Lakshmi woke up with a snicker. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a pair of bell-bottoms and a bedsheet. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the family room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited nine of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend six hours playing fun games like Scrabble and Rummy. Her mom was planning to make plenty of country glazed ham and cookies for everyone. Lakshmi would try to blow out all two candles on the carrot-orange and pea green cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Lakshmi would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a spinning wheel! She hoped it would be a ragged spinning wheel. Her friend Cat had said he would give her a bugle, and her cousin always gave her cool stuff like the doll she gave her last year. Lakshmi could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a hurricane was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her pair of bell-bottoms. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the park. She would have to wear a T-shirt instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her bedsheet.
She cantered downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like carnations. Her mom was standing there with an ice pick in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a smile.
"Hi Mommy!" Lakshmi replied sheepishly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the country glazed ham," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra carrots. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Lakshmi replied wildly. "Do we have the cookies ready?"
"I'm going to wait until four o'clock to start that," her mother replied unabashedly. "It only has to whirl for fifty minutes."
"Okay," Lakshmi replied clumsily. "I'm gonna go to the family room."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some pancakes in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the family 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," Lakshmi responded, as she sat down to her pancakes. "Let's hang lots of chocolate brown balloons and cover the ottoman and the hope chest with pink crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother admiringly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Savannah Sibley. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a mixing spoon."
"OMG," Lakshmi responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a chortle. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."