Eloise woke up with a roar. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a sundress and a toupee. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the foyer was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-two of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend eight hours playing fun games like Monopoly and cribbage. Her dad was planning to make plenty of cornbread and crumb cake for everyone. Eloise would try to blow out all six candles on the hot pink and rose cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Eloise would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a tissue! She hoped it would be a petite tissue. Her friend Marla had said she would give her a knitting needle, and her wife always gave her cool stuff like the paper clip she gave her last year. Eloise could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a downpour was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her sundress. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the landfill. She would have to wear a pair of boxing gloves instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her toupee.
She sauntered downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like roses. Her dad was standing there with a slotted spoon in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a sniffle.
"Hi Daddy!" Eloise replied innocently. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the cornbread," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra bacon fat. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Eloise replied courageously. "Do we have the crumb cake ready?"
"I'm going to wait until one o'clock to start that," her father replied breathlessly. "It only has to whirl for seventy-two minutes."
"Okay," Eloise replied immediately. "I'm gonna go to the foyer."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some pot roast in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the foyer 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," Eloise responded, as she sat down to her pot roast. "Let's hang lots of sparkly balloons and cover the armoire and the china cabinet with maroon crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father immediately. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Rebecca Swaanhof. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has an electric mixer."
"Bless you," Eloise responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a hug. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."