If you thought you saw a pig fly past your window

last Saturday, there's no reason to assume your next purchase will be a straightjacket or that a mushroom courtesy of Fleetwood Mac found its way into your lunchtime wrap. You may very well have seen a flying pig because, you see, the unthinkable happened... 

Hubby spent an entire 8 hours shopping without so much as a whinge, a whine or an 'I've had enough' pout. Surprised? So was I. In fact, if I didn't have fabulous new patio furniture, a 12-piece mirror installation and a couch order to show for it, I too may think that it were all a 'shouldn't have had cheese before bed' dream.

In the three years that I've been a Mrs I have never seen the man on such form. He was a shopping, price-comparing, interior design referencing machine. From Wetherly's to Sutherlands, from Sandton City to Kramerville, from Mistry's to Mr Price, hubby took retail therapy to a new level, putting even this seasoned shoppers stamina, agility and Sales Consultant repertoire to the test...

I realised I may have some competition when, while looking for photo frames in Design Quarter, he dashed over to me, Blackberry in hand, proudly declaring:

"Love, those mirrors you want, they're holding 12 of them for us at the Clearwater branch. Oh, and Hertex says we can keep the scatter cushions on appro 'til we finalise the fabric for the couch."

If it weren't for the mandatory pitstop at Anat in Sandton's food court for his 'usual' – a lamb schwarma packed to capacity with more garlic and brinjals than your average mediterranean-themed deli – I may have been forced to consider the chance that hubby had been swapped with a genetically engineered clone the night before. Thankfully, by 17h30, as we made our way home, his shopping high (a phenomenon I'm as familiar with as curry induced weight gain in winter) begun to dwindle...

"Right, that's me done – for the next year, at least. What's for dinner?"

It's at that point that the flying pigs stopped circling our apartment.