Truth be told

I hate shoe shopping.

There I said it.

Let the stoning begin.

There is a bit of back story, so lets make this as short as possible shall we...

Long long ago I started having knee problems, I was 14 I think (Mom...). I would have problems with softball, dance and bowling...of course my three activities that I lived for.

I did physical therapy, wore all kinds of knee braces and took breaks from all activities (well as much as any teenager would at least).

Fast forward to my arts high school. Dancing 5 days a week for hours at a time. Shows and clinics that ran into the weekend. Plus still taking class at night (shhh...don't tell). There was some major pain involved, but I worked past it as much as I could.

Now, move to age 25. I had done three turns at physical therapy. Did my stretches each morning and made sure I walked as the doctors told me too. This doctor finally told me that my patella was not where it was supposed to be...it was off to the side. On both knees.

I finally decided to have surgery on the knee that caused the most problems, my right. This was my sliding knee for bowling, my landing knee for softball the knee that always seemed to revolt after a dance class or a night out dancing with Hubby. It was the knee that took the brunt of anything I did.

Fast forward to now...

I have a cool scar on my right knee, and I am still learning to use my knee and bend it the right way. Now that my knee cap is in the right place, it bends a little differently, and that is not an easy thing to relearn. I do my stretches every morning and think as I walk (no matter what my Hubby says).

I have found that most shoes do not agree with my knee. I can't wear heels, not high ones. I can't wear shoes that don't have arch supports, I have supported Dr. Scholl's for many years. I can't do a ton of walking without taking pain reliever first. It is a constant battle, but one that I am winning.

I can't buy the $90 shoes, and they aren't as comfortable as they say anyway. I have three pairs of work shoes, one pair of tennis shoes and one pair of slip-ons. I don't stock up on shoes, I don't hoard them like a treasure. I get what is comfortable and that is it.

Tuesday night I caved in, and got new tennis shoes. It has been 5 years since I got new ones, but it is hard to find the right shoes, ones that won't kill my knees after an hour of wearing them. I did major research, read reviews and talked to people about what shoes would work the best.

It took my 5 years, but I got great shoes. So comfortable and so worth it. We even got Boo new shoes, her have taken a major beating this year and are falling apart.

Shoe shopping takes me months and months of decisions. I don't buy on impulse, because that never works out. There are many times I have bought shoes and not been able to wear them. Many garage sales have been stocked with my no-working shoes.

I hate shoe shopping, with reason. Give me flip-flops any day!