Sad

Happy New Year!  Yeah, I know I'm 4 days late, but I haven't posted yet in 2017, so you're getting a belated greeting.  I've been soaking up as much family time as possible this past week because  tomorrow I get on a plane and head home.  You're probably thinking, "it's about dang time she went home."  And you're right.  I've been here for 7 weeks, which is crazy.  Awesome, but crazy.  Oh, and I feel compelled to tell you that I have been working the whole time I've been home.  Not as much as I would have if I'd been in the office, but I work several hours in the morning during the week because there are things that need to be done that I'm in charge of and no one else at the office does.  There.  I feel slightly better now that you know I'm not a complete and total slacker, just mostly a slacker.

Anyhoo, as I said, I leave tomorrow and while I'm super excited to get home and see my hubby, I'm also very sad to leave my family.  It's just so nice to be home and get to participate in all of the family stuff that I normally miss out on.  There are still about a million things I wish I could have done while I was here, and I still didn't get to spend as much time with my aunt and seester as I could have, and there were friends I didn't see at all, and I always still have guilt when I leave.  Yes, I know I have issues.  Plus, tonight was saying goodbye to Double A and The Bean and that is always REALLY hard.  Not that it's not hard to leave everyone, but there are special circumstances that make those 2 really rough.  I won't embarrass them with being mushy on the blog and talking more about it, but I am sad right now.

Moving on.  Want to look at shoes?  Since I'm going home tomorrow tonight I typed in "travel shoes" just to see what came up.  Here are a few of the pairs that popped up:

For some reason these 3 popped out at me.  I'm not sure I would ever buy brogues, but I like all of these colors, and these would be practical for traveling.  Contrary to what you might think, as much as I love heels, I don't actually wear them much, and I never wear them when I fly.  Women who go racing through the airport in 6 inch heels.  More power to them, but I can't do it.

 

 This looks really comfy and snuggly.  If they have good arch support they'd be great for traveling in the winter.   And they slip off and on, so they make going through security easier.

I love this color.  Except for the snuggly part, I could say the same thing about this pair as the one above.

Love this color, too.

Now I must go finish laundry and pack and then hopefully sleep without having more crazy anxiety dreams.  Wish me luck on all of that!

Skeletal

There is a woman I follow on Twitter who keeps posting pictures of her socks with the hashtag #socktober.  If only I had realized this sooner, I could have participated.  I suppose I still could, starting with these:

I got these a couple of years ago and they still crack me up.  I'm easily amused.  I decided I should go see if there were shoes to go with my socks.

 

I LOVE that boot.  I want a pair.

I like these, too.

Are these shoes with attached socks?  Separate socks?  No shoes and really weird socks?

Ooooh...the hubby could have a pair, too!

I kind of like the color and I'm kind of creeped out at the same time.

I definitely think the hubby and I need skeleton shoes for next Halloween.  Maybe I can find some for the puppies, too...

Shoes and Leaves

So...where to start?  JG asked me a couple of weeks ago if I was going to post again and I wasn't sure what to tell her.  I've thought about posting numerous times, but things are crazy busy at the office.  Which is good, things are definitely on an upswing, and I'm grateful for that, but it means that life is a little insane right now.  Last night we got home about 8:00 and then I worked for another 2 1/2 hours.  I was out of the house again this morning at 8:00 to do a million things so the hubby could head to a meeting in the Bay Area, and then it was off to the office for another full day.  So it's good, just crazy. 

There's other stuff, too, and I had it all laid out in my head this morning in the shower, but apparently that post went down the drain with the water.  The gist of it is I'm not getting a lot of introvert time due to the crazy, which makes me feel a little funky.  The funky feelings lead me to make extremely poor decisions health-wise.  I don't drink enough water.  I eat crappy food.  I don't get enough exercise.  It all combines to make the funk even funkier.  Oh, and I'm fat.  Sorry about the body shaming, but it's true.  If I were healthy it would be one thing, but since I'm making poor health choices, well, blah.  We have family pictures coming up in November and all I can think if how awful I'm going to look and it's all my fault and my socially constructed brain that has been taught that women should look a certain way has taken over and my sister is going to be way cuter than I in yet another series of family pictures.  (side note...I love my sister, this is nothing against her, she's beautiful inside and out...it's just my own crap stemming from my socially constructed telling me I'm fat.  Blah).

