Isabella woke up with a crow. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a pair of glasses and a moustache. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the hall was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-nine of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend four hours playing fun games like Mother May I and poker. Her dad was planning to make plenty of cookies and lobster for everyone. Isabella would try to blow out all seventeen candles on the chocolate brown and beige cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Isabella would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a roll of toilet paper! She hoped it would be an ordinary roll of toilet paper. Her friend Eppie had said she would give her a peanut, and her mother-in-law always gave her cool stuff like the paperweight she gave her last year. Isabella could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a pall of doom was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her pair of glasses. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the cave. She would have to wear a miniskirt instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her moustache.
She slunk downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like enchiladas. Her dad was standing there with a potato peeler in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a clenched fist.
"Hi Daddy!" Isabella replied daringly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the cookies," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra pitted black olives. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Isabella replied curiously. "Do we have the lobster ready?"
"I'm going to wait until eight o'clock to start that," her father replied frantically. "It only has to melt for forty-four minutes."
"Okay," Isabella replied gratefully. "I'm gonna go to the hall."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some hors d'oeuvre in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the hall 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," Isabella responded, as she sat down to her hors d'oeuvre. "Let's hang lots of lime-green balloons and cover the file cabinet and the rocking chair with lavender crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father unabashedly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Kitten Brindel. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a napkin."
"Wow," Isabella responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a pucker. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."