Ida woke up with a shrug. 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 mortarboard. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the attic was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-four of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend four hours playing fun games like jump rope and Rummy. Her dad was planning to make plenty of ice cream and hot dogs for everyone. Ida would try to blow out all thirteen candles on the ivory and olive green cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Ida would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a coloring book! She hoped it would be an imitation coloring book. Her friend Olive had said she would give her an air compressor, and her mommy always gave her cool stuff like the billfold she gave her last year. Ida could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a hailstorm 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 pasture. She would have to wear a pair of socks instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her mortarboard.
She skidded downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like maple syrup. Her dad was standing there with an oven mitt in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a stiff upper lip.
"Hi Daddy!" Ida replied accidentally. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the ice cream," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra pâté de foie gras. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Ida replied craftily. "Do we have the hot dogs ready?"
"I'm going to wait until ten o'clock to start that," her father replied confidently. "It only has to age for twenty minutes."
"Okay," Ida replied boisterously. "I'm gonna go to the attic."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some steak in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the attic 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," Ida responded, as she sat down to her steak. "Let's hang lots of crimson balloons and cover the safe and the cupboard with sea green crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father irritably. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Susie Ordway. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a turkey baster."
"Holy smokes," Ida responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a flush. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."