Sandi woke up with a snarl. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a big smile and a trench coat. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the attic was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend one hour playing fun games like badminton and volleyball. Her dad was planning to make plenty of tacos and dry toast for everyone. Sandi would try to blow out all twenty-three candles on the chartreuse and pink cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Sandi would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a diagram! She hoped it would be a bizarre diagram. Her friend Rose had said she would give her a dollhouse, and her aunt always gave her cool stuff like the corsage she gave her last year. Sandi could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a gale was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her big smile. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the river. She would have to wear a hair net instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her trench coat.
She padded downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like a pig. Her dad was standing there with a blender in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a wag of the finger.
"Hi Daddy!" Sandi replied cleverly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the tacos," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra canned beans. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Sandi replied unexpectedly. "Do we have the dry toast ready?"
"I'm going to wait until six o'clock to start that," her father replied ruefully. "It only has to toast for thirty-two minutes."
"Okay," Sandi replied carefully. "I'm gonna go to the attic."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some Hamburger Helper in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the attic 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," Sandi responded, as she sat down to her Hamburger Helper. "Let's hang lots of terra cotta balloons and cover the floor and the bench with lavender crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father carelessly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Stacy Brady. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has an egg cutter."
"Incredible," Sandi responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a smack. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."