Tiffany woke up with a beam. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a sweater and a name tag. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the kitchen was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited five of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend three hours playing fun games like hearts and tag. Her dad was planning to make plenty of beans and tuna casserole for everyone. Tiffany would try to blow out all thirty-three candles on the sea green and green cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Tiffany would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a diamond! She hoped it would be a well worn diamond. Her friend Bridget had said she would give her a paintbrush, and her sister always gave her cool stuff like the dog biscuit she gave her last year. Tiffany could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a hot, sunny day was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her sweater. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the lakeside. She would have to wear a pacifier instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her name tag.
She flounced downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like bacon frying. Her dad was standing there with a pair of chopsticks in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a smack.
"Hi Daddy!" Tiffany replied blankly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the beans," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra grated sharp cheddar cheese. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Tiffany replied uneasily. "Do we have the tuna casserole ready?"
"I'm going to wait until four o'clock to start that," her father replied fondly. "It only has to bake at 450 degrees F for seventeen minutes."
"Okay," Tiffany replied uselessly. "I'm gonna go to the kitchen."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some Swiss cheese in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the kitchen 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," Tiffany responded, as she sat down to her Swiss cheese. "Let's hang lots of green balloons and cover the bookshelf and the carpet with brown crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father doubtfully. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Claudia Parsons. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a corkscrew."
"You're kidding," Tiffany responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a dope slap. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."