Ursula woke up with a hiccup. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a set of camo fatigues and a dog collar. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the porch was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited six of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend eight hours playing fun games like follow the leader and blackjack. Her dad was planning to make plenty of scrambled eggs and hamburgers for everyone. Ursula would try to blow out all eighteen candles on the aqua and azure cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Ursula would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a church key! She hoped it would be a sleek church key. Her friend Celeste had said she would give her a jar of olives, and her sister-in-law always gave her cool stuff like the coconut she gave her last year. Ursula could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a lightning storm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her set of camo fatigues. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the lakeside. She would have to wear a motorcycle helmet instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her dog collar.
She cantered downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like meatloaf. Her dad was standing there with a garlic press in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a snuffle.
"Hi Daddy!" Ursula replied fearlessly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the scrambled eggs," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra turkey. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Ursula replied grimly. "Do we have the hamburgers ready?"
"I'm going to wait until seven o'clock to start that," her father replied anxiously. "It only has to smoke for fifty-six minutes."
"Okay," Ursula replied doubtfully. "I'm gonna go to the porch."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some chopped liver in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the porch 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," Ursula responded, as she sat down to her chopped liver. "Let's hang lots of carrot-orange balloons and cover the piano and the card table with crimson crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father warmly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Isabel Hopper. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a meat thermometer."
"Anyhow," Ursula responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a gasp. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."