Shoe

(from the bedroom) "Who's shoes are these?"

"Oh, those are mine"

"Since when?"

"Since today at Target when Anna hid behind a tree and I had to walk through a pit of gravel, only to find that cleverly hidden amongst the gravel was an enormous wad of bright red chewing gum, which I tried to wipe off using the top of my other shoe which obviously only led me to spread the gum all over both shoes, at which point I decided that these shoes were the pits anyway and the universe finally pushed me into buying a new pair of shoes. Immediately."

ugh

Follow up: As soon as I had successfully wiped gum all over both my shoes, I placed Anna in a shopping cart just outside the store. Little did I know that for no justifiable or explained reason, the automatic doors were broken. If you haven't seen someone try to open heavy doors while pushing or pulling a large stroller or shopping cart, you should know that it is extremely awkward and aggravating. Especially when you know there is bright red gum all over your shoes.
Then I walked around the store, sticking with each step.

I don't like shoe shopping much - hence the reason these last shoes have been around well before Anna and have the distinct look of potatoes - I hate the possibility that for the first 3-4 days, new shoes may kill your feet. They don't have your arch perfectly ground into them or give in just the right ways. Additionally, I somehow always end up thinking about it in the fall, when the winter snows are just around the corner, and the memory of wet feet makes all fashionable shoes look silly. It's such a frustrating thought that I just give my old shoes a pep talk to get them through another month. And up until now, it has worked.

In the end however, the new converse I bought aren't too bad, although they did rub the back of my heels a bit (someone tell me this is temporary!) and I only had to look for 2 hours to find a store that sold recipe cards. Additionally, Anna had refused to eat lunch and was thus an extreme fussbudget for the entire, frustrating, gum-ridden adventure.