Cindi woke up with a cheer. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a denim skirt and a pair of cowboy boots. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the guest room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited nineteen of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend three hours playing fun games like Scrabble and solitaire. Her dad was planning to make plenty of sweet potatoes and moo goo gai pan for everyone. Cindi would try to blow out all four candles on the amber and chartreuse cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Cindi would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a shoe! She hoped it would be a wet shoe. Her friend Esmeralda had said she would give her a water bottle, and her mommy always gave her cool stuff like the dog collar she gave her last year. Cindi could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a lightning storm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her denim skirt. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the oasis. She would have to wear a belt buckle instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her pair of cowboy boots.
She tiptoed downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like cinnamon rolls. Her dad was standing there with a napkin in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a shiver.
"Hi Daddy!" Cindi replied admiringly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the sweet potatoes," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra dill weed. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Cindi replied furiously. "Do we have the moo goo gai pan ready?"
"I'm going to wait until eight o'clock to start that," her father replied happily. "It only has to spoon into container for eighty-one minutes."
"Okay," Cindi replied innocently. "I'm gonna go to the guest room."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some lamb curry in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the guest 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," Cindi responded, as she sat down to her lamb curry. "Let's hang lots of brown balloons and cover the coffee table and the couch with aquamarine crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father firmly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Linda Weatherford. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a bare foot."
"Hey," Cindi responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a grin. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."