life imitates food, or food imitates life

Have you had those times when you wake up each morning and just think, “Ok Life, what have you got for me today?” The past few months have been like that for me. On balance, my outlook is positive; each uncertainty on its own isn’t that bad, but as they pile on top of one another it gets more challenging to keep perspective.

Each time I felt ready to post some of the craziness going on, life got even crazier. As I was sorting through photos to edit for posts, I realized that there was an ironic connection between life and the cake I just made.

The cake looks smooth and golden on the surface, but how did it actually turn out? You mix all the ingredients together and put the cake in the oven hoping that chemistry is on your side. You still have to wait to see if everything came together.

I’m actually going to put the recipe in a separate post, that’s how much craziness I have to get through.
In semi-chronological order, here goes.

This is my dad. Hi, Dad! (He reads my blog.) He came out to San Diego to visit in mid-April which is when I took this picture of him at Cabrillo National Monument.

After he got back from his visit, he fell ill. In June he was diagnosed with Stage IV prostate cancer which means it has metastasized into his bones. That’s the bad news.

The good news is that it’s treatable. He’s responding well and feeling a thousand times better now than he did a month ago. He likes his doctor and his test results are improving.

His doctor said not to sit at home throwing a pity party and recommended going out and doing things Dad wanted to do. And he did. He and my mom (and my godparents) just got back from a week-long cruise to Alaska! Before they left I had a chance to spend some time with my parents in Minnesota since I was already back for a wedding, which was great (both the wedding and the visit).

Since moving almost a year ago, I’ve been back five times — four weddings and Thanksgiving. My husband has only been back three times and missed this last trip because it was too much time to take off work.

So imagine my surprise when he called me on my trip to say that he quit his job — the job we moved to California for in the first place and the reason he had stayed behind this time.

It wasn’t a total shock. He hadn’t been thrilled with the situation and had started to look for new opportunities, but this was a bit earlier than he had planned. As in he had hoped to have a new job before leaving the old one. He’s looking.

The upside to him being unemployed is that I actually get to spend some time with him! Or I did.

Especially if you’re a new reader (hi, new readers!) you might not know that I haven’t worked much since we moved to California. A few short stints, but nothing substantial. I’m a stage manager for theatrical productions — that’s what my college degree is in and what I was doing when we left Minnesota. It’s also a really difficult field to break into in a new city where I don’t know anyone.

There’s a large theater where I had an informational interview in January. They called to offer me a position two days ago. I start tomorrow at 10:00am.

I’m not comfortable talking about work here so there isn’t much to say other than it’s a really great opportunity for me and it’s going to be a really interesting transition to go from mostly-unemployed to working six days a week (a normal theater schedule except with Sundays off).

It’s a big change with little time to transition. It’s like life is flipping upside down.

…Not unlike my cake.

For once I actually have a small stash of content that I haven’t posted, so while I probably won’t be updating as often, I’m not going to disappear either. We still get our CSA share every other week, and New Food Friday will roll around every seven days. It’s a temporary position so I’ll be back soon. Maybe my husband will even write a post while I’m working.

Or you could! If you have a recipe or write up you think fits my blog, email me and I’ll see what I can do.

The next few months hold a lot of uncertainty, but I have high hopes. I wasn’t sure about the cake, either, but it turned out great. My health coaching program had a lecture that recommends replacing the word “nervous” with “excited.” I’m definitely excited.

What are you excited about these days (other than this cake recipe, which you should be pumped for)?