Judy woke up with a snarl. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in an evening gown and a blouse. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the laundry room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-eight of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend four hours playing fun games like bridge and Snakes and Ladders. Her mom was planning to make plenty of sauerkraut and sweet potatoes for everyone. Judy would try to blow out all twelve candles on the chocolate brown and black cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Judy would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a teacup! She hoped it would be a synthetic teacup. Her friend Jeffrey had said he would give her a pair of binoculars, and her sister-in-law always gave her cool stuff like the doily she gave her last year. Judy could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a rainbow was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her evening gown. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the creek. She would have to wear a surgical mask instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her blouse.
She galloped downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like Avon. Her mom was standing there with a meat tenderizer in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a yawn.
"Hi Mommy!" Judy replied merrily. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the sauerkraut," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra chopped liver. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Judy replied violently. "Do we have the sweet potatoes ready?"
"I'm going to wait until twelve o'clock to start that," her mother replied blissfully. "It only has to sear outside for seventy-six minutes."
"Okay," Judy replied brashly. "I'm gonna go to the laundry room."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some mulligan stew in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the laundry room 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," Judy responded, as she sat down to her mulligan stew. "Let's hang lots of aquamarine balloons and cover the safe and the bath mat with aqua crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother merrily. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Shandra Ireland. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a piece of cheesecloth."
"Ho hum," Judy responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a power fist. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."