New shooz

I needed a few things so I popped into Meier's. Found some great black stretch jeans that look like slacks for our upcoming trip, and New Balance athletic shoes--not cute and trendy, in wild colors, but they work for me. Solid, and not made of fabric mesh, with a spread heel good for walking.  We'll be doing a lot of stairs, cobble stone, and rough terrain. A sore foot or painful shin bone can really spoil a trip.

 

Now I'm working on fitting it all in a small bag plus my carry on because we'll not be in one place long, and moving around by bus. Most clothing fabric is light weight or t-shirt but can be layered.  I think Scotland in June could be cold. I'll be wearing one outfit and the coat on the plane plus the fat shoes.  My carry on will have a complete change of clothes and a pair of shoes, just in case we get separated from our luggage. When we went to California by train in 2003 we had everything we needed for 2 weeks in 2 small bags.

Black stretch jeans

tan/khaki jeans

Blue stretch jeans

black skirt

print black and beige skirt

black and white dressy blouse

 white vest

2 aqua/pink/purple print shirts with sleeves

aqua short sleeve shirt with collar
pink sleeveless t-shirt

beige sleeveless t-shirt 

black/beige blouse

black sweater

black t-shirt with sleeves 

aqua silk scarf

grey spring coat

white rain slicker

beige sun/rain hat

White jacket

athletic shoes

black Mary Janes, flat

Brown strap shoes 

Pajamas, slippers, underwear, makeup, medication

New shoes--Walk n Tone

They feel and look like they have little golf balls on the soles. Can't find the ones I liked so much and have used the past 2 years, so I had to try something different. These are only for WALKING--an entire pamphlet was in the box explaing why I must not run or twist in these shoes. L.A. Gear Walk n Tone. On sale at Meijer's

Ahhhh. . . That feels better!

When I noticed my legs were waking me up at night before the cat did, I knew the problem this time--my shoes. Fortunately, I had purchased an extra pair of Nike Women's Steady VI cross trainers earlier this year, so my husband brought them with him after his last trip to Columbus. Almost instant relief. This is my fourth pair since March 2009, and for someone who isn't very athletic, that doesn't sound like a lot of wear and tear. However, I turned my old ones over and looked at the tread and compared them with the new ones. I definitely roll my feet to the outside, and the tread there was worn down which would cause my body to be out of alignment, just like a car with worn tires.

I originally purchased these because they weren't as fat, ugly and pretentious as most athletic shoes. They have a bit of fabric trim and grosgrain ribbon for shoe laces. But once I wore them and got relief from hip and shin pain, I'll keep buying them, looks or no.

New shoes and voting advice

This morning I went to Kohl's (15% off for seniors) to buy a replacement for my Nikes. This would be my third pair in 2009--having discovered that the way to combat hip pain in the middle of the night is to make sure I'm wearing sturdy shoes when exercising or walking during the day. So I did find an exact match for what I bought in the summer, Nike Steady VI, "Nike Steady VI Leather Women's Training Shoe, with textile upper and satin webbing detail." What attracted me to this shoe is its simplicity. It doesn't blink or bling, is plain white and relatively trim. Why women wear ugly fat purple and black shoes, I have no idea. If I do run an errand after exercise class I'm not embarrassed to walk into the grocery store. In fact, until I saw the photo, I didn't even realize the Nike logo was in grey--I guess I can't see it when I'm wearning them.

When I got to the check-out, the beautiful, young cashier noticed my "I voted today," sticker and asked me about the issues, because she was going to vote later--her first election. I told her there were 3 constitutional changes on the ballot, all unneccesary, and I specifically told her about Issue 2, because that's the one that has everyone confused by the conflicting ads. Is it pro-agribusiness or pro-animal rights? Or neither. I advised her (since that's what librarian types do) to vote no on all 3 because regardless of their merits or faults, it wasn't necessary to change the constitution to do what laws or regulations could do. The people in line behind me chimed in and agreed. They were in Columbus from a confluence of two other states that do have casinos (issue 3) and were vigorous in their condemnation of what happens, regardless of what money it brought to the state. Gambling always gets a foot in the door by pleading a good cause--like the lottery was going to solve all our education funding problems--but it's like opening the door to let out a fly, and bats, bees, and burglars come in.

I took a different route home because of the road construction in front of our house and you don't want to have to turn left going or coming. I passed a shopping center I used to frequent in my working days and was amazed by the changes, including a restaurant that is now under another name where my colleagues and I went many times.

New shoes for walking

I bought a pair of Danskin athletic shoes at Wal-Mart yesterday called Lindsey (also the name of the granddaughter we lost in the divorce). I doubt that having the closers (shoe laces?) of elastic and Velcro is a good idea. Too much stretch and not enough support. But we'll see. I broke them in yesterday with a two mile walk along the lake front. Because I have a narrow foot, buying any shoe these days is tricky. The obesity problem seems to have spread to the foot, so the manufacturers design and sell for the consumer with a wider foot. Occasionally I can find a New Balance in a narrow, but not often. These are $22 at Wal-Mart and $17 on e-Bay with a shipping charge. I would never buy shoes I couldn' try on first because every manufacturer seems to use a different template for toes, arch and heel. I love the Nikes I bought right before our Middle East cruise in March, but I can't wear them every day, or even for every walk. Now that we're at Lakeside, I'm getting 5-6 miles a day in, 4 planned, and 1-2 just walking to lectures and programs. At home I like to do bare foot walking on the condo grounds, but here, there are just too many dogs and too few careful dog walkers with baggies.