Grover woke up with a smack. Today was his birthday! He was going to have a lot of fun today. First, he would dress up in an armband and a coonskin hat. Then, he would run downstairs to see if the family room was decorated and ready for the party. They had invited twenty-four of his closest friends. When everyone arrived, they would spend seven hours playing fun games like shuffleboard and Simon Says. His mom was planning to make plenty of wienerschnitzel and chicken chow mein for everyone. Grover would try to blow out all five candles on the white and tan cake. While the guests were eating their cake, Grover would be opening his gifts. Maybe the first package would contain a rope! He hoped it would be a frilly rope. His friend Harold had said he would give him a knitting needle, and his mother always gave him cool stuff like the soccer ball she gave him last year. Grover could hardly wait!
He glanced out the window and was surprised to see that a sleet storm was on its way. Hopefully, that wouldn't deter anyone from coming. He looked in his closet for his armband. It wasn't there. Uh oh. It was still dirty from his day at the moonscape. He would have to wear a tutu instead. He didn't really care, as long as he could still wear his coonskin hat.
He crept downstairs and went into the kitchen. It smelled like liver and onions. His mom was standing there with a cookie cutter in her hand. "Happy Birthday Son!" she said with a gurgle.
"Hi Mommy!" Grover replied steadily. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making the wienerschnitzel," she replied. "I decided to make it with extra bacon fat. Hope that's okay with you."
"I guess so," Grover replied majestically. "Do we have the chicken chow mein ready?"
"I'm going to wait until four o'clock to start that," his mother replied coldly. "It only has to toast for seventy-one minutes."
"Okay," Grover replied strictly. "I'm gonna go to the family room."
"First, young man, you need to have some breakfast. I've got some crab rangoon 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," Grover responded, as he sat down to his crab rangoon. "Let's hang lots of white balloons and cover the four-poster bed and the cupboard with aqua crepe paper."
"That's fine," said his mother confidently. "The paper plates and napkins have pictures of your favorite singer, Emmeline Swaanhof. Set the table with them, and make sure everyone has a sharp knife."
"Holy moley," Grover responded. "I'm done, can I get started with the decorating now?"
"I think you inhaled your food," said Mother with a cheer. "Go on, I'll be there in a few minutes."