Somehow, in the midst of the winter chill that's driven us indoors, my husband has become obsessed with online shopping.

According to him, I started the whole thing by doing a chunk of our Christmas shopping online. Perhaps it was the thrill of packages arriving at the house that he found appealing. Or maybe just the fact that you don't actually have to leave the house to shop.

My husband is not the shopping type. Usually, unless we're at Dick's Sporting Goods or Cabela's, he detests shopping. So being able to cover so much ground online looking for specific items has propelled him into a near addiction.

He didn't come right out and tell me about the stuff he was buying because he told me we were on a "spending freeze," but kids love to tell on their parents. So I got the skinny from my son, who was trying to divert attention from getting in trouble for something himself.

At first, I didn't say much to my husband, thinking I could save it for some time when he protests one of my "have to go because I have a 30 percent off coupon" trips to Kohl's. It's good to have a free pass like that in your pocket.

But then he dragged me into the situation, asking what I thought he should do about some difficulty he was having with this particular purchase in which the item was backordered. So, in the course of giving my opinion about that, I couldn't help mentioning that I didn't see why he needed to buy these fancy binoculars in the first place. I followed that with my observation that his online shopping habits had spiraled out of control.

His response — that it kept him from getting depressed by the dreariness of winter. So I said, "Well if you need some things to keep you busy or entertained, there are plenty of little projects in the house to do."

To which he replied: "No honey, that's what keeps you from getting depressed in the winter."

Clever guy, eh?