Cheerios at Half Time!

Two days before the National Championship game (GO GATORS!!!!) Fox Sports disappeared. I couldn’t believe I would actually get to watch this game on TV, but like many other things here, it became unavailable without any warning. The “first you see it, now you don’t” phenomenon is one that many expats warned me about when I first arrived. Just like most things, I took it with a grain of salt until I experienced it for myself. It started with grits. For six months, I have enjoyed grits for breakfast prepared by my loving husband. The day we found grits at the supermarket was one of my top ten Abu Dhabi moments. I’ve craved cheese grits way before getting pregnant, so you can imagine how I feel about them now. On Christmas Eve, when I realized we were out of grits, I took a cab to the only supermarket that carries them. I actually stood there, staring at the spot where grits had been, trying not to cry. It was bad enough that I was going to have Christmas without family, but Christmas without grits?? Since then, I have checked every week and no grits for me. To add to that, we temporarily lost our favorite pancake mix and of course, the only channel that showed American football. On the upside, things you couldn’t find before suddenly appear. For months I complained about the lack of black beans, and one day, there they were! My wife network knew I missed my beans so I got a text message telling me where to find them. Of course, I stocked up. If you see it and you love it, buy lots. That’s our motto. I still got to watch the game online like all the other games. At 5 am, Michael dragged the laptop to the bedroom door and pushed the bed all the way up so I could watch lying down. By half time I was fully awake and starving. I thought of the Gator Nation enjoying wings and beer while I ate my Honey Nut Cheerios. Man, it feels good to be a champion!

Since I wrote this, I found grits! They appeared at another supermarket that didn’t sell them before. Grocery shopping is like going on a treasure hunt! :)