Baby got a new pair of shoes!

There's this humongous shoe store in Asheville (Discount Shoes 1266 Brevard Road, Asheville, NC 28806) that has a giant selection of shoe brands and styles and sizes. It's where my sister bought for me a pair of Alegria clogs (http://www.zappos.com/alegria-seville-brown-nappa) which are some of the best shoes I've ever worn.

See, usually I'm a WalMart shoe shopper. If it's comfortable "enough" and I like the look, I'll get them. But I'm not a shoesie. I have a pair of brown boots, a pair of running shoes, two pair of slipons (one black, one tan, got the tan ones at Goodwill), a few pair of sandals, all from WalMart but one slipon pair. From Goodwill I've also bought a pair of Dansko clogs (regularly about $120, $3.50 at Goodwill) that are okay, and a pair of blue suede clogs of unknown brand. Basically, the less expensive they are, the more inclined I am to buy them.

This became a problem, however, when I began a job where I'm on my feet 8 hours a day. Even with padding to stand on (thankfully) my feet and legs were stuck with firey nails by the end of the day. Since my good Coleman hiking boots (that I had for almost 20 years) were cast aside after being (cat) sprayed on, I had nothing but my sneakers that came close to useable.

So, as a gift, my sister took me shoe shopping.

We first went to a couple of local shops, which had good quality shoes. While some of the styles were good, we quickly recognized a problem.

I needed extra-wide shoes.

I have wide toes, and narrow heels. This presents difficulty finding shoes with a back that fit, because if they fit in the toes, they slip up and down on my heels. This causes blisters and is very annoying, as well.

Thus, we ended up at Discount Shoes with my sister and her daughter, myself and my daughter, and our mother/grammy dozing in the van outside.

It was more than an hour later that we were down to one pair of possible shoes that annoyed me still, because of the heel issue. We'd tried clogs, lace-ups (didn't really want those), and others. Any brand. We weren't stuck on any brand, we just went by what we'd researched to have the best reviews and the best comfort.

We ended up finally at the Alegria section, for the 2nd time. My sister found this pair, the Seville, and it was *almost* okay. Almost, because my toes were still a bit scrunched. With my fibromyalgia and peripheral neuropathy, that wasn't okay.

But, this time (unlike our first slog through), a salesperson was there. "Oh, I can put in wider inserts." Huh? Really? No way!

Indeed, the insert for the Alegria clog comes out *entirely* and she put a new one in. One that made the shoe just that little bit wider that made the shoe perfect. Or as near-perfect as wearing shoes can be. The part over the top of my foot is snug enough that I don't have to curl my toes to keep the shoes on, the toes are wide enough that my foot lays flat, there is arch support, and a strap that can go behind the heel or over the top of the shoe.

When my sister offered me my old shoes back so we could put the new ones in the box to pay for them I said, "Do we have to?"

Of course we didn't! I love the feeling of stuffing my old shoes in the box new shoes were in, and wearing my new shoes out of the store. It's a pleasure I hadn't had since, wow, I can't remember the last time. It happened a lot as a child, when the family had money and I was spoiled, and I got good shoes every time, and often. But as an adult? Not so much.

I wonder if I ever gave my kids that pleasure?

Anyway, with the good shoes there is no break-in period. My legs and feet are very happy with the new, good shoes. Although the fibro and diabetic problems are still evident, they are not exacerbated by my shoes.

Maybe someday I'll save up some money and get another pair of these, in a different color. Or maybe do some shopping around to get a different style.

So here's the bottom line, readers: save your money and get yourself a good pair of shoes. Your feet will thank you!