Monday, November 2, 2009

they were meant to be party shoes

so today . . . i wore my new shoes to school. it proved to be a bad decision.

but first, a disclaimer--if you are a guy reading this, it is going to make absolutely no sense to you. you do not have shoe issues. you either wear your athletic shoes or your work shoes. and you wear the athletic shoes with your jeans and the work shoes with your slacks. you do not have to make a shoe decision every day--only on casual fridays, when you have to decide if you want to wear your work shoes or your athletic shoes with your jeans . . .

i have a lot of shoes. i rarely make the decision of what to wear based upon the clothing i have. i choose either shoes or jewelry first, and then go from there. but we are having very weird weather right now, so i have to consider the clothing. today it was at least 85!! i know this, because i went to chick-fil-a for lunch, and i drove with the top down. and i found myself praying for a red light so i could take my lightweight sweater off, because i was starting to sweat. and i hate to sweat. so it is really hard to get dressed in the morning (especially when your brain doesn't fully function until 10:00.) what to wear, what to wear . . .

since it is november, i can't wear my summer clothes--it is just wrong! and yet it is over 80 degrees, so winter clothes are wrong too! my solution is layers, but they have to be lightweight layers that aren't summery. and tights. because even though it is hot, it is almost thanksgiving!!! today i went with a short-sleeved black jersey dress with turquoise accessories and a black & turquoise sweater. (and i know none of you cares at all what i was wearing, but it explains the shoes, which is what the blog is really about--i'm just not there yet.) this is the first time i have worn this outfit in the "fall," so i added black tights, and put on my black patent leather and suede skechers. i was comfortable, and ready to walk out the door. until i caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror.

oh no no no no no.

the dress was too long to wear with tights and flat shoes--it made my cute skechers look like orthopedic nurse shoes. only in black.

ok, well there wasn't time to change my clothes, so i thought i would just change my shoes. i went to my closet and was faced with two black choices--ugg boots or sandals. and the clock was ticking . . .

i bought a new pair of shoes about a month ago. i knew fall was coming, and i needed a black pair of heels i could wear with tights. i thought i had found just what i was looking for at payless shoes, but i am kind of picky about my shoes being comfortable. usually i wear them at home a few times to be sure before i wear them out, and i hadn't had time to test the new shoes yet. but they felt comfortable when i put them on. and they were so cute. and they worked with the clothes i was wearing. so i decided to live dangerously--i slipped my feet into them and bolted for the door . . . even though a little voice in my head was saying, "wear the skechers . . . "

i should learn to listen to that little voice.

everything was fine, until i had been at school for about half an hour and realized that it might be my turn to do music today. these were definitely NOT shoes to do music in! i scrambled around and managed to dodge that bullet, but by lunch time my toes were starting to murmur a bit. i ignored them and went to lunch at chick-fil-a. this required walking to my car, in and out of the restaurant, and then from my car back into the school--all on very unforgiving pavement. my toes were starting to speak a bit more loudly. since i had an hour for lunch today, apparently i should have spent 15 minutes of that time at home, changing my shoes. but i had no idea how bad things were going to get . . .

during my prep time, i just took the shoes off. i try to avoid walking on the floor at school without shoes, or touching it with my hands, because you just never know . . . but today i didn't care. the tile in the workroom felt cool to my newly freed feet, and the half hour i spent there went by way too quickly. against their protests, i stuffed my toes back into the beautiful black shoes and finished out the afternoon.

and then, i realized i had to go to the grocery store. and not just any grocery store. costco.

i debated going home first, but i am already almost halfway to costco from school, so i decided to once again ignore my uncomfortable feet and just go.

i got a good parking space, grabbed a cart, and started down my list only to discover that the aisles had been rearranged! i don't know why stores do that!! how are you supposed to find anything! my feet and legs were starting to protest pretty loudly, so i started to sort of stretch out the muscles. as it turns out, not a good idea. the muscles started to cramp up. i envisioned myself writhing on the floor of costco--the cool concrete floor--and being unable to walk. someone would have to call 9-1-1. and i wouldn't be able to drive home, because i wouldn't be able to depress the clutch!

no no no no no. this could not happen.

i very s-l-o-w-l-y started relaxing the muscles, and managed to begin moving forward. i still had nothing in my cart. but i had made it to costco and survived threatening muscle cramps, so my tired feet and my new shoes and i walked up and down almost every aisle in costco until we had completed the shopping list, and then tried to get to the car without hobbling.

i just wanted to go home and dunk my feet and legs in hot water. but i still needed to go to one more grocery store. i almost skipped it, worried that i really would be unable to walk, but it is right by costco. so i parked the car, stood up tall, and walked in . . .

. . . only to discover that this store, too, had been rearranged.

i confess, i almost took my shoes off. the cool tiles were beckoning to me . . .

but i moved forward, got my groceries, and was finally on my way home. and noticed it was a beautiful evening. i drove home in the dwindling light, under the full moon, with the top down and the stereo playing, thinking about how much i love living where i live.

diandra heard me pull into the garage and came out to help carry in the groceries. needless to say, i remained shoeless. i said hi to rollie, put away the groceries, and then heard these words:

"so, are you ready to go get something to eat?"

i looked at my shoes, and seriously considered my answer . . .

7 comments:

Wendy said...

They are cute but not for an old lady like you! :) I would have tripped and landed on my nose before making it out the door the first time! What were you thinking Miller??? It's school- not the ball! sheesh!

Carroll said...

Oh Julie! You're still too young for common sense to set in. Now me, I'd have pitched those shoes and gone home, even if it meant more trips. But that's old age for you. Love you!

Rollie said...

Great picture, Babe. And I love the shoes!

Wendy said...

Awww... isn't Rollie just so sweet!

Mom said...

Always, always, always keep extra shoes on the job. Preferably very comfortable ones. Wear the heels to work, change to the tennies, then the heels when leaving. The kids don't care. I know you do. Although the kids always know and are aware of what the teacher wears. Sometimes during the day, I wore my fuzzy slippers. The kids loved it......Very cute shoes..

Jes said...

I have one week to "break in" the 4 inch heels i'm FORCED to wear to be in my friends wedding. so i wore them today from 9am to 3pm and my feet are STILL yelling at me. They are the dyed shoes and now 4 of my toes are a red/pink color. What was she thinking 4 inches!!?? I'm gonna be 5'11!! UGH

it took me 2 weeks to break in my shoes for candice's wedding and my feet were bruised for a month!

i'll never wear those shoes again!! I always remind myself never to wear heels, my feet, calves, legs will never forgive me!

but those shoes are really cute!! now they are broken in and you can wear them comfortably!

Jewelielyn said...

hahaha! you are all so funny! and helpful! my feet have recovered, but when they saw me reach for my boots this morning, i admit they balked just a bit. they haven't forgotten . . .