Wilma!?!???!!!

I need to learn how to surrender. This is a big theme in my life and a huge challenge for me. Wired for tightly wrapped codependency, I fight this yin yang moment-to-moment battle with myself about, well, everything.

Deciding that I needed to get a few easy wins under my belt I have begun by officially surrendering to sensible footwear. And let me just say, no one in my office seems to be very happy with this decision.

I am training for a marathon, to wit, everything from the bellybutton down kind of, well, hurts, most of the time. I say this not to garner sympathy. This is not a Bhutan death marathon into which I am being forced, I freely and willingly am subjecting myself to the significant pounding required to try to pull off this feat. No, I just say that to set the stage and explain, should you be walking down the stairs with me, what that odd crunching and snapping is (it is coming from my knees).

In any event, I am at work today, and for the second time this week I am sporting the shoes above.

I realize that I am late to the Keen craze. I only purchased these b/c I found then in the 70% off corner. But I do see, now, what all the fuss is about, because they are wicked comfy, however, I feel like I should run down the hall in these shoes hollering "YABBA DABBA DOOOOOO!"

Really, there's just nothing even borderline cute or "officey" about these. They could only be considered professionally appropriate if I worked for EMS, REI, Patagonia or guiding tourists down a river somewhere, which I certainly do not.

However, my feet hurt, my knees hurt, my hips hurt, and there's something in my butt that hurts .... I think it is my piriformis, which I didn't know I had until it started a snarky conversation with me recently.

In any event, I hereby surrender to the need to keep my feet from falling off the ends of my legs until I get through this whole thing in November. I surrender to the need to protect what's left of my knee cartilage and my hip bones.

Henceforth and furthermore I will wear these and other hideous, but comfortable, shoes whenever the hell I want. I will wear them with my cute little skirts and my cute little pants and I might even wear them with a cute little dress or two (so there you mean lady in Legal and both of you 20somethings in Reseaerch) and I will be okay with my decision. I will not be sidetracked by your snide derision and your not even remotely veiled looks of disdain at my toes as I walk towards you.

I will march onward, a proud citizen of Bedrock, bolstered by my 2" polyester webbing and quick draw elastic lacing system. I shall sally forth supported by my metatomical EVA molded foot bed. The non marking rubber out soles will stabilize me with their steady grip and antimicrobial protection.

I will just assume that when the website described these Keens as "ideal for sun filled days by the pool or beach" that they copywriter just forgot the last part of the sentence..... "or to your office to prove once and for all that you have nothing to prove."