Carla woke up with a titter. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a letter jacket and a cardigan. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the boiler room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited eight of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend six hours playing fun games like ring around the rosie and charades. Her dad was planning to make plenty of dry toast and sauerkraut for everyone. Carla would try to blow out all twelve candles on the jade and terra cotta cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Carla would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a coin! She hoped it would be a worn coin. Her friend Fanny had said she would give her a pair of headphones, and her friend always gave her cool stuff like the bird feeder she gave her last year. Carla could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a driving rain was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her letter jacket. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the ridge. She would have to wear a name tag instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her cardigan.
She galloped downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like a laundry. Her dad was standing there with a pair of tongs in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a hoot.
"Hi Daddy!" Carla replied violently. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the dry toast," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra white rice. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Carla replied temperamentally. "Do we have the sauerkraut ready?"
"I'm going to wait until eleven o'clock to start that," her father replied timidly. "It only has to simmer for eighty minutes."
"Okay," Carla replied glumly. "I'm gonna go to the boiler room."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some hors d'oeuvre in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the boiler 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," Carla responded, as she sat down to her hors d'oeuvre. "Let's hang lots of mauve balloons and cover the coffee table and the washing machine with yellow crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father openly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Jodene Duke. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a cookie cutter."
"Oh well," Carla responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a grin. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."