Carolyn woke up with a honk. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a pair of combat boots and a body shirt. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the doghouse was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-eight of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend two hours playing fun games like checkers and hearts. Her dad was planning to make plenty of hot dogs and cinnamon toast for everyone. Carolyn would try to blow out all two candles on the grey and olive drab cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Carolyn would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a grease gun! She hoped it would be an archaic grease gun. Her friend Ruth had said she would give her a candle, and her grandfather always gave her cool stuff like the flyswatter she gave her last year. Carolyn could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a bit of precipitation was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her pair of combat boots. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the swamp. She would have to wear a pair of briefs instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her body shirt.
She dashed downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like Givenchy. Her dad was standing there with a potato masher in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a pound of the chest.
"Hi Daddy!" Carolyn replied dubiously. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the hot dogs," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra paprika. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Carolyn replied lazily. "Do we have the cinnamon toast ready?"
"I'm going to wait until seven o'clock to start that," her father replied glumly. "It only has to roast for seven minutes."
"Okay," Carolyn replied slyly. "I'm gonna go to the doghouse."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some wienerschnitzel in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the doghouse 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," Carolyn responded, as she sat down to her wienerschnitzel. "Let's hang lots of jet black balloons and cover the pedestal and the workbench with violet crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father sarcastically. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Betsy Moodle. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a food processor."
"Big deal," Carolyn responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a laugh. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."