If The Shoe Fits.......It's Probably Ugly!

As a woman who really loves shoes, it's comes as a surprise, even to myself, that I don't have a closet overflowing with all the latest foot fashions. They are such a fun item...all the colors and styles....but rarely in my budget for indulgence so what usually happens....I find myself in a crunch time decision of needing a pair of shoes....for tomorrow! That was the way it happened the other night. I was scheduled to attend a training seminar on Friday and on Thursday afternoon, I knew I would need a decent pair of shoes to wear. I knew I would never be able to clomp around in heels all day, so a nice pair of dressy flats were in order. So simple. Those little cuties are EVERYWHERE. But here is the kicker....I wear a size 11.

Having a difficult shoe size is nothing new to me, I've been dealing with it for as long as I can remember. As a child and a teen, it was a different challenge....my foot was long and incredibly narrow. Have you ever heard of a AAAAA heel? I distinctly remember a pair of shiny black slip-ons with those five "A's". My parents would always begin a shoe expedition with the admonition..."It's not necessarily what you like, but what we can find to fit."....and my foot was so much longer than all my friends who were wearing size 5,6,7.....I was in an 8 before I was 16 years old. My precious Aunt Mary always reminded me that I simply had a "firm foundation"....I've tried to remember that over the years and it DOES make me smile to think about her.

My wedding shoes were a size 8.5 and three years later, after the birth of my first daughter, I had graduated to a size 9. Most Moms will relate to the prediction of a new shoe size for every child. It's true. My feet just grew longer AND (thankfully) a little wider. I was thrilled to find a "B" width or "medium" was working out just fine. If I could have stayed at a size 10B, I might have been happy, but nooooooo......nurses wear the most comfortable of shoes and so I practically live in clogs, tennis shoes or the "official shoe of South Carolina"...the flip-flop. Not only did my feet grow longer, but they so enjoy being able to stretch out and spread across the lay of the land inside a clog, that they are now wide across the toes. I can't win!

Remember those cute little flats I was describing earlier? I found them....adorable little black and gray plaid with a fake buckle across the toe. The sample size 5 was fabulous......and look! They have one in a size 11! Unfortunately, it looked more like a small canoe wrapped in a stadium blanket. UGG! I searched four different shoe stores before running out of time.....I was stuck with wearing the heels. Thankfully, I spent most of the seminar sitting down. Tolerable. What is it with shoe designers? Do they think that any foot larger than a size 9 is only suited for construction boots? Asking the shoe store staff if they have this way- too cute, chestnut colored, reptile textured pump in a size 11 will either bring you a blank stare, or the whole crocodile.

This is not to say that I've NEVER found a pretty pair of shoes for my humongous feet....there IS one store in our town that not only stocks a really attractive selection of shoes, but they specialize in sizes 10, 11, and 12. Of course, they have a section of the store devoted to shoes that come with their own pole and strobe light. I give them a glance, just for the giggle of it, and then move to the "Mother-of-the-Bride-ish" wall of sparkles and silk. It's the store that provided the shoes for my daughter's wedding and for that, I'm grateful, but for everyday wear.....well, we lovingly refer to this shop as the "Bling-Bling Shoe Store" for a reason.

I love Winter but when it comes to footwear....it is a difficult season for me. Spring will come eventually and I will happily pull out my wonderful selection of flip-flops, paint my toes with hot pink polish and let my toes spread out even more so that I can be just that much more frustrated NEXT Winter.

Happy Shopping!

Does Christmas Fall in December This Year?

If you think you're picking up some sarcasm....you are correct. If you are worried that I'm serious, you are also correct. Here is a little known secret I usually keep locked away....I have a weird view of time. For as long as I can remember, I've had a visual of the calendar in my brain that resembles a racetrack, or some kind of oval shaped game board. Yes, I know...that's crazy. But if you mention a date to me, I instantly get this image in my brain. The oval has twelve parts, each representing a month with December kind of at the very top and July/August sharing the bottom. I play the part of a game piece (if this were Monopoly, I guess I'd be the Scotti Dog) moving at lightning speed around this oval....always going counter clockwise. I have absolutely NO explanation for this. At any rate....here we go again...back to the top of the oval, about to embark on another year. Christmas is always in the same space, never moving like Easter....(who really understands how THAT is calculated?)... and am I ready for it? It's a lesson I never seem to learn. I have done my best to financially prep for the big day with my little savings account....all you Dave Ramsey fans will understand how that works....but it doesn't seem to be enough. At least not enough to deal with the emotional prep.

I spent this past Monday packing up the few little "Fall" decor items I have around the house, and then hauling the Christmas stuff down from the attic. It was an all day event, but I made it. By 9:00 p.m., my house was all twinkly and glowy with lights and candles and the various holiday nick-nacks I've accumulated over the years. Many little treasures such as the paper reindeer with antlers made from the outline of my daughter's hands.....well, I may not actually put them out on display, but I simply can not bear to part with them, so year after year, I take a peek at them, feel a little twinge at the 'ol heartstrings, and then pack them back in the bin until next year. Growing children change the holidays into something really unfamiliar. The days of asking "can we put the tree up tonight, Mom?" have turned to something more like, "when are YOU planning to put up the tree Mom?" Last year we encountered a whole new concept....opening Christmas presents BY DAYLIGHT!! No more four o'clock in the morning pleading for us to allow them to get up and open presents because "Santa" had been in OUR living room!! The gifts have changed from dollhouses and Barbie to purses and ipods.

This will be our second Christmas with a married daughter. After all the years of three girls scrambling around the tree to find their gifts and having to be forced to slow down and open only one gift at a time, we have only two at home. Two who sit calmly and sip coffee while leisurely opening their gifts and taking time to oooh and aaaah over the beautiful wrapping paper and bows. Our oldest daughter will appear at some point with her wonderful husband and we'll open more gifts and sip more coffee. It's all very grown-up and civilized.....and I miss the days of pajamas with feet in them, American Girl books, cookies and milk for Santa and carrots for the reindeer.

My game piece is whipping around the board again and each year, I see a more advanced version of this new kind of Christmas. What will this be like when all my chickens have flown the coop...and I'm truly an empty nester? I think that is why God invented "grandchildren". So hold on......here we go again!