Barb woke up with a death glare. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a pair of booties and a beach towel. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the kitchen was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited three of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend three hours playing fun games like marbles and marbles. Her dad was planning to make plenty of Swiss cheese and burritos for everyone. Barb would try to blow out all twenty-nine candles on the lavender and red cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Barb would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a dictionary! She hoped it would be a smumpy dictionary. Her friend Stella had said she would give her an iPod, and her cousin always gave her cool stuff like the top she gave her last year. Barb could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a rainbow was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her pair of booties. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the pond. She would have to wear a sundress instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her beach towel.
She strode downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like rain. Her dad was standing there with a candy thermometer in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a woof.
"Hi Daddy!" Barb replied menacingly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the Swiss cheese," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra pickled peppers. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Barb replied craftily. "Do we have the burritos ready?"
"I'm going to wait until ten o'clock to start that," her father replied lovingly. "It only has to shake for seventeen minutes."
"Okay," Barb replied angrily. "I'm gonna go to the kitchen."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some country glazed ham in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the kitchen 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," Barb responded, as she sat down to her country glazed ham. "Let's hang lots of orange balloons and cover the card table and the hope chest with green crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father angrily. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Debbie Marsden. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a garlic press."
"Hold that thought," Barb responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a bound. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."