Evidence of Extreme Lameness

I am now going to write, and what is worse, publish, an entire post about my new favorite toy. And it is not a cool new toy, like an iPod or a Blackberry or . . . um, what do normal people find entertaining and exciting?

Clearly, I am not normal, because THIS is my new favorite toy. It's a dishpan. Yes, a dishpan. I am ashamed to be so very excited by a porcelain-coated dishpan, but I am.

See, not only do we not have a dishwasher, but we have a big-ass farm sink, suitable for disemboweling chickens and gutting fish and other farm-like activities, but not so easy to do dishes in. Ain't no way we're filling that bad boy up with water. So we have to have a separate pan set in the sink to fill to do dishes.

In the past, this pan has been a plastic tub that we've purchased at the grocery store. These are cheap and you can't chip glassware on them, but that's pretty much it for their positive attributes. Being plastic, they get stained and nasty quickly and they tend to crack from the weight of the water when we lift the tub to drain it. Pieces of crap, really.

But finding something better is not so easy, because there doesn't appear to be a large demand for dishpans. I can't say I found that shocking. So I did what I always do when I need an item that was common 100 years ago and has since fallen out of use (except for at our house, where it's always 1908): I ordered it from Lehman's.

I'm sure you've never heard of Lehman's, but if you (like me) are a sucker for old-fashioned stuff, this is the company for you. They're based in Ohio, and they make a lot of non-electric products and antique-design reproductions for the Amish and Mennonite market. And us. We have more in common with the Amish than with the modern world, apparently. They have a whole section labeled "Home Butchering." Honestly, who can resist that? I drool over the Lehman's catalog like some women drool over . . . um, what do normal women drool over? Tiffany? Whatever, I covet Lehman's products.

So I got this grannyware dishpan from Lehman's, and it is AWESOME, y'all. It's so wonderfully sturdy and clean and it hangs from a neat little nail on the side of the cabinet. I'm in love. And also, exceedingly lame and clearly not normal.

If you actually read this far in my love letter to my dishpan, I salute you. And I am sorry. Tomorrow I'll try not to be so lame. But I make no promises.