Martha woke up with a chortle. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a necktie and a ponytail. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the bathroom was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-eight of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend seven hours playing fun games like rummy and golf. Her dad was planning to make plenty of mushroom quiche and pot roast for everyone. Martha would try to blow out all twenty-five candles on the ivory and navy blue cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Martha would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a cookie! She hoped it would be an automatic cookie. Her friend Patty had said she would give her a cookie, and her aunt always gave her cool stuff like the Helmholz resonator she gave her last year. Martha could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a snowstorm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her necktie. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the prairie. She would have to wear a towel instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her ponytail.
She jogged downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like hot cocoa. Her dad was standing there with an oven mitt in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a simper.
"Hi Daddy!" Martha replied woefully. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the mushroom quiche," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra almond paste. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Martha replied irritably. "Do we have the pot roast ready?"
"I'm going to wait until four o'clock to start that," her father replied delicately. "It only has to marinate for fifteen minutes."
"Okay," Martha replied crossly. "I'm gonna go to the bathroom."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some crumb cake 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," Martha responded, as she sat down to her crumb cake. "Let's hang lots of emerald green balloons and cover the beanbag chair and the cushion with ivory crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father lamely. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Danielle Borovich. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a wooden spoon."
"Zounds," Martha responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a curtsey. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."