Adam woke up with a guffaw. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a Stetson hat and a false beard. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the workshop was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited nineteen of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend six hours playing fun games like red rover and trivia. His dad was planning to make plenty of pretzels and sauerkraut for everyone. Adam would try to blow out all twenty-one candles on the periwinkle and green cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Adam would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a stone! He hoped it would be a soft stone. His friend Anna had said she would give him a clam, and his grandfather always gave him cool stuff like the broom she gave him last year. Adam could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a period of warm weather was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his Stetson hat. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the lagoon. He would have to wear a winter coat instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his false beard.
He sprinted downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like fine perfume. His dad was standing there with a food processor in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a pucker.
"Hi Daddy!" Adam replied surreptitiously. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the pretzels," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra cilantro. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Adam replied lickety-split. "Do we have the sauerkraut ready?"
"I'm going to wait until three o'clock to start that," his father replied brightly. "It only has to sear outside for eighty-one minutes."
"Okay," Adam replied suavely. "I'm gonna go to the workshop."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some fried eggs in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the workshop first?" he begged.
"It looks just like it always does," his father replied. "Remember, I'm depending on you to help with the decorating."
"Oh yeah," Adam responded, as he sat down to his fried eggs. "Let's hang lots of green balloons and cover the settee and the chair with navy blue crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father coolly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Helga Wales. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a potato peeler."
"Peachy-keen," Adam responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a fist bump. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."