Giovanni 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 tailcoat and a jumpsuit. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the pantry was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend eight hours playing fun games like billiards and billiards. His mom was planning to make plenty of ham and duck a l'orange for everyone. Giovanni would try to blow out all twenty-three candles on the silver and brown cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Giovanni would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a fingernail clipper! He hoped it would be a disgusting fingernail clipper. His friend Barnabas had said he would give him a smart phone, and his cousin always gave him cool stuff like the can of sardines she gave him last year. Giovanni 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 tailcoat. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the stream. He would have to wear a pair of shin guards instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his jumpsuit.
He skidded downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like spearmint. His mom was standing there with a strainer in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a gurgle.
"Hi Mommy!" Giovanni replied intensely. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the ham," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra active dry yeast. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Giovanni replied needlessly. "Do we have the duck a l'orange ready?"
"I'm going to wait until three o'clock to start that," his mother replied fiercely. "It only has to allow to rise in warm place for several hours for three minutes."
"Okay," Giovanni replied greedily. "I'm gonna go to the pantry."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some egg salad sandwich in the skillet for you."
"Can't I just take a peek at the pantry 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," Giovanni responded, as he sat down to his egg salad sandwich. "Let's hang lots of metallic red balloons and cover the ironing board and the dresser with peach crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother lightly. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Maureen Gustafson. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has an ice pick."
"Zap," Giovanni responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a flush. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."