Ivan woke up with a belly laugh. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a pair of cowboy boots and a midi skirt. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the auditorium was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited six of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend two hours playing fun games like doctor and rummy. His mom was planning to make plenty of apple pie and hot dogs for everyone. Ivan would try to blow out all thirty-one candles on the lavender and forest green cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Ivan would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a chair! He hoped it would be a smooth chair. His friend Rip had said he would give him a painting, and his wife always gave him cool stuff like the cracker she gave him last year. Ivan could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a rainstorm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his pair of cowboy boots. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the seacoast. He would have to wear a gladiator helmet instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his midi skirt.
He jumped downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like apple pie. His mom was standing there with a piece of cheesecloth in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a wag of the finger.
"Hi Mommy!" Ivan replied narrowly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the apple pie," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra turmeric. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Ivan replied sharply. "Do we have the hot dogs ready?"
"I'm going to wait until three o'clock to start that," his mother replied unabashedly. "It only has to refrigerate overnight for four minutes."
"Okay," Ivan replied repeatedly. "I'm gonna go to the auditorium."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some strawberry shortcake in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the auditorium 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," Ivan responded, as he sat down to his strawberry shortcake. "Let's hang lots of navy blue balloons and cover the chest of drawers and the bath mat with khaki crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother woefully. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Annabelle Winters. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a paring knife."
"Nuts," Ivan responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a belly laugh. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."