forty-five minutes."
"Okay," Ana replied cautiously. "I'm gonna go to the bedroom."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some ham in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the bedroom 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," Ana responded, as she sat down to her ham. "Let's hang lots of sea green balloons and cover the TV and the pedestal with teal crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother madly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Sharice Xu. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a meat thermometer."
"Get out," Ana responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a raspberry. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."