Lars woke up with an evil eye. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a necktie and an 'I'm with Stupid' shirt. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the family room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited eight of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend three hours playing fun games like charades and tag. His dad was planning to make plenty of moo goo gai pan and roast Cornish game hen for everyone. Lars would try to blow out all three candles on the teal and sparkly cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Lars would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a calculator! He hoped it would be a chic calculator. His friend Camille had said she would give him a Van Gogh, and his girlfriend always gave him cool stuff like the spinning wheel she gave him last year. Lars could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a thunderstorm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his necktie. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the hill. He would have to wear a baseball cap instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his 'I'm with Stupid' shirt.
He careened downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like Elizabeth Arden. His dad was standing there with a napkin in his hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" he said with a belch.
"Hi Daddy!" Lars replied glibly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the moo goo gai pan," he replied. "I decided to make it with extra corn oil. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Lars replied glibly. "Do we have the roast Cornish game hen ready?"
"I'm going to wait until four o'clock to start that," his father replied positively. "It only has to grill for twenty-three minutes."
"Okay," Lars replied peevishly. "I'm gonna go to the family room."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some chicken pot pie 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 father replied. "Remember, I'm depending on you to help with the decorating."
"Oh yeah," Lars responded, as he sat down to his chicken pot pie. "Let's hang lots of hot pink balloons and cover the cash register and the stool with scarlet crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his father narrowly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite Tv star, Iris Fox. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a spoon."
"Tubular," Lars responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Father with a shrug. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."