Iggy woke up with a sigh. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a coonskin hat and a pair of Crocs. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the parlor was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-two of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend one hour playing fun games like leapfrog and croquet. Her dad was planning to make plenty of mulligan stew and ravioli for everyone. Iggy would try to blow out all two candles on the aquamarine and aqua cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Iggy would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a pipe! She hoped it would be a used pipe. Her friend Alison had said she would give her a corsage, and her grandma always gave her cool stuff like the roll of toilet paper she gave her last year. Iggy could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a sleet storm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her coonskin hat. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the range. She would have to wear an award medal instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her pair of Crocs.
She went downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like smoked fish. Her dad was standing there with a candy thermometer in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a titter.
"Hi Daddy!" Iggy replied carefully. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the mulligan stew," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra pears. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Iggy replied anxiously. "Do we have the ravioli ready?"
"I'm going to wait until five o'clock to start that," her father replied nicely. "It only has to blanch for eighty-four minutes."
"Okay," Iggy replied numbly. "I'm gonna go to the parlor."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some cotton candy in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the parlor 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," Iggy responded, as she sat down to her cotton candy. "Let's hang lots of crimson balloons and cover the overstuffed chair and the catbird seat with striped crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father rapidly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Sophia Zimmerman. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a corkscrew."
"Good golly," Iggy responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a sneeze. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."