This Web journal was created on a day in January when it was somewhere between 14 and 18 degrees outside. There was a mixture of ice and snow on the ground and we were bundled in clothes my children had never seen because they usually live in the attic. The clothes, not the children.
Snow pants. Ski gloves. Silky long johns. Wool socks. And my new boots.
I bought the boots because buying shoes is what I love to do. I found them on the Nordstrom Web site mingled w/ pictures of 680 other pair of boots. Not shoes. Just boots. It was overwhelming even for me.
We're going to Canada in March and even if I hadn't needed a pair of warm boots for cold Canada, I would surely have needed a new pair of shoes ... or two. A special occasion warrants a new pair of shoes.
That was my plan the first day both boys ... Big and Short ... were enrolled in a school of some sort at the same time.
"Gosh, what WILL you do with your time when both boys start school?" people asked.
I respect that question from those outside my "circle of closeness" as much as I appreciate, "When are you going to have more kids?"; "Did you have an epidural?"; and "So, when will you go back to WORK?"
Trying to muster the most shallow of replies, one that would symbolize wastes of both time AND money, I first said, "Oh, probably sit and drink coffee at Starbucks."
Then, because I was asked this question so often, I lengthened my shallow response to include, "And buy a new pair of shoes." I bought the shoes, but tossed the idea of the coffee. Took too much time away from shopping for shoes.
So, now the weather has warmed. My boots are packed for Canada, and our shoe wardrobe is mimicking our moods.
The Big One has completed another basketball season. Traditionally, he gets a new pair of basketball shoes w/ each ball season, wears them only for practice and games, and introduces them to the school playground only after the season is over. This year, his basketball shoes stayed pretty clean. He hasn't asked to wear his "new" shoes to school. He's happy to stay w/ the comfortable and the familiar -- his grubbier "football playing shoes." Not one to explore too much new territory, he knows what fits him best, and I'm not sure the new basketball league of this year fit him as well as his old, grubby, familiar one.
The Short One prefers the ease of his "Easy Shoes," loafers that slip on w/o the bother of laces. The easiest and the fastest method suits him best. And if they're smooth and shiny and/or soft -- that makes him happy too. These are soft and, I guess, smooth. No shine can be found. They were formerly worn by The Big One. The closer The Short One is to the footsteps of his big brother, the better, he thinks.
Each of us have crawled out of socks and sturdy fall/winter shoes into the lighter spring of flip flops. In our neck of the woods, these can be considered "year round" footwear, but for me, they mean easier, lazier days ahead. Less need for preparation and routine -- quick on, quick off -- fewer plodding, heavy steps of structure and purpose.
They also mean I need to paint my toenails.
