And Then I Saw These Shoes...

We are going camping in the near future.

At a lake...

And every year when we go camping my youngest gets her shoes wet.  I know!!  It is shocking.

In the not so distant past she asked me for rain boots.  "She doesn't need rain boots.  It doesn't rain here," her dad stated quite sternly.

Have I ever mentioned that man is the rain on my parade?

Anyway, as I began making my list of camping necessities (last year we forgot our skillet.  Try cooking eggs and bacon with no skillet, I challenge you.  I ended up having to bum my brother's electric skillet off of him...Which if you understood anything at all about my brother you would see the sheer irony in HIM having something that I needed to borrow.)

Did I just digress?  Imagine that!

So, I was making a list.  I made a note that perhaps I should buy socks as Bookworm only has about four pair that fit properly, and there is nothing worse than wet feet...

Which made me wish we had rain boots for the girls...

Which led me to nagging my husband to let me BUY rain boots for the girls...

Which led me to checking out Target.com for boots and Halloween gear...

Which led me to finding Bookworm's Wednesday Addams costume for twelve bucks, and Popcorn's Indian costume for $20...I only needed to spend $18 more to get free shipping...

Of course I decided to throw in two pairs of rain boots.  However, as I went to check out, I realized the boots may not get here in time...

So, I removed the boots from my list and instead ordered Popcorn a super cute pair of winter boots that are only $8 more than I was going to have to pay in shipping if I did not buy them...

Of COURSE I bought them!

Sadly, I sitll did not have rain boots....

I loaded Popcorn in the car and drug her to Goodwill...Where she was horrified at the used shoe smell and racks of clothes organized by color...

Sadly, Goodwill did not have my Morticia costume, or even a black witch dress I could improvise with, and they did not have one single pair of rain boots...

We headed to Target...Except before going into Target I decided to run in to TJ Maxx and see what they had to offer...

No, they did not have rain boots for children.  But they did have a cute sweater dress for Bookworm and a lovely sweater for Popcorn and an adorable black pea coat with hot pink lining for Popcorn!  As she pointed out her current coat is from first grade.  Now that she's in fourth grade, she apparently thinks she needs one that actually reaches past her forearms.  She is just so needy.

We meandered over to the fitting rooms to try on a variety of shirts for Popcorn, and Popcorn was even trying Bookworm's dress to see how it might fit on her sister...

 As you can see, our guess was pretty good!  I think I may have to forbid her wearing it due to she looks entirely too grown up in it!  Of course, if I do perchance crumble and let her wear it, she will be wearing leggings and knee boots.  Which will probably only add to the grown up look, but at least she won't look like she's wearing a mini dress with those long skinny legs!  Can't have my daughter trampin' around at eleven years old, now can we?

We decided on the clothes and as we left my eye caught sight of these:

They were only $49!!!  These Dansko's sell for like $150!  Granted, I'd been saving for a pair of Barefoot Merrel's, but I simply had to buy these! 

And so I did.

Oh, and for anyone who may not realize:  These are for work.  Considering I'm weary of wearing the required navy blue scrubs every. single. day.  I'm quite excited to have something with definite personality to wear! 
  
After splurging on unplanned purchases we dashed on in to Target where I bought the two pairs of rain boots the girls had picked out online...

By the way, did I mention that I was doing all of this on a tight schedule?

Did you know that people tend to spend more and impulse buy more when they are on a tight schedule?

And to think that before I left the house today I was stoked that I was actually going to have cash left in the clothing envelope this month!

Oh, and here's an image of Barefoot Merrells.  Yes, they are purely frivolous.  Which is why I've been yearning but not buying them for nearly a year now.  They look and feel exactly like my high school track shoes...Which is perhaps why I want them, but I'm not really sure I have any glamor associated with track...Click here to read about my illustrious history as a track star.  But, even if you can't be bothered to read about my humiliations, here's a picture of the shoes I'm unsuccessfully saving for!

Did you know I used to be a track star?

I was. Or at least, in my mind I was. Okay, not even in my own mind, but I did run track.

I was pretty good at it too. As long as it was a short distance. And it wasn't too hot out. Or too cold. Or raining............Remember my earlier reference to brattiness? Well, I was a total brat about this too. My coach went through a phase where he was sure I should run the 440, or the hurdles. I hated both of those. (I'm embarrassed to admit this, but his determination that I would do these 2 events led me to not sign up for track the next season. Just being honest here. Told you I was/am a brat.)

The 440? Too long. It made me tired and required too much effort....Like effort to the degree of puking after each race. Didn't fit with my way of thinking at all. Remember me saying I like things to come easily to me? This did not fit that bill at all.

