Ida woke up with a shout. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a motorcycle helmet and a tarboosh. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the laundry room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited nine of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend seven hours playing fun games like backgammon and treasure hunt. Her dad was planning to make plenty of prune pudding and clam chowder for everyone. Ida would try to blow out all sixteen candles on the silver and jet black cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Ida would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a Van Gogh! She hoped it would be a nifty Van Gogh. Her friend Claudia had said she would give her a painting, and her aunt always gave her cool stuff like the box of Kleenex she gave her last year. Ida could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a dust storm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her motorcycle helmet. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the desert. She would have to wear a gorilla suit instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her tarboosh.
She sailed downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like cigars. Her dad was standing there with a mixing spoon in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a titter.
"Hi Daddy!" Ida replied primly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the prune pudding," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra baking powder. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Ida replied slyly. "Do we have the clam chowder ready?"
"I'm going to wait until five o'clock to start that," her father replied busily. "It only has to mix sheepishly for eighty minutes."
"Okay," Ida replied slyly. "I'm gonna go to the laundry room."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some cornbread in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the laundry 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," Ida responded, as she sat down to her cornbread. "Let's hang lots of polka dotted balloons and cover the crib and the bed with purple crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father deliberately. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Babs Roeber. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a pastry blender."
"Doubtful," Ida responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a frown. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."