Funky Feet

There's been a strange smell around my house.... Darling Man finally figured it out. Marvelous Child's feet. Well, not just his feet, but the leather sandals he's been wearing for quite a while - in and out of the rain, sweaty, play in the dirt, put them on because he outgrew his sneakers and these still fit sandals. A weird, funky foot and vinegar smell. And now his feet smell like that too!

So I took him out last night after picking him up from camp and going to the library (smelling his feet the whole time) to buy some new shoes. I went to a couple of places that would gladly sell me their cheapest shoes for $40 - which he would outgrow in a month. So I wound up at Payless and found him a non-funky pair of sandals for $12. Much better!

I am not a shoe person, but I did see some very attractive shoes there that I couldn't resist trying on. I find athletic shoes very comfortable and wear those most of the time. But these... these were high heels, open sandals, not at all ostentatious. And black leather clogs with heels. But I don't think my feet are built normally anymore. Too many years of barefoot or flipflops, pregnancy and overweight - my feet have spread out and the arches don't seem to be in the right place. A couple of years ago, I moved from an 8 1/2 to a 9. Now, searching for a high heel that would work for me, I was perusing the size 10s and getting nowhere. Z-boy kept bringing me shoes from size 6 and 7 and making me laugh. He asked why and I explained to him that those shoes were too small - that I was bordering on needing to wear kayaks on my feet because they'd gotten so big. This elicited a hastily stiffled guffaw from the next aisle and turning the corner revealed a lovely black woman whose shoe size rivaled mine.

Anyway, these pictures show you what I actually wound up with. Z-boy, frustrated by my turning down all the shoes he brought me, reached up and grabbed the ugliest pair of athletic shoes I think I may have ever seen. And the most comfortable.


Guess what I took home with me?