Juan woke up with a snigger. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a skirt and a pair of culottes. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the living room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-five of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend four hours playing fun games like golf and Parcheesi. His dad was planning to make plenty of Swiss cheese and pretzels for everyone. Juan would try to blow out all thirty-four candles on the olive drab and chartreuse cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Juan would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a jar of olives! He hoped it would be a torn jar of olives. His friend Elvira had said she would give him a sea shell, and his dad always gave him cool stuff like the bowl she gave him last year. Juan could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a snowstorm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his skirt. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the forest. He would have to wear a nose ring instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his pair of culottes.
He scampered downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like anise. His dad was standing there with a cheesecloth in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a bow.
"Hi Daddy!" Juan replied bravely. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the Swiss cheese," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra cheese. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Juan replied carefully. "Do we have the pretzels ready?"
"I'm going to wait until one o'clock to start that," his father replied resignedly. "It only has to fry for fifteen minutes."
"Okay," Juan replied lazily. "I'm gonna go to the living room."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some country glazed ham 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 father replied. "Remember, I'm depending on you to help with the decorating."
"Oh yeah," Juan responded, as he sat down to his country glazed ham. "Let's hang lots of hot pink balloons and cover the chair and the counter with teal crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father sagely. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Lorie Glidden. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a meat tenderizer."
"My word," Juan responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a wince. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."