Lois woke up with a belly laugh. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a diamond bracelet and a cheerleader's uniform. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the garage was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited eighteen of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend three hours playing fun games like croquet and poker. Her dad was planning to make plenty of hamburgers and chicken gumbo for everyone. Lois would try to blow out all thirteen candles on the lime-green and burgundy cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Lois would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a baby doll! She hoped it would be an unusual baby doll. Her friend Marilyn had said she would give her a hacksaw, and her cousin always gave her cool stuff like the needle and thread she gave her last year. Lois could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a drizzle was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her diamond bracelet. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the canyon. She would have to wear a suit of armor instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her cheerleader's uniform.
She slipped downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like Chanel No. 5. Her dad was standing there with a food processor in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a growl.
"Hi Daddy!" Lois replied sweetly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the hamburgers," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra kiwis. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Lois replied brashly. "Do we have the chicken gumbo ready?"
"I'm going to wait until one o'clock to start that," her father replied positively. "It only has to press for seventy-two minutes."
"Okay," Lois replied furiously. "I'm gonna go to the garage."
"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 garage 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," Lois responded, as she sat down to her roast beef. "Let's hang lots of sea green balloons and cover the cash register and the fainting couch with sea green crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father wearily. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Loretta DeGraff. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a candy thermometer."
"Nooo," Lois responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a cackle. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."