Arnie woke up with a raised eyebrow. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a girdle and a ribbon. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the family room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-one of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend two hours playing fun games like cribbage and Rummy. His mom was planning to make plenty of hash and cookies for everyone. Arnie would try to blow out all seventeen candles on the burgundy and emerald green cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Arnie would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a necklace! He hoped it would be a gigantic necklace. His friend Justin had said he would give him a baseball, and his mother always gave him cool stuff like the notebook she gave him last year. Arnie could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a blizzard was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his girdle. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the arroyo. He would have to wear a kilt instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his ribbon.
He traipsed downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like Max Factor. His mom was standing there with a potato peeler in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a sniff.
"Hi Mommy!" Arnie replied hopefully. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the hash," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra salmon filets. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Arnie replied rapidly. "Do we have the cookies ready?"
"I'm going to wait until twelve o'clock to start that," his mother replied automatically. "It only has to place on serving dish for forty-eight minutes."
"Okay," Arnie replied fervently. "I'm gonna go to the family room."
"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 family 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," Arnie responded, as he sat down to his strawberry shortcake. "Let's hang lots of beige balloons and cover the catbird seat and the hope chest with jade crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother gracefully. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Heidi Small. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a basting brush."
"Poof," Arnie responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a twitch. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."