Maggie woke up with a sigh. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a pair of ear muffs and a robe. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the outhouse was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited eighteen of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend two hours playing fun games like shuffleboard and follow the leader. Her dad was planning to make plenty of enchiladas and beef bouillon for everyone. Maggie would try to blow out all twenty-five candles on the hot pink and scarlet cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Maggie would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a rubber chicken! She hoped it would be a stolen rubber chicken. Her friend Pippa had said she would give her a billfold, and her friend always gave her cool stuff like the paper towel she gave her last year. Maggie could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a hot day was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her pair of ear muffs. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the cave. She would have to wear a toga instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her robe.
She tiptoed downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like basil. Her dad was standing there with a knife in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a smirk.
"Hi Daddy!" Maggie replied vigorously. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the enchiladas," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra butter. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Maggie replied noisily. "Do we have the beef bouillon ready?"
"I'm going to wait until eleven o'clock to start that," her father replied glibly. "It only has to place on serving dish for eighty-five minutes."
"Okay," Maggie replied accidentally. "I'm gonna go to the outhouse."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some banana split 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," Maggie responded, as she sat down to her banana split. "Let's hang lots of olive drab balloons and cover the wine rack and the rug with indigo crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father tensely. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Mackenzie Sewell. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a napkin."
"Loopers," Maggie responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a curtsey. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."