Yvonne woke up with a smile. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a bikini and a headband. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the game room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited fifteen of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend one hour playing fun games like roulette and Clue. Her dad was planning to make plenty of chocolate-covered ants and lasagna for everyone. Yvonne would try to blow out all nine candles on the orange and pea green cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Yvonne would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a ping-pong paddle! She hoped it would be a hand-painted ping-pong paddle. Her friend Zoe had said she would give her a muffin, and her mother-in-law always gave her cool stuff like the joint she gave her last year. Yvonne could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a pelting rainstorm 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 housing development. She would have to wear a hat instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her headband.
She paraded downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like caramel corn. Her dad was standing there with a grater in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a snicker.
"Hi Daddy!" Yvonne replied victoriously. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the chocolate-covered ants," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra minced onion. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Yvonne replied impatiently. "Do we have the lasagna ready?"
"I'm going to wait until nine o'clock to start that," her father replied cautiously. "It only has to blanch for sixty-two minutes."
"Okay," Yvonne replied ruefully. "I'm gonna go to the game room."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some macaroni in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the game room 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," Yvonne responded, as she sat down to her macaroni. "Let's hang lots of violet balloons and cover the footstool and the bench with rose crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father suddenly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Susan Giordano. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a candy thermometer."
"Omigosh," Yvonne responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a coo. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."