Izzy woke up with a chortle. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a tie and a big smile. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the basement was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-nine of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend eight hours playing fun games like hide and seek and charades. Her dad was planning to make plenty of oatmeal and pot roast for everyone. Izzy would try to blow out all twenty-three candles on the metallic red and beige cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Izzy would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a contract! She hoped it would be a hard contract. Her friend Marybel had said she would give her a paper clip, and her mentor always gave her cool stuff like the blanket she gave her last year. Izzy could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a driving rain was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her tie. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the wasteland. She would have to wear a trench coat instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her big smile.
She pranced downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like cinnamon rolls. Her dad was standing there with an egg cutter in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a squint.
"Hi Daddy!" Izzy replied anxiously. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the oatmeal," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra lime juice. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Izzy replied obediently. "Do we have the pot roast ready?"
"I'm going to wait until ten o'clock to start that," her father replied brightly. "It only has to fry briskly in shiny skillet for sixty-seven minutes."
"Okay," Izzy replied oddly. "I'm gonna go to the basement."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some pot roast in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the basement 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," Izzy responded, as she sat down to her pot roast. "Let's hang lots of olive green balloons and cover the wardrobe and the stairway with lime-green crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father brightly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Hattie Arp. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a turkey baster."
"Dang it," Izzy responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a tear. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."