Cecelia woke up with a raised eyebrow. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a wizard's hat and a dress. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the outhouse was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited nineteen of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend three hours playing fun games like Mother May I and Clue. Her dad was planning to make plenty of lasagna and lamb curry for everyone. Cecelia would try to blow out all twenty-one candles on the forest green and brilliant orange cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Cecelia would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a chair! She hoped it would be a polka-dotted chair. Her friend Sheila had said she would give her a screwdriver, and her girlfriend always gave her cool stuff like the coin she gave her last year. Cecelia could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a thunderstorm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her wizard's hat. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the marsh. She would have to wear a gladiator helmet instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her dress.
She inched downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like leather. Her dad was standing there with a grater in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a honk.
"Hi Daddy!" Cecelia replied admiringly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the lasagna," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra chopped pecans. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Cecelia replied strangely. "Do we have the lamb curry ready?"
"I'm going to wait until twelve o'clock to start that," her father replied viciously. "It only has to sauté for sixty-four minutes."
"Okay," Cecelia replied vigorously. "I'm gonna go to the outhouse."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some macaroni and cheese in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the outhouse 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," Cecelia responded, as she sat down to her macaroni and cheese. "Let's hang lots of purple balloons and cover the coat rack and the dining table with jade crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father grandly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Harriet Finley. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a basting brush."
"Jiminy crickets," Cecelia responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a wag of the finger. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."