Janet woke up with a giggle. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a tinfoil hat and a hat. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the workshop was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-six of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend five hours playing fun games like follow the leader and ring around the rosie. Her mom was planning to make plenty of chicken soup and cinnamon toast for everyone. Janet would try to blow out all six candles on the red and grey cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Janet would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a painting! She hoped it would be a multicolored painting. Her friend Julian had said he would give her a clock, and her sister-in-law always gave her cool stuff like the chess set she gave her last year. Janet could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a lightning storm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her tinfoil hat. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the oasis. She would have to wear a cap instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her hat.
She stormed downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like a Chinese restaurant. Her mom was standing there with a Sham-Wow! in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a chortle.
"Hi Mommy!" Janet replied ingeniously. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the chicken soup," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra habañero peppers. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Janet replied merrily. "Do we have the cinnamon toast ready?"
"I'm going to wait until three o'clock to start that," her mother replied hungrily. "It only has to press for seventy-four minutes."
"Okay," Janet replied timidly. "I'm gonna go to the workshop."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some ramen noodles in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the workshop 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," Janet responded, as she sat down to her ramen noodles. "Let's hang lots of azure balloons and cover the hatstand and the TV with sea green crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother sadly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Eleanor Bailey. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has an electric paint mixer."
"Bless you," Janet responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a snicker. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."