SHOES

I read the headline about the anchors of NBC's Today Show..."How many shoes do you own, the anchors count 'em up." Al the weather man says he probably owns 15 pair...Matt 30-35...the ladies 50-80 pair!

Of course...my wife Cindy comes to mind.

Cindy tortures me with her shoes. Not literally...but with the 'number' of shoes she owns. And the number, and type, she owns...is NEVER enough. She is always...always...looking at shoes whereever we go. I am convinced...there are shoes in her closet that she has worn only once...that's it. There may even be some in there that she's never worn...except while trying them on at the store she bought them. Cindy loves shoes...and purses...but we'll just talk about shoes for now.

For me...as a kid...I can remember having 1...one...pair of shoes. Whether dressing up or playing outside...those were the shoes I wore. I remember at the start of 2nd grade...dad bought me 2 pair of tennis shoes...one to wear in gym class...and one to wear all the other time (so I didn't mess up my Sunday-go-to-church-shoes). Three pair of shoes...OMG!

Today...I wear tennis shoes to work...for those hard floors and doing lots of walking every day. I usually buy a new pair of tennis shoes every 4-6 months. When I do buy a new pair...there is a rotation that occurs with my other tennis shoes. The previous pair that I wore everyday...stays nearby so that if the new ones hurt my feet...I can switch back to my old comfortable ones. The pair that had been my backup shoes...go to the garage to become my 'new' mowing shoes. My old mowing shoes...go in the trash can.

Add to those...I have a pair of messin' around tennis shoes to wear during the summer. I also have a pair of sandals...expensive ones...eccos...that Cindy made me buy last summer when we took the kids and grandkids to Disney World. I will likely have those shoes until I die...just so I feel I got my money's worth out of them. I have 1 pair of dress shoes that I keep under the bed to trap all the dust bunnies that hide there. Lastly, I have a not-so-dressy-non-tennis shoes that I wear in the winter.

That's it...what is that...6 pair? I would guess that Cindy is probably closer to 30...but I don't want to get in the closet to count them to know for sure...because it'd probably make my stomach hurt.

As I said...Cindy tortures me when we go out and she sees shoes to look at. With a wry smile...and a gleam in her eye...she looks over at me...knowing...KNOWING...that she's driving me crazy. So in response...I roll my eyes at her...and whisper to her..."you're killin' me Cindy...you're just killin' me!"

I love my wife...and her 30 pair of shoes. I just don't understand...that's all.


Dan