The hurdles? Too scary. I'm 5'7 with long legs. I liked to run (short distances)....Hurdles seemed like the natural progression, I'm sure. In this case, I tried....Really I did. I would run as hard as I could up to the hurdle....then come to a screeching halt, or run around it. This was, fortunately in practice, so he never made me do these at an actual meet. What was so embarrassing was there was this girl who was 5 inches shorter than me, and she ran them no problem. Still, I couldn't conquer the fear of the hurdle. I'd seen way too many girls with half the skin shredded off of their legs from missing/getting a foot caught in the hurdle. That was just way too risky for me.



Now, what I loved to run was the 100 yard dash and the 220. Right up my ally. Full speed ahead. No self control (aka pacing yourself) just flat out run it and you're done. Then, I could sit and chat with my friends during the rest of the meet....You can see the appeal these races held for me.



Are you wondering what inspired this post? I know you are...



I had to buy my girls some sweat pants today. You know it's really important that those things fit. And girls sweat pants do not have a draw string in them. What's up with that? So, I finally resigned myself to buying them boys pants. Don't tell them, and they'll never know. As I was cinching up Bookworm's pants on her minuscule waist, I had a flashback....And Dear Reader, it was not a pleasant memory...In fact it's quite embarrassing....

I decided it had to be shared with bloggerland.

I used to run on a relay team. I was the 4th leg of said team. The only way you lost your spot on the team, was to a challenge. On Monday morning anyone on the track team could challenge you for your spot. We had to race the 220, and the winner either kept their spot on the team, or was replaced.

This lovely spring morning started out like any other...pleasant, full of beauty, me laughing it up with my friends, and chatting....Until I got to gym. And realized I forgot my gym clothes. And subsequently was informed that Mandy was challenging my spot on the relay team. What? Challenge me? I was totally unconcerned about my ability to beat Mandy in the challenge. I was pretty sure I would smoke her like a big cigar.....Until I remembered that I forgot my gym clothes...And regular clothes were not allowed.....What was I going to do?

Well, luckily, Ivana had an extra pair of sweats....That happened to be her mother's....That was missing the drawstring.....Ivana was generous enough to loan me these sweats.... Aaah, the generosity of teenage girls....Or maybe not.

You see, these pants would in no way shape or form stay up. And I had to run in them. In a race. As hard as I could. No excuses. No putting it off until tomorrow...You're challenged, you do it today. At least I assume that was the deal. I don't actually remember asking the coach to let me wait a day, or even explaining the clothes situation.

So, we assume our positions. The coach gives the signal and.....We're off! Running down the track, around the corner, and, and,....and....... my pants are falling off! Yikes! I'm running and holding onto my pants as best I can! Oh no! I'm losing! To Mandy, the girl I was going to smoke like a big cigar! All my visions of grandeur are vaporizing in her trail of smoke as she LEAVES ME BEHIND! And I try to not show my BEHIND to the entire girls track team! I'm grasping my pants, and running. I hiked them up extra high, and took off with a final burst of speed, hoping that they'll stay up until the end of my race. The cool air on my backside notifies me that, no indeed, my pants will not stay up with this final sprint.....(Dear Reader, I seem to recall that I was wearing day-of-the-week panties, and it was the wrong day! The horror of the entire experience still haunts me.)

I'm sure you can deduce, gentle reader, that I did not win my challenge. I lost my spot on the relay team that week. I can still remember the sick feeling of disappointment...With myself...with my supposed friend who convinced Mandy to challenge me for my spot....With Ivana for not loaning me a pair of sweats that would fit....With my coach for not feeling sorry for my bratty self, and calling the race a bust (actually he laughed at me, but who could blame him? I'm sure that race could have one millions on video)....

Truly I was devastated......


Truly devastated as only a teenage girl could be....


I'm a total loser, and the one sport I could actually do well has now failed me (BTW, I was never the star of any sport....average at best, mediocre at worst).



I would never get over this! NEVER!!!



Until the next Monday, when I remembered my gym clothes, challenged Mandy the Menace to a rematch and.......




smoked her like a big cigar....


Disclaimer:
Dear Reader, I just read this post, and am thoroughly disgusted with myself. Truly, I was a brat. I am so tempted to rewrite it in a light that makes me look less bratty....But honesty compels me to leave it as is....And it really is more entertaining this way. So, I'll take it on the chin. Just be gentle with me, and remember, this was long, LONG ago (7th grade, I think).... Any reminders of current bratty attitudes will not be appreciated or needed. Thank you, and God bless you for tolerating me for this long....I don't know how you do it!