Izzy woke up with a grin. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a baseball cap and a heavy layer of makeup. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the bathroom was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-seven of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend six hours playing fun games like musical chairs and crazy eights. Her dad was planning to make plenty of beans and cornbread for everyone. Izzy would try to blow out all two candles on the fuchsia and pea green cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Izzy would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a fire hose! She hoped it would be a coarse fire hose. Her friend Elinor had said she would give her a comb, and her grandpa always gave her cool stuff like the hammer she gave her last year. Izzy could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a drizzle was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her baseball cap. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the butte. She would have to wear a pair of overalls instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her heavy layer of makeup.
She sped downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like vinegar. Her dad was standing there with a piece of cheesecloth in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a finger gun.
"Hi Daddy!" Izzy replied oddly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the beans," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra cottage cheese. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Izzy replied smoothly. "Do we have the cornbread ready?"
"I'm going to wait until ten o'clock to start that," her father replied dreamily. "It only has to spoon into container for twenty minutes."
"Okay," Izzy replied deliberately. "I'm gonna go to the bathroom."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some enchiladas in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the bathroom 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," Izzy responded, as she sat down to her enchiladas. "Let's hang lots of rose balloons and cover the filing cabinet and the pool table with polka dotted crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father threateningly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Megan Griebel. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a mixing spoon."
"I'm stoked," Izzy responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a cringe. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."