Ana woke up with a wince. Today was her birthday! She was going to have a lot of fun today. First, she would dress up in a bow tie and a nose ring. Then, she would run downstairs to see if the hall was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited five of her closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend four hours playing fun games like volleyball and hearts. Her dad was planning to make plenty of biscuits and gravy and borscht for everyone. Ana would try to blow out all thirty-three candles on the orange and magenta cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Ana would be opening her gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a calculator! She hoped it would be a tiny calculator. Her friend Alexis had said she would give her a firecracker, and her aunt always gave her cool stuff like the telephone she gave her last year. Ana could hardly wait!
She glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a pelting rainstorm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. She looked in her closet for her bow tie. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from her day at the countryside. She would have to wear an 'I'm with Stupid' shirt instead. She didn't really care, as long as she could still wear her nose ring.
She trekked downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like pumpkin pie. Her dad was standing there with a candy thermometer in his hand. "Happy Birthday Honey!" he said with a pucker.
"Hi Daddy!" Ana replied queerly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the biscuits and gravy," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra blue cheese. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Ana replied demurely. "Do we have the borscht ready?"
"I'm going to wait until four o'clock to start that," her father replied vigorously. "It only has to melt for eighty-three minutes."
"Okay," Ana replied merrily. "I'm gonna go to the hall."
"First, young lady, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some pizza in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the hall 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," Ana responded, as she sat down to her pizza. "Let's hang lots of pink balloons and cover the china cabinet and the piano with crimson crepe paper."
"That's fine," said her father trustingly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Margaret Hanks. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a piece of cheesecloth."
"Aaaw," Ana 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."