A Long, Useless Story About My Restful Weekend (Corelle Adventure)
I'm behind on my journal again. 4 days, but I want to remember this weekend especially so I'm writing this blog post to reference later when I'm caught up. I'll do it after work tomorrow!
Yesterday, I started a morning habit that's an extension of my weekly "Cabin Day" where I abstain from the internet in an attempt to connect with my physical media collection (of books, comics, and games) and spend time more intentionally. I thought, "why not have a mini Cabin Day every morning?" So I set a timer for 1 hour and told myself to spend it away from my devices. I took a shower, had my daily bowel movement, started laundry, and did the dishes all without anything playing in the background. With that momentum, I even organized my whole closet and bookshelf, setting aside some items for donation! Finally, I properly installed the PSU on my PC and tidily tucked it by my entertainment console. With the combo of rote chores and free time to think, all the accumulated looping micro-thoughts in the back of my mind were cleared away along with the physical clutter of my dishes, haphazard piles of clothes, and disemboweled desktop. I felt a sense of great mental clarity. For the rest of the day I enjoyed my freshly fixed PC (Cyberpunk 2077) and capped the evening with a great dinner with friends.
This morning I did the same thing: 1 hour, no devices. I started with my daily meditation on the porcelain throne and found myself without breakfast, so I ventured forth and got some bread from the nearby market. I brought the box of donations from yesterday to Goodwill and picked up a comic anthology, Cry Punch (not Gay Punch) at the HPB next door.
While browsing Instagram (oops, I broke the cabin day rule) I came across a cooking video where one of the comments called out the plate in the clip, saying "don't eat off that plate, it has lead paint!" Curious, I looked up the plates that I remember using for my entire childhood (and still use, borrowed from my parents' home). To my dismay, the pattern was indeed one of the ones identified to have dangerous levels of lead in it! (Corelle Old Town Blue. So nostalgic!)
I called my mom and broke the news. "Uhh... you know the plates we've been using for 40 years? Yeah, the ones you got in the 80s? Well... I think we need to retire them..." This kicked off an entire evening of researching vintage dinnerware and then researching replacement dinnerware. We were nearly tricked by a fake Corelle website with prices too good to be true and then fell into a rabbit hole of trying to decide which new pattern we wanted to get. There's a sale on the official website, but the prices are already lower at Target and Walmart, but Target and Walmart don't have all the patterns! Oh, but do we want the 16 piece set or the 12 piece set? Do we need salad bowls or ice cream bowls?
It was analysis paralysis to the greatest degree. I settled on a modern reissue of "Old Town Blue" from Target and drove out to my nearest store to pick up a set, since it was oddly in demand -- only 3 sets remaining. Once I got back, I did an unboxing video for my mom (we were on the phone the whole time even through my adventure to Target) and we were tickled by the new proportions of the "new" small bowl. So cute!
It was a really pleasant evening spent on the phone with my mom. Prattling on for literal hours about something so inconsequential as which pattern to pick for a set of plates to replace our vintage (lead-laden) dinnerware was an excellently lighthearted way to grow a little closer. I think I'll fondly remember this funny evening for a while.
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