Still with me?  Happy I haven't been posting?  Wondering why I'm posting now?  Yeah, I get it.  Let's look at some shoes, shall we?  The calendar says it's Autumn, even if the temps don't always agree, so here are shoes and Autumn leaves.  Some shoes I like, some I don't.  Some pictures are better than others.  I'll leaf (ha!) the details of which is which to you.

I have Sleepy Time tea in a Halloween cup waiting for me to drink while I read before bed, so I must leave you now.

Zzzz

Is it wrong to go to bed at 8:30?  Because I'm seriously considering it.  But hey!  It means we're home in order for me to even be able to consider it!  So that's nice, but whyohwhy am I sooooo tired?  I'll blame the book podcast that I did today.  Too much adrenaline from nerves.  It went OK.  I'm not sure I'm exactly good at this podcast thing, but I'm not horrible, either.  Maybe?  I think I'll just look at sleepy shoes and try not to figure out whether or not I'm good at podcasting.

I wonder who has a strong desire to buy sleepy flip flops?  The straps make these look like angry shoes, but the  zzs make them sleepy.  Or maybe they're having angry dreams?

I think I've posted these before, but sleepy sheepy slippers make me smile.

Heehee...these all seem like kind of stinky places to fall asleep!  As much as I love shoes, I think I'll stick with my bed and pillow for sleeping.

Memory Lane: 2013. 2014.

A Closet Full of Shoes

How did I not know that Shel Silverstein has a poem called "A Closet Full of Shoes?"  It must have been in the book I didn't have, but I found it today while wandering around looking at other stuff and now I share it with you:

Party shoes with frills and bows,
Workin’ shoes with steel toes,
Sneakers, flip-flops. And galoshes,
Brogans, oxfords, satin pumps,
Dancin’ taps and wooden clumps,
Shoes for climbin’ shoes for hikes,
Football cleats and baseball spikes,
Shoes of shiny patent leather,
Woolly shoes for winter weather,
Loafers, rough-outs, sandals, spats,
High heels, low heels, platforms, flats,
Moccasins and fins and flippers,
Shower clogs ballet slippers…
A zillion shoes and just one missin’--
That’s the one that matches this’n. 

It might not be my favorite of his, but I still love it, and it's about shoes, so of course I need to know it!  Now in honor of one of my favorite authors, I give you the poem visually (and with commentary):

Party shoes with frills and bows.  These are VERY froofy!  I think Fancy Nancy and Pinkalicious would approve.

Workin’ shoes with steel toes.  These might be the cutest steel toed shoes I've ever seen.

Sneakers, flip-flops. And galoshes.  Turquoise!

Brogans, oxfords, satin pumps.  I've heard the word brogan before, but never really thought about it or looked to see what kind of shoe it was.  So now I've learned something new!

Dancin’ taps and wooden clumps.  I don't actually know what wooden clumps are, but I figure wooden clogs make a clumping sound when you walk.

Shoes for climbin’ shoes for hikes.  I'm terrified of heights, but the green is pretty.  You know, for climbing walls not higher than 5 feet or so.  Love the hiking boots. 

Football cleats and baseball spikes. I like the colors.  That's about all I've got on these.

Shoes of shiny patent leather.  You know I love these.

Woolly shoes for winter weather.  So snuggly looking.

Loafers, rough-outs, sandals, spats.  Again, not sure what rough-outs are, but I thought worn-in cowboy boots seemed appropriate.  Also, I think spats are cool.  Weird, but cool.

High heels, low heels, platforms, flats.  I would wear all of these.  Of course, I'd only wear the platforms if I was really drunk and bowling, but hey, they're bright!

Moccasins and fins and flippers.  3 things I really never wear and don't have much desire for, despite the pretty colors.

Shower clogs ballet slippers.  Who wears clogs in the shower?  These were the closest I could find because trust me, you do NOT want to google the phrase "shower clogs," especially if you're like me and the sight of hair in the drain makes you gag...

I probably spent way more time on this post than I should have, but oh well, I need some entertainment in my day.  Especially today as I've felt yucky all day.  Just weird tummy issues, but I'd really rather be home in bed than at my desk.  Thankfully I have Shel Silverstein and shoes to help be through the yuck.

Memory Lane: 2013. 2014.

