Raymond woke up with a woof. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in a feather boa and a bicycle helmet. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the family room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited fifteen of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend seven hours playing fun games like hopscotch and bridge. His mom was planning to make plenty of crab rangoon and sauerkraut for everyone. Raymond would try to blow out all twenty-eight candles on the striped and silver cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Raymond would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a box of Kleenex! He hoped it would be a rough box of Kleenex. His friend Jeremy had said he would give him a toolbox, and his friend always gave him cool stuff like the peace pipe she gave him last year. Raymond could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a dense fog was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his feather boa. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the glen. He would have to wear a pair of Oxfords instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his bicycle helmet.
He hobbled downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like onions. His mom was standing there with an egg cutter in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a flutter.
"Hi Mommy!" Raymond replied sympathetically. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the crab rangoon," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra ham. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Raymond replied uselessly. "Do we have the sauerkraut ready?"
"I'm going to wait until eleven o'clock to start that," his mother replied carefully. "It only has to melt for sixty-six minutes."
"Okay," Raymond replied violently. "I'm gonna go to the family room."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some roast Cornish game hen 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," Raymond responded, as he sat down to his roast Cornish game hen. "Let's hang lots of polka dotted balloons and cover the armoire and the end table with scarlet crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother demurely. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Darlene Welles. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a sharp knife."
"Aaah," Raymond responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a sigh. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."