Mom's Birthday

Monday, November 26, 2007

November 26th was Mom’s birthday. To add to the celebration, Collette and Puck brought her a bunch of small red roses in the rainy mist of the mid-morning.

Before this happened, however, OLeif had been feeding Puck his breakfast.

“Achoo! Ow!”

“What happened?”

“I sneezed. I think it made me hit a nerve.”

After locating the pain spot, OLeif and Collette concluded instead that he must have pulled a muscle during the strenuous process of the sneeze.

Back on the ranch, when Collette and Puck arrived, Rose and Linnea were busy bees in the kitchen.

“Wow, what happened here?” Collette asked.

“Hi, squishy,” Rose greeted Puck. “We’re making stuff.”

“Yeah. What?”

“I don’t know.”

The kitchen was covered in flour. Floors. Counters. Sink. Stove. Maybe the ceiling. Collette didn’t check.

“I’m making Mom a plate and a little spoon and fork,” said Linnea seriously.

She was perched on the counter patting down a cake of salt dough. The recipe book lay open on the counter to the page labeled “Salt Dough”, also covered in flour. Rose’s wad of salt dough was formless.

“What should I make?” She asked aloud.

“An elephant.”

“No, that’s boring.”

Rose’s portion of the dough later ended up shoved in an ice cream glass, slowly drying.

Collette did not warn the girls that Mom, (who was out running errands and would be back shortly), would not like the kitchen covered with flour upon her return.

“I’ll make Puck a bowl some day at my pottery class,” said Rose. “The girl in my class last time who threatened to kill all of us made her sister’s kid a dish once.”

Rose poured herself a large glass of milk (as usual, which she rarely finished).

“Well, I’ve been improving,” she continued. “Mom said so. I haven’t been in any fights with anyone since last night. Except for one with Linnea and that’s because she’s fat.”

“Hey!” Linnea grinned.

Collette congratulated her. Mom, however, was not congratulating Rose upon her return from the store.

“Rose, please don’t bake anything ever again while I’m gone.”

Later, Rose lay stretched out on the rug in front of the wood burning stove carrying on a conversation with Collette who was also stretched out on her back on the floor in the far cooler Mom’s and Dad’s room. In the middle of discussing Rose’s future plans…

“Ooh hoo hoo!” Rose screeched. “Spiders! WHAAA!”

“Where?” Collette arrived on the scene.

“Two spiders! One in my hair! One on my hand! They must have crawled over from the log pile.”

“Curse ye spiders!” Linnea proclaimed.

“Guys, did you see what happened to my pen this time?” Collette asked, no longer interested in the spiders.

“Maybe the spiders took it,” said Linnea.

“Maybe they crawled into your bellybutton,” said Rose.

“Nope,” said Linnea, checking her bellybutton.

“I’ll rip off their legs one at a time!” Rose said loudly. “Ha! Now you’re a stump!”

By the time the kitchen had been cleared of all flour, Rose cracked out the pizzas for lunch while everyone gathered around the Christmas Spongebob which Mom had purchased at the store. Mom watched a minimal amount while threading rose lights through garlands for the windows. Carrie was out with Grewe. Joe was white as a sheet and off to class.

“Move, Trooper!” Rose commanded. “Or I’ll drop-kick your face. No, I wouldn’t.”

“Man! Where’s the snow?” Frances had been watching the skies all day.