Let’s talk about cabin fever. The definition? From Webster’s: “a condition of increased anxiety, tension, boredom, etc. caused by living for some time in a confined space or an isolated area, esp. in winter.”
New England is experiencing one of its worst winters in recorded history. No lie. Even Sarge compared it to Alaska, his last duty station.
I think we’re experiencing some cabin fever weirdness. Here’s why:
Banjo Man and I rarely buy cereal. It’s not something we eat for breakfast, so we only toss boxes of cereal into the shopping cart when the kids are coming to visit.
Last week–before we knew the extent of the upcoming snowstorm–we bought a box of generic Oat Chex because Sarge was due in for the weekend.
Later that afternoon, as we were unpacking the groceries, Banjo Man said, “I think I’d like a little of that cereal. You know, as a snack, because we’re not heating up the bean soup for another couple of hours, are we?”
He poured the chex into a little bowl and then offered to pour one for me. We wolfed down 1/4 cup each, agreeing it was the best thing we’d tasted in months, before putting the box on the shelf for Sarge.
And that night, while watching American Idol, Banjo Man said, “I think I’d like a little of that cereal. You know, as a snack.”
He poured equal amounts of chex into soup bowls and we guiltily chomped down more of Sarge’s cereal.
“That’s it,” I said. “The rest is for Sarge.”
Banjo Man agreed. J-Lo looked beautiful, Harry Connick Jr was so smart and Keith Urban was just so darn adorable. We made our bowls of cereal last for long, long minutes.
The next day I went downstairs to Banjo Man’s office to ask him something and I saw the box of Oat Chex. Banjo Man had eaten the rest of the cereal. He’d sneaked the box downstairs and finished it off while I wasn’t looking.
“You have got to be kidding,” I yelped. “You sneaked and you didn’t share! What about Sarge????!!!!”
“I’ll buy more,” he promised, looking at his watch. “I’ll go to town in an hour.”
He came home with four boxes. Sarge couldn’t get home for the weekend, so Banjo Man has two boxes and I have two boxes. We wrote our names on them, so now when we watch television we each have our own box.
We are actually hiding our boxes from each other.
I think we need to get out of the house. I think we need a vacation in a warm place.
I think we both need to be on diets.
is there any more pie? 