Angie woke up with a crow. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in an overcoat and a thong. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the basement was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited nineteen of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend six hours playing fun games like pool and baseball. Her dad was planning to make plenty of cabbage rolls and tuna casserole for everyone. Angie would try to blow out all twenty-seven candles on the salmon and lime-green cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Angie would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a basket! She hoped it would be a stiff basket. Her friend Camille had said she would give her a garbage can, and her sister-in-law always gave her cool stuff like the water bottle she gave her last year. Angie could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a hailstorm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her overcoat. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the seashore. She would have to wear a rain coat instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her thong.
She galloped downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like mountain air. Her dad was standing there with a Sham-Wow! in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a power fist.
"Hi Daddy!" Angie replied innocently. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the cabbage rolls," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra corn chips. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Angie replied narrowly. "Do we have the tuna casserole ready?"
"I'm going to wait until seven o'clock to start that," her father replied greedily. "It only has to blanch for fifty-four minutes."
"Okay," Angie replied frantically. "I'm gonna go to the basement."
"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 basement 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," Angie responded, as she sat down to her lamb curry. "Let's hang lots of striped balloons and cover the canopy bed and the coat rack with aqua crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father blissfully. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Anita Weeden. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a food processor."
"Hey," Angie responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a blush. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."