chocolate cake

Alright. It's taken me a short time period to finally believe we are in Texas for good...instead of just another quick trip before heading back north again. For a while there, I actually wanted to run back across the Mason Dixon away from these scorching temperatures!! It's paralyzing! I've never seen Isaac sweat this much...ever! Thankfully, we have been blessed with a cold front that has brought us back down to the mild CT weather we are used to. Thank you LORD! We do consider ourselves extremely blessed to be back in the Lone Star State...land of milk and honey...land of cheaper EVERYTHING...land of Tex-Mex and Sonic...land of family and friends...land of endless horizons and beautiful sunsets...land of Shiner Bock...land of free venison (thanks Dad!)...and land of hope for the future. We're ready to plant some roots!

For the time being, we have set up camp at my brother's place while we job/house search. It did not take Isaac long to become friendly with the neighbors, especially the ones with dogs. He now has 4 new playmates...Sadie, Biscuit, Zach, Jordan, and Molly. We go on walks every day to visit each one. Speaking of job searching...Keith hit the ground running, had several interviews, and...drum roll please...now has a job offer on the table!! Fantastically enough, the offer is from his very first interview. He came home that day and said, "I know you shouldn't make any decisions after just one interview, but if they were to offer me a job, I'd take it!" We have a name in our lovely marriage for a situation like this..."Chocolate Cake". Allow me to explain...


I will take to you back to pre-marriage Keith and Steph, during the months of wedding planning, to precisely the day when we visited the bakery to choose our cakes. Keith actually elected to come along (as I'm sure most grooms do thinking they are in for a bottomless free tasting buffet of cakes.) Upon entering the bakery, the kind baker sat us down and handed us each an album, one for the bride, one for the groom. Keith opened his album, pointed to the chocolate cake design on the first page, and proudly announced, "That's the one I want!" Then, the conversation went something like this:

Me: "Um, babe, that's not how it works. You have to look at all the pictures first, then choose."

Keith: "Why? That one looks good."

Me: "It does. But I'm sure lots of other cakes in there look good too."

Keith: "Well, if that one looks good, why don't I just go with that one and save us some time."

Me: Sigh.

Keith: Starts flipping pages. Flipping, flipping. Closes the album.

Me: "So?"

Keith: "I want that one." Pointing to the original cake on the first page. "Where's my sample?"

Baker: "There are no samples today."

Keith: "What a jip."

So, now, anytime a decision is made in which we select the first option presented, Keith proudly states, "Chocolate Cake!" Take shoe shopping, for instance. Keith picks up a pair and says they look good, I make him try on 4 more pairs, and we end up buying the first pair he picked up..."chocolate cake!" Or, we drive around for half an hour trying to decide where to eat on vacation, only to end up at the first place we saw..."chocolate cake!" Or, in this case, Keith interviews for a Urology group, then interviews for Pulmonolgy and Acute Care, Neuro/Spine Surgery, Bariatric Surgery, and Radiation Oncology, and ends of taking the Urology offer..."CHOCOLATE CAKE!"

I will say, his groom's cake was absolutely divine. So kiddies, lesson learned...sometimes things don't have to be complicated. Sometimes life doesn't have to require the amount of energy you think it does. Sometimes...chocolate cake is just, well...chocolate cake. You can't go wrong with chocolate cake no matter what it looks like.