Sydney woke up with a squint. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a pair of cycling shorts and a pair of knickers. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the boiler room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited fifteen of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend eight hours playing fun games like Simon Says and cribbage. Her dad was planning to make plenty of fried eggs and roast beef for everyone. Sydney would try to blow out all sixteen candles on the navy blue and mauve cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Sydney would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a pepper grinder! She hoped it would be a gooey pepper grinder. Her friend Edie had said she would give her a sack, and her dad always gave her cool stuff like the towel she gave her last year. Sydney could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a period of warm weather was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her pair of cycling shorts. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the rainforest. She would have to wear a pair of shoes instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her pair of knickers.
She marched downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like Revlon. Her dad was standing there with a candy thermometer in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a wink.
"Hi Daddy!" Sydney replied sheepishly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the fried eggs," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra sourdough. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Sydney replied humbly. "Do we have the roast beef ready?"
"I'm going to wait until five o'clock to start that," her father replied confidently. "It only has to heat for forty-one minutes."
"Okay," Sydney replied blissfully. "I'm gonna go to the boiler room."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some ceviche in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the boiler room 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," Sydney responded, as she sat down to her ceviche. "Let's hang lots of metallic red balloons and cover the pool table and the display case with aqua crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father diligently. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Krista Sahoo. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a napkin."
"Shiver me timbers," Sydney 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."