Dinah woke up with a hoot. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a cape and a bowler hat. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the auditorium was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited ten of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend five hours playing fun games like Simon Says and Mother May I. Her dad was planning to make plenty of country glazed ham and falafel for everyone. Dinah would try to blow out all four candles on the olive green and silver cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Dinah would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a ball! She hoped it would be a waxy ball. Her friend Nelly had said she would give her an umbrella, and her mommy always gave her cool stuff like the crutch she gave her last year. Dinah could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a sleet storm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her cape. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the badlands area. She would have to wear a pair of ear muffs instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her bowler hat.
She ambled downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like diesel exhaust. Her dad was standing there with a dish cloth in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a bow.
"Hi Daddy!" Dinah replied deftly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the country glazed ham," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra brown sugar. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Dinah replied primly. "Do we have the falafel ready?"
"I'm going to wait until five o'clock to start that," her father replied ruefully. "It only has to steam for thirty-seven minutes."
"Okay," Dinah replied silently. "I'm gonna go to the auditorium."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some falafel in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the auditorium 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," Dinah responded, as she sat down to her falafel. "Let's hang lots of scarlet balloons and cover the washing machine and the china cabinet with aquamarine crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father shyly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Sharice Schneider. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a paring knife."
"Marvelous," Dinah responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a caress. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."