You Know You Are A China Addict When:

by Mary Dessoie

• You get adept at visiting homes and have a flair for lifting objects with lids to see the bottom marking.

• You go to Nordstrom’s, pick up a dinner plate and stand there with your eyes closed running your fingers along the surface, checking for flakes. You don't even realize you're doing it until a sales associate asks why you are standing there with your eyes closed.

• You spend more time cleaning your newly found treasures then cleaning your home.

• You forget you're not at an antiques mall and ask for best price in the china department at Tiffany & Co.

• You go to a museum and spend most of your time on your hands and knees trying to see the marks on the bottoms of pottery.

• You have acquired the skill for viewing the bottoms of dishes in restaurants without spilling the food that's on them.

• You dine from cheap plastic plates because you are saving your five complete sets of exquisite dinnerware for some time in the future.

• You are unable to recall any significant details about your ex-husband but you clearly remember the date, time and circumstances surrounding the tragedy when you dropped your 1860's Staffordshire soup tureen.