Luann woke up with a twitch. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a pair of Crocs and a bib. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the corridor was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited three of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend seven hours playing fun games like poker and crazy eights. Her dad was planning to make plenty of Froot Loops and strawberry shortcake for everyone. Luann would try to blow out all ten candles on the olive green and aquamarine cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Luann would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a can of soup! She hoped it would be an odd can of soup. Her friend Antonia had said she would give her a Happy Meal, and her fiancée always gave her cool stuff like the can of beer she gave her last year. Luann could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a typhoon was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her pair of Crocs. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the dumpster. She would have to wear a tie instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her bib.
She set out downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like oregano. Her dad was standing there with a cookie cutter in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a pout.
"Hi Daddy!" Luann replied sympathetically. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the Froot Loops," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra canned milk. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Luann replied dubiously. "Do we have the strawberry shortcake ready?"
"I'm going to wait until eight o'clock to start that," her father replied thankfully. "It only has to allow to rise in warm place for several hours for eighteen minutes."
"Okay," Luann replied boisterously. "I'm gonna go to the corridor."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some egg salad sandwich in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the corridor 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," Luann responded, as she sat down to her egg salad sandwich. "Let's hang lots of green balloons and cover the footstool and the armoire with polka dotted crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father carefully. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Claudia Cadwallader. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a whisk."
"Sacre bleu," Luann responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a shiver. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."