Snowmageddon is coming!

Try these 12 Ways to Prevent Cabin Fever

They’re calling it a Monster Storm.

Snowmageddon is about to hit half the country.

We in Cleveland joke that we’re just putting on a heavier coat and our tall boots.

We get Lake Effect snow, so I still have 8 inches in my backyard from last week. My trunk always has a blanket, a snow shovel, a few good books, water and a jar of peanuts.

We know that winter storms are no joke, having survived the Blizzard of ‘78 with winds of 60 mph and snow drifts 10 feet high. I volunteered with the Red Cross back then to coordinate rescues between truck drivers and the Ohio National Guard to save people stranded on the highway. There were no cell phones, just CB radios. That storm claimed 51 lives in Ohio.

As I type, it’s 1 degree outside. We’re expected to get single digit temperatures and highs in the teens for at least a week.

Please, stay inside and stay safe.

And before you become squirrelly and find yourself climbing the walls, try my prescription for Cabin Fever:

Warm up from the inside out: Put some soup, chili and stew on the menu. There’s nothing like tomato soup and a grilled cheese sandwich or a packet of Lipton soup with those teeny tiny noodles to warm you up.

My go to is hot cocoa. It’s a great way to give yourself a warm hug from the inside. My secret? Use whole or 2% milk and add a dollop of vanilla ice cream on the top. If you’re gonna be bad, be bad all the way.

Seek some sun: Open the blinds, sit in a sunbeam or bundle up and stand outside in the sun for 10 minutes. Just don’t get sunburn and frostbite.

Move: YouTube has so many free workouts to keep you from getting RES: restless everything syndrome. OK, I so made that up, but you’ve had it, right? You start getting ants in the pants and feel that nothing is right in your life and you want to quit your job, leave your spouse or give away the dog. Just move you and everything else will look better.

Dance: Now is the time to dance like no one is watching, because no one is. Create your own joy playlist. Add “Don’t Stop Me Now” by Queen, “Sweet Caroline” by Neil Diamond, “Shut Up and Dance” by Walk the Moon, “Shake It Off” by Taylor Swift, “Dancing Queen” by ABBA, “Single Ladies” by Beyoncé, “A Bar Song” by Shaboozey and “Stayin Alive” by the Bee Gees.

Change the scenery: Changing small things makes a big difference when you’re cooped up inside. Have fun exploring your own home. Sit in different spots and check out the view. Is it time to rearrange the furniture? If so, before you move that couch, get out paper, draw your living room to scale and cut out paper furniture to scale. Moving a paper couch is much easier on the back.

Declutter. Start small, like the bathroom medicine cabinet. Check the expiration dates. That Advil from 2019 isn’t going to cure your headache, neither is the Tylenol from 1992.

I do my own version of the Marie Kondo method. Instead of decluttering all my clothes, I pick one item, like shoes, then get out all my shoes from every room or closet and toss them in a mountain. I thank them all for serving me, then keep only the ones that spark with joy or fulfill a specific duty, then donate the rest.

Play: Put together a puzzle. Aim for a 1,000 piece one. Make it a bigger challenge by turning the lid over and going blindly. Play Solitaire with a real deck of cards the old-fashioned way. Create an Olympics game day if you’re stuck inside with others. Pull out all the standbys – Candyland, Chutes and Ladders, Monopoly and Scrabble.

Boost your brain power with crossword puzzles, sudoku and The New York Times games like Spelling Bee, Wordle and Connections.

Complete a project: All those projects you think you’ll do on a rainy day? You’ve got an entire icy cold week to start and maybe finish. As Nike says, Just Do It. Write that novel. Pick up the paintbrush. Finish that quilling or quilt, that knitting or painting.

Connect: Call your sister, your brother, your mother or your oldest friend and do nothing while you’re on the phone but listen. Meet on FaceTime or Zoom so you can see each other. Write your favorite teacher, mentor or old neighbor a handwritten letter. A little dose of love will warm everyone’s heart.

Bake: It’s like making art you can eat. It warms the belly and the kitchen. Try a new cookie recipe. If you’re like me, you’ve been hoarding new recipes for years. Pick one and test drive it.

Escape to somewhere warm: Plan a trip to Costa Rica. Watch a National Geographic special on Thailand. Read a book on Bali. Bring out your photo album from your last trip and return there while you’re snuggled up on the couch.

Learn something new: Conversational Spanish, Italian or Hebrew. Try Canva to create projects. Learn how to use all the apps you already have on your cellphone. Read all those books you’re going to read “some day.”

Today is the day.

You’ve been given snow much time.

Use it.