Jeri woke up with a sniff. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a snipe costume and a robe. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the doghouse was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited three of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend four hours playing fun games like old maid and solitaire. Her mom was planning to make plenty of omelet and lobster bisque for everyone. Jeri would try to blow out all eight candles on the maroon and hot pink cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Jeri would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a flyswatter! She hoped it would be a bulky flyswatter. Her friend Matt had said he would give her a Bunsen burner, and her mother always gave her cool stuff like the Bible she gave her last year. Jeri could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a downpour was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her snipe costume. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the neighborhood. She would have to wear a poodle skirt instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her robe.
She scurried downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like chicken soup. Her mom was standing there with a chopstick in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a sniff.
"Hi Mommy!" Jeri replied lovingly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the omelet," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra chocolate chips. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Jeri replied ignobly. "Do we have the lobster bisque ready?"
"I'm going to wait until one o'clock to start that," her mother replied strictly. "It only has to smoke for forty-five minutes."
"Okay," Jeri replied arrogantly. "I'm gonna go to the doghouse."
"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 doghouse 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," Jeri responded, as she sat down to her fried eggs. "Let's hang lots of jet black balloons and cover the nightstand and the desk with indigo crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother gleefully. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Vivian Dion. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a piece of cheesecloth."
"Yes," Jeri responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a squint. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."