Anna woke up with a smirk. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a bolo tie and a gown. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the front porch was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited ten of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend two hours playing fun games like crazy eights and Snakes and Ladders. Her dad was planning to make plenty of fish and chips and lime sherbet for everyone. Anna would try to blow out all twenty candles on the pink and rose cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Anna would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a fork! She hoped it would be a small fork. Her friend Luann had said she would give her a paperclip, and her mother always gave her cool stuff like the fish bowl she gave her last year. Anna could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a period of warm weather was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her bolo tie. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the dumpster. She would have to wear a negligee instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her gown.
She trekked downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like liver and onions. Her dad was standing there with a candy thermometer in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a shiver.
"Hi Daddy!" Anna replied solemnly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the fish and chips," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra white wine. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Anna replied quietly. "Do we have the lime sherbet ready?"
"I'm going to wait until twelve o'clock to start that," her father replied offhandedly. "It only has to place on serving dish for sixty-nine minutes."
"Okay," Anna replied gruffly. "I'm gonna go to the front porch."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some prime rib in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the front 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," Anna responded, as she sat down to her prime rib. "Let's hang lots of metallic red balloons and cover the end table and the futon with peach crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father swiftly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Tammy Jankowski. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a meat thermometer."
"Hmmm," Anna responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a gasp. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."