Mia 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 raincoat and a set of football pads. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the lounge was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited eight of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend four hours playing fun games like duck duck goose and red rover. Her mom was planning to make plenty of hot dogs and hors d'oeuvre for everyone. Mia would try to blow out all eighteen candles on the emerald green and carrot-orange cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Mia would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a bilge pump! She hoped it would be a prickly bilge pump. Her friend Wesley had said he would give her a Hostess Ding Dong, and her dad always gave her cool stuff like the paperclip she gave her last year. Mia could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a tornado was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her raincoat. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the housing development. She would have to wear a dress instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her set of football pads.
She slumped downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like peanut butter. Her mom was standing there with a blender in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a wink.
"Hi Mommy!" Mia replied grandly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the hot dogs," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra red wine. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Mia replied quietly. "Do we have the hors d'oeuvre ready?"
"I'm going to wait until two o'clock to start that," her mother replied crossly. "It only has to bake at 450 degrees F for thirty-eight minutes."
"Okay," Mia replied immediately. "I'm gonna go to the lounge."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some burritos in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the lounge 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," Mia responded, as she sat down to her burritos. "Let's hang lots of magenta balloons and cover the coffee table and the nightstand with sea green crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother trustingly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Gretchen Witherbee. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a grater."
"Zounds," Mia responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a hoot. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."