Celia woke up with a grimace. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a ponytail and a kimono. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the porch was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited six of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend eight hours playing fun games like blackjack and bridge. Her dad was planning to make plenty of chocolate-covered ants and enchiladas for everyone. Celia would try to blow out all twenty-eight candles on the pink and red cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Celia would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a church key! She hoped it would be a golden church key. Her friend Ursula had said she would give her a Frisbee, and her main squeeze always gave her cool stuff like the bat she gave her last year. Celia could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a blizzard was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her ponytail. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the valley. She would have to wear a pair of gloves instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her kimono.
She crawled downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like burnt toast. Her dad was standing there with a bare foot in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a bow.
"Hi Daddy!" Celia replied gently. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the chocolate-covered ants," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra sourdough. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Celia replied sorrowfully. "Do we have the enchiladas ready?"
"I'm going to wait until eleven o'clock to start that," her father replied wildly. "It only has to blend for forty-nine minutes."
"Okay," Celia replied merrily. "I'm gonna go to the porch."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some sauerkraut in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the porch 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," Celia responded, as she sat down to her sauerkraut. "Let's hang lots of aquamarine balloons and cover the cushion and the bookcase with indigo crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father tenderly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Paula Perkins. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a paring knife."
"Easy peasy," Celia responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a yawn. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."