Lindsey woke up with a bow. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a lab coat and an armband. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the billiard room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-four of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend seven hours playing fun games like seven-up and Simon Says. Her dad was planning to make plenty of ice cream and chicken soup for everyone. Lindsey would try to blow out all twenty-seven candles on the pea green and amber cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Lindsey would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a potato! She hoped it would be a miniature potato. Her friend Eleanor had said she would give her a rock, and her mother-in-law always gave her cool stuff like the backpack she gave her last year. Lindsey could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a hurricane was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her lab coat. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the river. She would have to wear a Hawaiian shirt instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her armband.
She zipped downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like Yves Saint Laurent. Her dad was standing there with a napkin in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a smack.
"Hi Daddy!" Lindsey replied ingeniously. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the ice cream," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra black olives. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Lindsey replied violently. "Do we have the chicken soup ready?"
"I'm going to wait until four o'clock to start that," her father replied crazily. "It only has to steam for fourteen minutes."
"Okay," Lindsey replied fearlessly. "I'm gonna go to the billiard room."
"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 billiard room 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," Lindsey responded, as she sat down to her country glazed ham. "Let's hang lots of olive drab balloons and cover the dresser and the dishwasher with beige crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father again. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Lindsey Anderson. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a chopstick."
"Aaah," Lindsey responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a woof. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."