Amanda woke up with a face palm. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a fez and a fez. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the atrium was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend four hours playing fun games like ring around the rosie and cribbage. Her dad was planning to make plenty of popcorn and lobster bisque for everyone. Amanda would try to blow out all nineteen candles on the beige and magenta cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Amanda would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a mop! She hoped it would be a sophisticated mop. Her friend Tess had said she would give her a hand puppet, and her cousin always gave her cool stuff like the purse she gave her last year. Amanda could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a tornado was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her fez. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the dump. She would have to wear a miniskirt instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her fez.
She traipsed downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like Avon. Her dad was standing there with a fork in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a beam.
"Hi Daddy!" Amanda replied reluctantly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the popcorn," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra fava beans. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Amanda replied shakily. "Do we have the lobster bisque ready?"
"I'm going to wait until two o'clock to start that," her father replied suddenly. "It only has to freeze for forty-four minutes."
"Okay," Amanda replied brightly. "I'm gonna go to the atrium."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some cabbage rolls in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the atrium 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," Amanda responded, as she sat down to her cabbage rolls. "Let's hang lots of purple balloons and cover the billiard table and the wooden crate with carrot-orange crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father suspiciously. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Rhoda Oglesby. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a pair of chopsticks."
"Bingo," Amanda responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a shout. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."