Irma woke up with a sneeze. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a suit of armor and a dress. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the hall was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited sixteen of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend five hours playing fun games like Candy Land and jacks. Her dad was planning to make plenty of mushroom quiche and country glazed ham for everyone. Irma would try to blow out all nine candles on the emerald green and burgundy cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Irma would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a notepad! She hoped it would be a fluffy notepad. Her friend Roxie had said she would give her a dollar bill, and her cousin always gave her cool stuff like the pot she gave her last year. Irma could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a snowstorm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her suit of armor. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the path. She would have to wear a wizard's hat instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her dress.
She stalked downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like Old Spice. Her dad was standing there with a spoon in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a power fist.
"Hi Daddy!" Irma replied gratefully. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the mushroom quiche," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra ground cumin. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Irma replied speedily. "Do we have the country glazed ham ready?"
"I'm going to wait until eight o'clock to start that," her father replied cruelly. "It only has to whirl for thirty minutes."
"Okay," Irma replied needlessly. "I'm gonna go to the hall."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some roast beef in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the hall 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," Irma responded, as she sat down to her roast beef. "Let's hang lots of carrot-orange balloons and cover the recliner and the piano with aquamarine crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father gleefully. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Fawn Sandman. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a slotted spoon."
"Great Caesar's ghost," Irma responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a snuffle. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."