Amanda woke up with a caress. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a lab coat and a watch. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the atrium was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-seven of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend two hours playing fun games like crazy eights and dominos. Her dad was planning to make plenty of tuna casserole and catfish stew for everyone. Amanda would try to blow out all twenty-two candles on the turquoise and forest green cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Amanda would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a hair dryer! She hoped it would be a handy hair dryer. Her friend Dierdre had said she would give her a suitcase, and her grandfather always gave her cool stuff like the clipboard she gave her last year. Amanda could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that an ice storm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her lab coat. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the rainforest. She would have to wear a pair of suspenders instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her watch.
She staggered downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like rain. Her dad was standing there with a melon baller in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a hug.
"Hi Daddy!" Amanda replied blindly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the tuna casserole," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra sourdough. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Amanda replied vigorously. "Do we have the catfish stew ready?"
"I'm going to wait until six o'clock to start that," her father replied lickety-split. "It only has to grill for twenty-four minutes."
"Okay," Amanda replied smoothly. "I'm gonna go to the atrium."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some roast beef in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the atrium 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," Amanda responded, as she sat down to her roast beef. "Let's hang lots of olive drab balloons and cover the table and the futon with salmon crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father courageously. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Shirley Crick. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a dish cloth."
"I think not," Amanda responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a snigger. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."