Decisions. Decisions. I hate making decisions!

Had a harder time getting started today. I feel like I'm coming down with something again, but it's par for the course. The girls started back to school on Monday, and it usually only takes a few days before one of us is sick with something. Hopefully, it's just a 24 hour stomach bug and nothing more.

I haven't found anything that indicates that melamine comes in clear for a color, so I'm assuming that the glasses are likely something with BPA in it, since they're not marked otherwise. I'm still not 100% in favor of melamine dishes, either, so I just don't know what I'm going to do. We'll keep our stoneware for now, but if we replace it, it will probably be with melamine. Ugh! I hate not having enough information to feel like I can make a decision!

I am still working on finding something safe for our middle daughter to use in the microwave. She loves to be independent and heat up burritos, and it's good for her to be able to do it. However, I'm getting rid of all my plastic microwave stuff, so I've got to figure out what she can use instead. She's using the stoneware for now. It doesn't get too hot for her to handle, but I'm not sure how long I'll have the stoneware, so...

I did think of another potential solution today. Silicone. You know, there are silicone baking mats, silicone bakeware and silicone spatulas. But how safe is it to use when heated? I know it's supposedly safe to 428 degrees, but will we find out years from now that it's no different than polycarbonate? Will we find out it leaches chemicals into food? I may come to a point where I feel reasonably safe with using it in the microwave, but I'm not there yet. Still, it would be ideal for her to use to heat up burritos where it doesn't hold the heat like other things.

I don't know. I had a wonderful chat with my cousin tonight. She used to sell Pampered Chef and is thinking of doing it again soon. I asked, if it was safe to use in the microwave. It is. And you know, I could teach our middle daughter to use pot holder gloves to take it out of the microwave, so she wouldn't get burned. Plus, stoneware isn't as slick and hard to hold onto as glass is, so she'd be less apt to drop it and have it break. Plus, if it did break, it would just break. It wouldn't shatter like glass.

You know? I really wish I was more comfortable with Corelle.

I did get more of the kitchen sorted today and tossed more plastic. The thing that is going to kill me to get rid of though...my water mug. It's one of those insulated mugs like you get when you're hospitalized. I have ice water in mine all day long and drink close to a gallon a day. I love water. Especially cold water. So I'm going to have to look for a PBA-free water mug.

Tried the caffeine pill this morning. I didn't get overly jittery, but I also didn't stay up. I was not feeling well, and I did go back to sleep for awhile after the girls went to school. I'm hoping that I'll have a better idea how it's going to work for me tomorrow. My breathing did seem better today, but I'm not sure why. It could just be that the weather was nice and the furnace didn't kick in as often.

I guess I'll know tomorrow. I can hear the storm blowing in now.

I'm a daydream believer and a ... Ok. Scratch that. I'm just a daydream believer.

I was inspired and even excited when Ami suggested Corelle for the dishes situation. I went to Amazon to look around and even picked out my 3 favorite patterns. I figured I'd get some to mix and match, and they'd be so much fun to use.

Unfortunately, the entire time I was looking around, an uneasiness crept in, and I couldn't shake it. My husband had told me to order it, if I wanted, but I never got that far. The uneasiness just kept growing.

I realized I need to stop looking at dishes and try to figure out why I was feeling this way. Pushing it's way from a distant memory to the front of my mind was an image from when I was in junior high. I was in the kitchen. I'd just turned away from the sink, and I had a Corelle cereal bowl with little green flowers encircling it in my hand.

I lost my grip on the bowl, and it fell. It didn't just break. It exploded. It shattered into what looked like a million shards. Sharp. Pointy. Shards. We were finding pieces of it for weeks - often with our bare feet. The pieces couldn't be picked up without a little nick in the end of the fingertips. It wasn't a fun thing.

Over the years, very few pieces were broken. In fact, they're still in use at my parents' house. But every single time a piece broke, it exploded. Every. Single. Time.

And all I can think of is a piece exploding in front of one of the girls. They lack defensive reflexes, so they couldn't even turn away to protect themselves, if they saw it coming. It has the potential of seriously hurting them. Of propelling itself like shrapnel. And it would kill me, if either of them got hurt, lost an eye, had to have pieces of glass removed with slivers, when I could have prevented it.

Since I can prevent it, I will. We will not be getting Corelle. I'll be looking around for some fun Melamine to take the place of the heavier stoneware. There is such a wide variety available. It amazes me that some of it costs more than fine china. Then again, it looks like fine china! It does not look like plastic at all. My favorite pattern is entirely out of my budget.

We'll be going with something much more affordable than that.

Still..it's fun to dream. :)