Tiffany woke up with a honk. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a bikini and a sweatshirt. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the study was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited six of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend one hour playing fun games like red light green light and Clue. Her dad was planning to make plenty of tacos and crab rangoon for everyone. Tiffany would try to blow out all thirty-three candles on the teal and jade cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Tiffany would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a rubber chicken! She hoped it would be an authentic rubber chicken. Her friend Eppie had said she would give her a coloring book, and her main squeeze always gave her cool stuff like the bugle she gave her last year. Tiffany could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that an ice storm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her bikini. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the savanna. She would have to wear a pair of bell-bottoms instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her sweatshirt.
She struggled downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like a barnyard. Her dad was standing there with a dull knife in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a hiccup.
"Hi Daddy!" Tiffany replied lovingly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the tacos," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra blue cheese. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Tiffany replied calmly. "Do we have the crab rangoon ready?"
"I'm going to wait until four o'clock to start that," her father replied lickety-split. "It only has to press for thirty-nine minutes."
"Okay," Tiffany replied warmly. "I'm gonna go to the study."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some Hamburger Helper in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the study 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," Tiffany responded, as she sat down to her Hamburger Helper. "Let's hang lots of red balloons and cover the ping-pong table and the billiard table with carrot-orange crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father caustically. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Roxie Payne. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a ladle."
"Lord be praised," Tiffany responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a sniff. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."