I am unsure if I have mentioned what a klutz I am. I am a fully functioning adult who has a habit of spontaneously destroying prized drinking vessels. This time I am not entirely sure how I even did it. One second I was holding the cup, and the next minute it was in a thousand pieces on the floor. My theory is that I bumped it against the couch, as I was inside the main house.
I would have tried to catch it, but I had a laptop in my other hand. So, I watched one of my two large mugs demolish itself upon the hardwood floor. The first words out of my mouth were “and this is why we can’t have nice things.” Followed by a large sigh, setting down my laptop, and grabbing the broom and dustpan.
So now, I am back down to one tea mug! I have company coming over tomorrow morning, and I am debating if I am going to offer tea, since only one of us can drink it at at a time. Seems a bit awkward. I had three mugs.
One mug I purchased with my dad on my birthday last year from a local potter at the Pike Place Market. One day while drinking tea the bottom fell out of that mug. Just plopped out in a perfect circle onto the ground. I was rather dismayed, as I loved that mug and it was the first ‘new’ thing I had bought in ages. That beautiful mug is now an accouterment to my wildflower garden in front of The Fortune Cookie. I went back to see if I could exchange it, as I had been using the mug for less than a month when that happened. However, the vendor that sold me the beautiful pottery mug was not at the market that day.
The other mug I got while out shopping with my mother. This being the mug that I broke today. I’m rather dismayed! I have a fabulous hardwood floor that I keep smashing things against. I even broke the lid of a beautiful sugar dish acquired for $0.50 at a yard sale. The gentleman who purchased the beautiful piece of pottery for me was very pleased with the purchase. Mainly because he caught me eyeballing it longingly, but not buying it. I told him that I was not allowed to buy any more ‘smashables’ for my house. He laughed at me and said it would be fine.
No less than an hour after purchasing the item, I was in process of setting the item down when the lid from this sugar bowl went toppling off of the jar. The lid fell from the jar onto the floor and instantly smashed into five pieces. I Skype’d my friend and said, “Guess what just happened?” His reply, “This is why we can’t have nice things!” I’m keeping the pieces of that lid and eventually gluing them back together.
My dear readers, what should I do? I need tea mugs desperately, but I need shatter-proof ones. I’m considering mason jars with handles, as suggested by another friend. Wood mugs do not hold up so well to heat. Metal ones just tend to burn me … a lot, because I’m a dingbat. Do any of you have any recommendation for a woman who cannot be trusted with ‘smashables’?
~Kera
The mantra at our place is “I can’t have anything nice”. Because I went from having children, to having grandchildren and a clutzy girlfriend! All I can say is, it’s a constant exercise in not being attached to “things”. They are just things afterall, and just because the cup got smashed, doesn’t take away from the experience you had acquiring it. My advice is…just keep buying fabulous things you find at yard sales and thrift shops. Then at least you won’t be bummed at the monetary loss. My take away is forgiveness, and value. These are lessons more treasured than any “thing” could be. I must be dense though…I need periodic smashing reminders
Love ya!
It is a lesson I am learning over and over. Though I was upset enough to not take a picture of smashed cup for my blog. Le sigh. The benefit is it means I seem to always be on the hunt for a tea mug! Which is kind of fun.
I’m with Kalina…better a smashed mug than a smashed heart. (And there’s no way Beth can be a grandma!) <3 you, Kera!
I’ve got to remember that one Rich. However, I think I break more mugs than hearts.
Or, you know, just borrow one of ours.
Guess what I have in my house right now? Though…. I don’t want to start a habit of breaking your mugs too. Then we’ll all be screwed.
Send me your mailing address, I have something for you
This is the kind that Aveloc uses: http://www.vat19.com/dvds/stainless-steel-beer-mug.cfm
It is metal, but insulated. Of course, you could look at this as a message from the Universe to continue letting go of the material in your life… But I like Beth’s advice to just keep treasure hunting and knowing that the breakables have embraced their doom when they go home with you
Okay, Aveloc’s cup is genius. I might have to get me one of those. It’s pretty rad lookin.
However, I do appreciate the treasure hunting and doom embracing. Makes me feel more like a lesser version of Indy.
The thought of always being in the market for a cool and unusual mug is great! Pretty soon people would come to visit and be ready for a story about where and how you acquired the mug that they were drinking from. I don’t know if you are aware that some hand thrown pottery and ceramic mugs don’t hold up well to microwave use. I found out the hard way when hubby would microwave cups to reheat coffee. Little hairline cracks would form in the glaze and eventually the mugs would chip or get big cracks.
Isn’t it though? You know, having a story behind my dishes does make for an interesting side bar, eh?
Thankfully, I do not own a microwave. I reheat my items on the stove or eat them cold. Microwaves kinda give me the creeps. I’m not sure if that is just a me thing. Heh.
The idea of a story to every mug is pretty cool
You could also keep an eye out for Corelle mugs at yard sales and whatnot…Corelle is pretty hard to break. I’ve dropped mine (mugs and plates) multiple times over on laminate floor, metal sink, etc and I’ve got none that are broken or chipped yet.
Oh, I had forgotten about Corelle mugs! Good thinking! I have yet another cup I broke recently. I will have to blog about it.
I’d like to find Fortessa Fortaluxe cups in a secondhand store, so I can at least keep a matching set of something for a while: http://www.amazon.com/Fortessa-Fortaluxe-SuperWhite-Vitrified-7-Ounce/dp/B007S7MBIM/ref=sr_1_80?ie=UTF8&qid=1343693974&sr=8-80&keywords=schott+zwiesel
And I badly need Schott Zwiesel’s Tritan water glasses to keep the glass shards in my kitchen to a minimum. I don’t like the taste of plastic or metal with my tea or water, so I may just save up and get new ones if I can’t find used ones soon. Mother always told me that beverages taste better in bone china (and she was right about the tea being better anyway] but I’m down to two cups that I found at a Salvation Army. But I’ve about decided it’s not fair to the cups for me to bring them home.
Ha! My blog post tomorrow covers some of this! I break things constantly!