The lesson of Carrot Cake

I made carrot cake yesterday. I had been craving it for awhile, I had some leftover cream cheese frosting from a birthday in the fridge and with everything that happened yesterday (see previous post), I just felt like getting my mind off of things. I figured we deserved to just relax and eat cake.

So I started the somewhat laborious process of making carrot cake. You see, you have to peel the carrots, and then grate them, finely. Which takes a long time. Plus I had my toddler "helping" me, so that made everything take longer too. I finally divided the cake into the pans and popped them in the oven. As the cake was baking, it smelled SOOOOO delicious! I couldn't wait to frost it and eat it and enjoy a peaceful evening.

When the cakes were finally baked and cooled, I started to get them out of the pans. As I was dreaming of the deliciousness that this cake would be, I snagged a piece that had stuck to the pan and popped it in my mouth. Something was wrong. It tasted disgusting! It didn't take long for me to realize that I had forgotten to put sugar in it. *Sigh*

Yah, that pretty much described my whole day.

I started sobbing. My husband came in and asked what was wrong. "I forgot to put sugar in it!" He tried to pretend that it would still taste good when it was frosted, but I knew better. It was a failure. I had put a lot of time and effort into that cake. I was SO looking forward to eating it.


Why wasn't anything turning out like it's supposed to?

Today at lunch, I was again lamenting the failure of my cake. It just sounded so good. Then, the thought occured to me, why don't I just make it again? Sure, it takes a long time. Sure, it uses 4 eggs and a lot of carrots- ingredients I already used and wasted the first time. But I thought, I just can't stay down. I can't let this all get to me. I can take control of my situation and make the
best of it.

So I made the cake, a lot more carefully this time. And you know what? It was amazing!

Sometimes things don't work out the way we think they will. We might be looking forward to something being one way, and then get incredibly discouraged when we find out it's not what we thought. We can sulk, and think of what could have been, or we can make the best of the situation we're dealt with. That's what I am going to do.

So, the moral of this story: When life gives you cleft lips and dilated kidneys, you make carrot cake. And then you make it again.