Beth
Around 5pm my fingers were getting too cold and too stiff to continue working. Besides that I was hearing a lot of suspicious noises coming from the front of the house, so I thought I better check to see what my precocious daughter was up to with this party plan of hers.
I stumbled to a stop as I entered the living room from the back hall. For a moment I just felt confused, like I had accidentally walked into the wrong house. The furniture had been moved, and there was now a long table in the center of the room draped with a white table cloth. Silver and gold balloons were everywhere, with silver streamers and gold candles and a giant gold foil cut out that said HAPPY NEW YEAR. There were more balloons in the shape of numbers making out the new year. In the center of the table was
