Thaddeus woke up with a smirk. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a beehive and a loincloth. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the living room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited six of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend one hour playing fun games like croquet and rummy. His mom was planning to make plenty of pretzels and cornbread for everyone. Thaddeus would try to blow out all thirty-one candles on the pea green and emerald green cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Thaddeus would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a diary! He hoped it would be a huge diary. His friend Rob had said he would give him a vase, and his mentor always gave him cool stuff like the yo-yo she gave him last year. Thaddeus could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a typhoon was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his beehive. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the garden. He would have to wear a wet suit instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his loincloth.
He clambered downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like smelling salts. His mom was standing there with a ladle in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a beam.
"Hi Mommy!" Thaddeus replied repeatedly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the pretzels," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra wasabi powder. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Thaddeus replied sagely. "Do we have the cornbread ready?"
"I'm going to wait until twelve o'clock to start that," his mother replied deliberately. "It only has to melt for thirty-four minutes."
"Okay," Thaddeus replied lickety-split. "I'm gonna go to the living room."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some lasagna in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the living room first?" he begged.
"It looks just like it always does," his mother replied. "Remember, I'm depending on you to help with the decorating."
"Oh yeah," Thaddeus responded, as he sat down to his lasagna. "Let's hang lots of emerald green balloons and cover the cupboard and the bath mat with amber crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother cunningly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Josephine Irvin. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a whisk."
"Please," Thaddeus responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a caress. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."