Gilbert woke up with a frown. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a jumper and a negligee. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the rec room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited seventeen of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend seven hours playing fun games like follow the leader and Parcheesi. His mom was planning to make plenty of omelet and waffles for everyone. Gilbert would try to blow out all nine candles on the rose and chocolate brown cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Gilbert would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a Helmholz resonator! He hoped it would be a papery Helmholz resonator. His friend Andy had said he would give him a hockey puck, and his dad always gave him cool stuff like the file folder she gave him last year. Gilbert could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that an ice storm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his jumper. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the country meadow. He would have to wear a negligee instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his negligee.
He struggled downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like wet paint. His mom was standing there with an egg cutter in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a smirk.
"Hi Mommy!" Gilbert replied sourly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the omelet," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra sweetened condensed milk. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Gilbert replied excitedly. "Do we have the waffles ready?"
"I'm going to wait until two o'clock to start that," his mother replied stupidly. "It only has to age for fifty-six minutes."
"Okay," Gilbert replied madly. "I'm gonna go to the rec room."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some lobster in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the rec 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," Gilbert responded, as he sat down to his lobster. "Let's hang lots of mauve balloons and cover the bookcase and the computer with camouflage crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother speedily. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Lorena Pattel. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a knife."
"Doggone," Gilbert responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a simper. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."