Janice woke up with an evil eye. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a pair of tights and a cheerleader's uniform. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the patio was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited nine of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend two hours playing fun games like dodge ball and Scrabble. Her dad was planning to make plenty of succotash and waffles for everyone. Janice would try to blow out all six candles on the rose and olive green cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Janice would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a suitcase! She hoped it would be a ridged suitcase. Her friend Abbie had said she would give her a hand puppet, and her mentor always gave her cool stuff like the rag she gave her last year. Janice could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a bit of precipitation was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her pair of tights. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the forest. She would have to wear a set of camo fatigues instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her cheerleader's uniform.
She skittered downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like baked beans. Her dad was standing there with a napkin in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a raspberry.
"Hi Daddy!" Janice replied innocently. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the succotash," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra lime Jell-O. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Janice replied frenetically. "Do we have the waffles ready?"
"I'm going to wait until two o'clock to start that," her father replied lightly. "It only has to microwave for eighty-seven minutes."
"Okay," Janice replied reluctantly. "I'm gonna go to the patio."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some chicken chow mein in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the patio first?" she begged.
"It looks just like it always does," her father replied. "Remember, I'm depending on you to help with the decorating."
"Oh yeah," Janice responded, as she sat down to her chicken chow mein. "Let's hang lots of striped balloons and cover the table and the nightstand with sparkly crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father cleverly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Elvira Eastwood. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a whisk."
"Holy mackerel," Janice responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a cackle. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."