The Fatal Flaw

When we were packing to come here, we made two mistakes.  The first was that we believed we should only bring 'essential' items and no frivolous ones (like Mac-n-Cheese).  The second, we listened to people who said we would be able to get everything here we would need.  Based on that information, I sold our "just married" cafeteria-styled white plates (and pots and pans) to a young man heading off to medical school.  When we got here, I realized that yes, they do sell plates, but unfortunately, I didn't like most of them.  Another missionary was kind enough to drive us around all day one Saturday looking for dishes, but we came up with nothing.  So, much to my dismay when a week or so later, at what would be like Sam's Club back home, I found plates and bowls that I loved!  I bought them and brought them home.  Then I had my first bowl of cereal in them, and realized the fatal flaw in my new beloved dishware:  the bowls were too wide and shallow to hold enough  milk and cereal for the eater to have milk with their cereal to the end.  Now, those of you who know me well know that I love cereal and lived off it when pregnant with Em.  So, now that I am pregnant with our second blessing, I was starting to get annoyed at having to make a second trip to the fridge every bowl.  That, mixed with the known fact that 'breakable' isn't always the best option with kids and a puppy, I sent up the smoke signal to my mom begging for plastic plates and bowls.  Just as I looked and looked for actual dishes here in South Africa, I looked and looked for plastic ones as well.  The problem here is that plastic dishes are generally only for summer time and outdoor eating, hence they are every shade of summer neon known to creation.  Not generally my taste.  So yesterday, after much anticipation (this crazy hunt of mine has been going on since January 7th!), I received a package from home brought back from Kansas City by a member of the General Board and there were my glorious new plates!  The first thing I did was wash one bowl and test it for cereal adept-ability, and it was perfect!  Now, I realize that many of you are dying laughing at this point thinking of how big of an issue this must have been to me and how my poor husband has had to put up with discussions of the 'finer points' of bowl depth to width proportions.  Let me assure you, he has always lived in this crazy world of mine, so he's perfectly accustomed to this type of on-going insanity, but that's okay because I have lovely dishes that I adore and a husband willing to put up with all the rest!