The Cake Debacle

Dave was out and about Christmas shopping on Christmas Eve Day (go figure) and I had given him a few items to pick up at Wal-mart which was to be his last stop. I believe my list was something like light bulbs, cake, candles, milk. The cake was for the purpose of having a birthday cake for Jesus.

At around 5pm I start working on getting dinner ready while the kids keep asking if they can open a present yet. Dave assures me via phone that he is on his way home right after he finished cleaning the inside of the car. (I cannot fault him for that.) He comes home and puts the goods on the counter and I say, "where's the cake?"
He gets all flustered and tells me he actually had gone back into Wal-mart for the cake he'd forgotten the first time around but he didn't make it home with the cake. I try to get the story straight by asking many questions like "So, you actually paid for the cake?" "Did you perhaps take it out of the car while you were cleaning it at the car wash?" "How can you loose a cake?" This only makes matters worse and Dave finally tells me that he bought the cake and left it at the register to which I reply, "so you are saying that you did pay for the cake and you know where it is?" Correct.

Dave opens the pantry and pulls out a cake mix and looks at me and says, "Plan B?" I quickly let him know that I am in no position to be making a cake at the last minute and that I really wish he'd go back to Wal-mart and get the cake since it's been paid for even though dinner is ready to eat. We will wait. I figure that the hot dogs can remain in the pot on low just like at the questionable street vendor stands.

So he takes Faith with him and heads back to Wal-mart for the cake. Imagine my surprise when Dave returns home with a cake MIX! I could not contain myself. "Dave, you think I would send you back to Wal-mart for a $1 cake mix?! Didn't you hear me say that I did not have time to make a cake? Did you see the word "mix" anywhere on that list I gave you?"



We just had to laugh. Olivia volunteered to make the cake after dinner and we sat down and ate. Later, Dave tells me that Faith had convinced him that chocolate cake would be better than yellow cake, so he actually stood in the line at customer service to exchange and pay a 2 cent difference. I would have rather had yellow cake but I did not mention that at all. I figured I could at the very least keep that to myself.

Ha ha ha.

It gets a little bit worse.



We eat dinner. We each open a present, and I am ungrateful for the David Cook CD that Dave got me. Poor Dave, we go through this every year. David Cook? Yes, I watch American Idol, but I will not get much use out of a David Cook CD. I am so terrible. I recognize it and every year I tell myself to just smile and say thank you, but I can't stand the thought of $10 wasted on something I don't really want. Maybe I can get counseling. But to continue with the cake story... I was so disappointed that the gift seemed to miss the mark, that I silently went over to the kitchen counter, frosted the cake and then cut and served it. I completely forgot to put on the candles and sing happy birthday to Jesus! Now who's the dork?

Luckily this sweet little song saved the day and I played it for everyone while they enjoyed their chocolate cake and neapolitan ice cream.