I feel as if my life is in constant flux and I honestly don’t know if it’s just my nature or if it really is the roller coaster ride I make it out to be. Most of the bumps on the ride are simple ideas and happenings that make up life with a few dramatic, complicated events thrown in between.
Right now I speak of needing new pots and pans. There is nothing extreme or unusual about needing new cookware, but why does deciding take so much time? It took me three days to decide what to buy. I previously had a brand sold by a direct sales company that I was really happy with and has lasted for many years. However, all non-stick cookware wears out eventually. The pans had a lifetime warranty and I abused the privilege until the company got the notion that normal wear and tear should not count toward a LIFETIME or they’d be replacing everyone’s pans for, well, everyone’s lifetime. To me lifetime means lifetime, but as my third replaced frying pan wore out and my dealer cut me off, I was on the hunt to replace just that one piece. It was a pricey set, and I wasn’t in the mood to take out a small business loan with so many options available in the regular world.
I went to one of my favorite big box, houseware-selling stores. A couple years ago, measured in how many times I’ve made Almond Roca for Christmas, I bought a 12 quart soup pot there. So I went looking for the same brand. They had a sale for the whole set, which got me wondering if I perhaps needed the whole set. I recalled my sister mentioning one of my pots was getting a bit scratched and worn and that was a couple years ago. After standing rooted in the spot for a half hour, doing the math, ruminating over my options, I only purchased a couple fry pans. I didn’t know if the set was a good deal or not.
On the way home, I stopped at Costco and looked to see what they had. Then I went home looked at all my cookware, determined I did need to replace everything, and spent the rest of the afternoon Googling reviews for all the different brands I had looked at. Frustratingly, I didn’t come up with any solutions, because for every good review, there’s a bad one. I decided to ask my husband. Problem was I couldn’t pin him down that Friday evening, except for him to say, “It’s your decision, you do all the cooking.”
It’s true for the most part, but he makes my breakfast on the weekends and it’s not always McDonald’s. I was pretty sure he’d have something to say about my choice. The next morning, as he cooked my eggs, he harshly judged the frying pan I’d chosen. With his full attention intact, I took him to Costco and he immediately chose the set I saw the previous day. I put my first choice fry pans in the RV, because I believe that if I never am to have a day off of domestic duties, I should at least have the best tools at my disposal. And though he cooks breakfast for me on weekends, for some reason he does not when we’re camping.
I have no cookware review as of this writing. However, I’m satisfied for now knowing, though he claimed not to care, my husband did have an opinion about my pot use.
Gretchen Leigh is a stay-at-home mom who lives in Covington. You can read more of her writing on her website livingwithgleigh.com, on Facebook at “Living with Gleigh by Gretchen Leigh,” or twitter @livewithgleigh. Her column is available every week at maplevalleyreporter.com under the Life section.