New Charity Blues

Facebook reminded me that on this day last year I wrote a post about The Camp Friend's debut novel, Letters to Zell.  In other exciting news, her second book, New Charity Blues came out on my birthday!  Wasn't that nice of her to write me a book for my birthday?  Because I'm sure it's all about me!  I haven't had a chance to read it yet, as just like last time, every library book I had on hold suddenly became available.  I'm just about to finish the last one and return it, so I'll be able to get to my birthday present to myself soon.   Here is the synopsis of the book:

In the wake of a devastating plague, two communities emerge as bastions of survival. One is called the City, and its people scrabble for scraps in the wasteland. The other, New Charity, enjoys the bounty of its hydroelectric dam and refuses City denizens so much as a drop of precious water. When City-dweller Cressyda inherits her father’s ranch within New Charity, she becomes intent on opening the dam to all—no matter the cost.

But when Syd reunites with her old best friend, Casandra, a born seer and religious acolyte, she realizes that her plans could destroy the fragile lives they’ve built in order to survive. What’s more, the strange magic securing the dam’s operations could prove deadly if disturbed. Yet when Syd discovers evidence that her father might have been murdered, she is more determined than ever to exact revenge on New Charity’s corrupt.

Pitted against Cas, as well as her own family, Syd must decide how to secure the survival of both settlements without tipping them over the brink to utter annihilation. In this intense and emotional reimagining of the Trojan War epic, two women clash when loyalty, identity, community, and family are all put to the ultimate test.

Yay!  I can't wait to read it.  For tonight's post I typed in "new charity blues shoes" just to see what would come up.  Here are some selections of what came up.

Ooooh...purty.  These are a little like my wedding shoes, only way fanicer.

Simple, but cute.

Steel toe shoes would probably come in handy in a post-apocalyptic world. Or in a regular world where I live and trip over stuff.

I'm never sure I can pull this style off, but I think it's pretty.

These were actually for some kind of water charity, 3 out of the 4 search words were present.

I love the plaid, but most of the rest is a world of hell no.

Thank you, Camp Friend, for writing books!  I can't wait to read this one.

Memory Lane: 2013 (more blue!). 2014. 2015 (Letters to Zell!).

Family!

Today was awesome.  We had a family dinner to celebrate my (late) and Double A's (early) birthdays.  The rain from yesterday continued today which meant that Flower's and Laughter's soccer games got canceled, which meant that their whole family got to come to dinner when we didn't think they would be able to.  There were 12 of us:  me, Mom, Dad, the Brother, the Seester, the Brother-in-Law, Double A, the Bean, Flower, Laughter, the Auntie, and the Uncle (who I haven't seen in a couple of years, so that was extra-special-awesome!).  We were only missing DJ and the hubby, which is very very sad.  There was German chocolate cake, which is never ever sad.  Sigh...it was lovely, and I wish it could happen more often.  Here are some shoes from the day:

The Auntie's thrift store boots.  They're crazy, and cool, and totally work for her.

Dad and the Uncle were both wearing Keene's today.  One of these days I should round us all up and take a Keene family picture. 

The Seester's adorable brown sandals, with a slight, unintentional photo-bomb from the Brother-in-Law.

So it was a pretty fabulous day.  So fabulous, in fact, that even going to the mostly terrible and very long Batman Vs. Superman couldn't ruin the overall fabulosity.

Memory Lane: 2013. 2014. 2015.

From the Brain of the Bean

Tonight's post is brought to you by inspiration from the Bean because I couldn't come up with anything and I didn't take pictures of the kiddos' cute shoes today.  So she suggested I type in all of the nieces' names + shoes, and then she helped me pick a pair for each niece:

DJ.  She likes black, she's not terribly girly when it comes to shoes, and apparently she wants a Harley.

 

Double A.  These aren't real, they're for a doll, but she loves green.  She wouldn't actually wear these, though, because they have heels and she's strictly a flats girl.

The Bean chose cute sandals for herself, which is kind of funny as she loooooves heels.

Flower.  We like the colors.  Not sure if they look like Flower or not.

Laughter didn't have a lot of choices.  These were the best of the bunch.  At least they're blue!

Speaking of blue, Pippi gets awesome blue wedding shoes.

This is actually a little sedate.  Tink loves color and crazy patterns, but The Bean and I thought this was really cute.

And that's it from Montana.  I'm tired and the 6 girls who are having a sleepover tonight are probably going to wake up much earlier than I am prepared for.

Memory Lane: 2013.