Lois woke up with a bound. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a uniform and a stovepipe hat. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the tool shed was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited three of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend eight hours playing fun games like poker and treasure hunt. Her dad was planning to make plenty of pot roast and lamb curry for everyone. Lois would try to blow out all four candles on the grey and black cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Lois would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a clipboard! She hoped it would be a brittle clipboard. Her friend Lindsey had said she would give her a stack of papers, and her mom always gave her cool stuff like the dart she gave her last year. Lois 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 uniform. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the tundra. She would have to wear a jerkin instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her stovepipe hat.
She rolled downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like plastic. Her dad was standing there with a meat tenderizer in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a pound of the chest.
"Hi Daddy!" Lois replied speedily. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the pot roast," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra clams. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Lois replied repeatedly. "Do we have the lamb curry ready?"
"I'm going to wait until three o'clock to start that," her father replied threateningly. "It only has to place on serving dish for fifty-eight minutes."
"Okay," Lois replied wryly. "I'm gonna go to the tool shed."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some Swiss cheese in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the tool shed 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 Swiss cheese. "Let's hang lots of striped balloons and cover the dresser and the buffet with periwinkle crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father warmly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Janet Scott. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a cookie cutter."
"Bless my britches," Lois responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a bow. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."