Craig woke up with a raspberry. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a Panama hat and a jumper. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the kitchen was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited seventeen of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend two hours playing fun games like rummy and badminton. His mom was planning to make plenty of ramen noodles and scrambled eggs for everyone. Craig would try to blow out all twenty-one candles on the navy blue and violet cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Craig would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a boomerang! He hoped it would be a cotton boomerang. His friend Mitch had said he would give him a Barbie doll, and his mentor always gave him cool stuff like the diagram she gave him last year. Craig could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a sandstorm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his Panama hat. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the mountaintop. He would have to wear a sari instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his jumper.
He went downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like a locker room. His mom was standing there with an oven mitt in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a honk.
"Hi Mommy!" Craig replied positively. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the ramen noodles," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra fresh spinach. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Craig replied thoughtfully. "Do we have the scrambled eggs ready?"
"I'm going to wait until five o'clock to start that," his mother replied gracefully. "It only has to allow to rise in warm place for several hours for forty-one minutes."
"Okay," Craig replied speedily. "I'm gonna go to the kitchen."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some steak in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the kitchen 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," Craig responded, as he sat down to his steak. "Let's hang lots of tan balloons and cover the carpet and the overstuffed chair with yellow crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother reluctantly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Annabelle Jacobsen. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a blender."
"Holy smokeroo," Craig responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a stiff upper lip. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."