I love men's shoes!

I have big feet. There, I've said it. Not only are they big, they're wide and fairly flat after going barefoot or in sandals most of my life. Once the weather starts getting a little warm, I can't stand to have shoes enclosing my feet. It's hard to find cute shoes in my size that are comfortable. I can't wear pointy toed shoes, or even most closed shoes other than tennis shoes. And I can't wear heels. They kill me. If I have to wear dress shoes, they have to be open-toed with a heel no more than 1½ inches high. I've seen some nice shoes in magazines with closed, square toes, and Aravon makes nice, low-heeled, square toed shoe--but YOW! they're expensive. For something casual that's nicer than a tennis shoe, I shop in the men's department at Walmart. That's where I get my tennis shoes too, by the way. Many years ago, I got my dad a nice pair of velcro strap tennis shoes, because he was no longer able to handle laces. I really liked the style and got myself a pair as well. And we both wore the same size! And I have to admit, it was kinda nice to get a pair of shoes in size 8 (mens) instead of 10 (womens). I later found a real nice pair of casual black slip-on shoes in the mens department that I could get away with for casual dress for church. So that's where I started shopping. I would still wear open-toed women's shoes for wearing with dresses and such, but I just loved the comfort of the men's shoes for everyday and dressy casual. Recently I needed to look for a new pair of casual shoes. So there I was, in the men's shoe aisle at Walmart, in my socks and trying on shoes. I saw a nice, elderly gentleman with a turban and fluffy beard start down the other end of the aisle where I was. He was slowly looking at the shoes and darting glances at me. I had found what I thought was the perfect pair of shoes in brown and was looking to see if they also had them in my size in black, when the man arrived to where I was. He politely said "Am I in the wrong place, or are you?" I explained the reason I was looking at men's shoes and showed him the brown ones I had already picked out and said I found men's shoes more comfortable than women's. He seemed to think that was reasonable and went on with his own shoe search. I found the black shoes I was looking for and bought both pair. THEY ARE GREAT!! I just love them and wear them all the time. In fact, I've worn the brown shoes so much, they're starting to get a bit scuffed, and I've been thinking of going back and getting another brown pair. Although it won't be much more than another month and I will be in sandals until nearly October.

emerging from the dark

OK Gladys, I'm back. Thanks for your patience. And thank you to everyone for their good wishes and prayers. I won't dwell on things I have no control of, but will try and move forward.
Easter was a bit tough as expected, but having Sarah and Lia here made a world of difference. And Marv's mom got to come to church for the first time since she moved into the nursing home. All in all it was a good day.
I finally went to the doctor and asked for some extra "help" with some of things I've been dealing with. He put me on Celexa, which is an antidepressant/antianxiety med. I think it's beginning to make a difference. I'm a lot calmer and have more control over the tears. I've gotten really tired of crying all the time. I'm able to look at things a bit more objectively. I know I should've done this a few years ago, but had been able to somewhat cope until lately.
So onward and upward. I've got three books started that I go between, depending on what mood I'm in. I hope to have them in my report at the end of the month.
Tomorrow night I go to a stamp party. Wheee!

March book/Easter

March ended really sucky, but I promised a book report each month and I do try and keep my promises...The only book I managed to get through was an old library sale book written in the 60's called "Daughters In Law" by Henry Cecil. It was supposed to be a frothy novel with lots of high jinks. It probably would've been funnier 45 years ago, but it was pretty dated. It was very British, which I usually love, but it dealt with the Brit legal system, of which I'm very ignorant. It also had some very dated views about women in the predominantly male realm of law. I really tried to finish it, but the legal stuff was tedious and the plot line was pretty bad, too. I finally skipped to the end and then put the book in the Salvation Army bag.
So now on to Easter. This Easter is going to be a bit hard for several reasons, most of which I can't deal with at the moment. So I will recount the earliest memory I have of Easter. I was probably 5 years old. I knew what Easter was all about (the real meaning) and was a little confused about the whole Easter bunny business. But I liked Easter eggs and candy and wasn't about to say no to any of that. So I got up insanely early Easter morning. I think my dad and grandmother were in the kitchen, but I didn't say anything to anyone and didn't even really go in the kitchen. I quietly got dressed in play clothes (I knew I would be putting on "church clothes" later) and took an empty egg carton that I had gotten the night before, and went out in the front yard and looked for Easter eggs. NOTHING! Since I didn't believe in the Easter bunny anyway, I wasn't terribly surprised, but was still a bit disappointed. I was also a tad embarrassed that I had "fallen" for what I thought of as a joke. So I went back inside and didn't say anything, and no one said anything to me. They may not even have been aware that I had gotten up, dressed, gone out and then come back in. Later, of course, we all got dressed, went to church and then back home there were Easter baskets for my brother and I. I got to thinking about that Easter and decided that I deserved some Easter eggs this year. With Paul gone, I'm the only one here who likes hard boiled eggs, so I only made 5. I colored them all differently using only vinegar and food coloring. I think they came out quite nicely--very earthy colors. AND I did make one really good score this year: an Easter KITTY for Lia! Seasonal cats are really hard to find, except for Halloween, of course. But I managed to get the very last bright pink Easter kitty that the local Walmart had. And it was obviously an Easter kitty, because the tummy looked like a polka dotted Easter egg.
Of course, the only truly important thing about Easter is that it took place. Christ lived, He died, He rose again. Praise God! Many blessings to all of you!