Ida woke up with a wink. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a pair of knickers and a flak jacket. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the boiler room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited eighteen of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend two hours playing fun games like follow the leader and crazy eights. Her mom was planning to make plenty of borscht and strawberry shortcake for everyone. Ida would try to blow out all twelve candles on the ivory and forest green cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Ida would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a package! She hoped it would be a petite package. Her friend Tom had said he would give her a boomerang, and her mother-in-law always gave her cool stuff like the advertisement she gave her last year. Ida 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 knickers. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the dump. She would have to wear a pair of shorts instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her flak jacket.
She waddled downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like rotting meat. Her mom was standing there with a meat thermometer in her hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" she said with a jeer.
"Hi Mommy!" Ida replied blankly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the borscht," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra pitted black olives. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Ida replied uneasily. "Do we have the strawberry shortcake ready?"
"I'm going to wait until five o'clock to start that," her mother replied thoughtfully. "It only has to spread into container for sixty-four minutes."
"Okay," Ida replied frantically. "I'm gonna go to the boiler room."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some chicken pot pie in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the boiler room first?" she begged.
"It looks just like it always does," her mother replied. "Remember, I'm depending on you to help with the decorating."
"Oh yeah," Ida responded, as she sat down to her chicken pot pie. "Let's hang lots of amber balloons and cover the bench and the crib with purple crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her mother lightly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Fanny Greenside. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a potato peeler."
"Alrighty," Ida responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a sneer. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."