Katherine 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 pair of Crocs and a pair of nylons. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the basement was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited fourteen of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend one hour playing fun games like follow the leader and tag. Her mom was planning to make plenty of apple pie and Cheerios for everyone. Katherine would try to blow out all eight candles on the maroon and camouflage cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Katherine would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a muffin! She hoped it would be a soft muffin. Her friend Gus had said he would give her an iPod, and her girlfriend always gave her cool stuff like the artificial flower she gave her last year. Katherine 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 pair of Crocs. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the park. She would have to wear a gorilla suit instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her pair of nylons.
She bounced downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like Pine-Sol. Her mom was standing there with a dull knife in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a smirk.
"Hi Mommy!" Katherine replied hopelessly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the apple pie," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra black olives. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Katherine replied unabashedly. "Do we have the Cheerios ready?"
"I'm going to wait until two o'clock to start that," her mother replied narrowly. "It only has to melt for twenty-seven minutes."
"Okay," Katherine replied gratefully. "I'm gonna go to the basement."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some jambalaya in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the basement 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," Katherine responded, as she sat down to her jambalaya. "Let's hang lots of red balloons and cover the settee and the bookcase with aquamarine crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother victoriously. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Bettie Lou Weiner. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a corkscrew."
"Phew," Katherine responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a caress. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."