Russell woke up with a grin. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a poncho and a flak jacket. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the boudoir was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-two of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend two hours playing fun games like Parcheesi and tennis. His mom was planning to make plenty of crumb cake and macaroni for everyone. Russell would try to blow out all twenty-two candles on the ivory and azure cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Russell would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a camera! He hoped it would be a striped camera. His friend Fuzz had said he would give him a candle, and his grandmother always gave him cool stuff like the pen she gave him last year. Russell could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a flood was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his poncho. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the lagoon. He would have to wear a kilt instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his flak jacket.
He rolled downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like a beauty salon. His mom was standing there with a cheesecloth in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a hug.
"Hi Mommy!" Russell replied sleepily. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the crumb cake," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra mushrooms. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Russell replied jokingly. "Do we have the macaroni ready?"
"I'm going to wait until two o'clock to start that," his mother replied energetically. "It only has to blanch for twenty-five minutes."
"Okay," Russell replied uselessly. "I'm gonna go to the boudoir."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some tortillas in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the boudoir 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," Russell responded, as he sat down to his tortillas. "Let's hang lots of forest green balloons and cover the washing machine and the bathtub with olive green crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother courageously. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Sheila Apple. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a spatula."
"Hush," Russell responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a wrinkled nose. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."