Magdalena woke up with a clenched fist. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a pair of jackboots and a set of pink foam curlers. 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 seven hours playing fun games like croquet and blackjack. Her dad was planning to make plenty of French fries and doughnuts for everyone. Magdalena would try to blow out all fifteen candles on the aqua and aqua cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Magdalena would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a beach ball! She hoped it would be a porcelain beach ball. Her friend Michaela had said she would give her a fish bowl, and her sister-in-law always gave her cool stuff like the ice cream cone she gave her last year. Magdalena 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 pair of jackboots. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the butte. She would have to wear a tailcoat instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her set of pink foam curlers.
She scooted downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like Listerine. Her dad was standing there with a meat tenderizer in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a kiss.
"Hi Daddy!" Magdalena replied sarcastically. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the French fries," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra red cabbage. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Magdalena replied gleefully. "Do we have the doughnuts ready?"
"I'm going to wait until seven o'clock to start that," her father replied offhandedly. "It only has to arrange for eighty-seven minutes."
"Okay," Magdalena replied uselessly. "I'm gonna go to the boiler room."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some ice cream 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," Magdalena responded, as she sat down to her ice cream. "Let's hang lots of tan balloons and cover the pedestal and the chest of drawers with mauve crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father gleefully. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Michaela Delgado. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a garlic press."
"Heavens to murgatroyd," Magdalena responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a beam. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."