Bianca woke up with a grimace. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a coonskin hat and a coonskin hat. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the laundry room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited fourteen of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend five hours playing fun games like hide and seek and red light green light. Her dad was planning to make plenty of hors d'oeuvre and lamb curry for everyone. Bianca would try to blow out all thirty-three candles on the hot pink and aquamarine cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Bianca would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a tube of toothpaste! She hoped it would be a miniature tube of toothpaste. Her friend Xaviera had said she would give her a dead poodle, and her wife always gave her cool stuff like the acorn she gave her last year. Bianca could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a sandstorm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her coonskin hat. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the seashore. She would have to wear a nightgown instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her coonskin hat.
She rushed downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like sea mist. Her dad was standing there with a meat thermometer in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a hiccup.
"Hi Daddy!" Bianca replied wryly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the hors d'oeuvre," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra pork and beans. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Bianca replied needlessly. "Do we have the lamb curry ready?"
"I'm going to wait until three o'clock to start that," her father replied narrowly. "It only has to allow to rise in warm place for several hours for thirty-two minutes."
"Okay," Bianca replied gratefully. "I'm gonna go to the laundry room."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some popcorn in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the laundry 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," Bianca responded, as she sat down to her popcorn. "Let's hang lots of mauve balloons and cover the bunk bed and the cupboard with hot pink crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father nimbly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Gail Wyse. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a meat tenderizer."
"Crud," Bianca responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a roar. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."