Nuck & Cinnamon
by Valerie Nusbaum
“What the heck is ‘Nuck’?” I asked.
Randy had added some things to our grocery list, and I was unfamiliar with Nuck. I imagined it to be some kind of energy or sports drink.
“Huh?” he asked. “What are you talking about?”
I told him that he’d written the word “Nuck” on the list, and I had no idea where to look for it in the grocery store.
He looked over my shoulder and informed me, “That says ‘Milk’.” Honestly, I shouldn’t have made a big deal about it because Randy does most of the grocery shopping these days. Randy sticks to the list and is a man on a mission at the store. I plan our meals for the week, make a list of ingredients I’ll need, and look through the sale flyers and coupons. Randy takes it from there. He’s so good at it, in fact, that my mother trusts him to do her shopping. Mom will call and say that she’s out of cereal, and “Randy knows what I like.” Mom likes Reese’s Puffs cereal (chocolate and peanut butter flavored balls of air, if you ask me), and she also likes the Special K Red Berries cereal. See, I know what she likes, too. Whatever.
Anyway, we got the Nuck/Milk thing straightened out. And with a fresh carton of milk in the refrigerator, I was able to have cereal for breakfast the next morning. Randy offered to make breakfast for both of us. Now, you might think that cereal is the only thing my hubby can cook, but he’s got a few other breakfast classics up his sleeve. A few years ago, I gave him a hotel-style waffle maker. You know how men like gadgets, so Randy has become the Waffle King around here. He also makes better scrambled eggs than I do. The upside of this is that I get delicious waffles once in a while. The downside is that I’m not allowed in the kitchen for several hours afterward while he cleans up, and I still find waffle batter in places it shouldn’t ever be.
Now back to my story.
Randy headed to the kitchen to get us some cereal and asked what kind I wanted. I told him I’d like some Raisin Bran with some Cinnamon on top. I love Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal. It’s a treat for me. A bit later, Randy came back upstairs (Did I mention that we were having breakfast in bed?) with our cereal bowls. Yes, folks, he does spoil me, but I do the same for him. I’m just not telling you those stories right now. This particular event took place on a weekend morning, and sometimes we like to watch baking or home improvement shows while we eat breakfast. When my hubby brought up our cereal bowls, I looked at my Raisin Bran and noted that Randy had forgotten to put the Cinnamon Toast Crunch on top, but I didn’t mention it. After all, he was nice enough to give me breakfast, right? Then I noticed the strange brown powder in my bowl, and that’s when I remembered how literal Randy’s mind is. I said, Cinnamon (meaning my favorite cereal), and he heard and thought cinnamon (the spice). Yep, he’d sprinkled cinnamon all over my cereal. I ate it anyway and didn’t comment until much later when we were out walking. He didn’t find my hysterical laughter all that funny. Truthfully, I wouldn’t have blamed him if he’d refused to make breakfast anymore. If I’m not mistaken, cinnamon is supposed to be good for us, but it did make my Raisin Bran taste sort of spicy.
Last night, my mom called me and told me that she’d been taking a bath and had happened to glance at herself in the bathroom mirror. She said she’d discovered a big red spot on her chest and found it very concerning. Poor Mom panicked and thought she might be coming down with shingles. I had visions of a long recovery, with me doing the nursing and Randy doing the shopping. Mom said that she grabbed a washcloth and very gently wiped at the spot on her chest. It’s a good thing she did because the spot turned out to be a freeze-dried strawberry from her breakfast cereal. The only difference between Mom and Randy in this instance is that Randy would have eaten the strawberry.
Randy and I also want to wish every one of you a happy, healthy, and safe fall season. We probably won’t be participating in trick or treat this year because of the health and safety issues, but if we were, we’d be the house handing out little boxes of cereal.
Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, or so we’ve been told. Be sure to eat yours!
