Starla woke up with a simper. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a girdle and a veil. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the laundry room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited eleven of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend one hour playing fun games like shuffleboard and Rummy. Her dad was planning to make plenty of tacos and cabbage rolls for everyone. Starla would try to blow out all thirteen candles on the carrot-orange and rose cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Starla would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a cream puff! She hoped it would be an overgrown cream puff. Her friend Ling had said she would give her a toolbox, and her mother-in-law always gave her cool stuff like the Bunsen burner she gave her last year. Starla could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a hot, sunny day was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her girdle. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the hill. She would have to wear a Hawaiian shirt instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her veil.
She jogged downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like pepper. Her dad was standing there with a Sham-Wow! in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a pout.
"Hi Daddy!" Starla replied urgently. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the tacos," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra cucumber. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Starla replied surreptitiously. "Do we have the cabbage rolls ready?"
"I'm going to wait until seven o'clock to start that," her father replied strangely. "It only has to arrange for nine minutes."
"Okay," Starla replied humbly. "I'm gonna go to the laundry room."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some mashed potatoes in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the laundry room 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," Starla responded, as she sat down to her mashed potatoes. "Let's hang lots of sea green balloons and cover the end table and the counter with peach crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father vacantly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Antoinette Overland. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a dull knife."
"Yowie," Starla responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a hoot. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."