Infatuation or Obsession?

Ask Spring and she will tell you, I am not what one would call a "fashion plate." My idea of dressing up is to wear my good jeans and a nice blouse. Not that I don't love girly clothes, because I really do. The frillier the better in my opinion. The problem is, I really don't have anywhere dressy to go and I just don't have the body type to show off the clothes. This doesn't bother me.

So we've established that I'm not a clothes horse. I'm also not into make up and manicures and all that jazz. Sure, I'd love the whole makeover experience, but let's face it, I work at home on the computer, so nails just get in the way and I don't get out much. Makeup is expensive and I've never been good at it and it just takes way too much time. Enough said.

Why would anyone care to know these things about me? Well, figuring that not too many people read this, I would have to say that they don't, but I wanted to preface the following with a little bit of background so you would understand just how weird my latest obsession is.

For some reason, I have started to notice shoes. Now I know, some women are way into shoes, but it's an infatuation that I've never understood until now. Granted, I've never figured out why one person needs twelve pairs of black shoes (high-heeled, mid-heeled, low-heeled, flats, patents, shinies, sling backs, open-toes, with a bow, with another ornamentation of some kind, and two others that I can't even imagine) but some women feel that they do. C'est la vie.

My interest is not in pumps of any height or color. My problem is sneakers. A specific kind of sneakers. My current love is Van's shoes.

It all started with a pair of black shoes with black and white checks. As a race girl, I thought they were the perfect expression of that part of my personality. I yearned for them, watched the sale ads and denied myself countless times. Until one day my husband and I were out shopping and I came across a pair of these shoes in the boys' department and just happened to try them on. As it turns out, a size 5 1/2 boy's shoe is roughly the same size as a woman's 6 1/2. The only catch is that they are about $10 cheaper. Always the bargain-hunter, I just couldn't pass them up.

I brought home my treasured purchase and got out my camera. These shoes were just begging to be photographed so I obliged. After their shoot, I sprayed them with Scotchguard. I wanted to keep them looking as nice as I could! These shoes were too nice to wear to a race track, so I wore them around the house at first, then out, but only on nice days. I stored them in their box and took them out only on special occasions.

After the checkered flag Van's, I found myself looking at other sneakers. See, after one indulgence, it becomes easier to talk yourself into a second. And I did. Another pair of Van's. They are black with pink polka-dots and oh-so-very comfortable. Of course, these were not found in the boys' section, but I still got them on sale at Kohl's, with a discount and a some Kohl's cash. They were very reasonable.

Again I sprayed them with Scotchguard and kept them in their box. They stay warm and dry and only come out on nice days.

Today was the day that I finally had to admit that my little infatuation may be getting out of hand. I had to take my son to buy a new pair of "Chucks" (Chuck Taylor Converse high tops) for the upcoming dance. Yes, it's a teenage fashion thing. Wouldn't you know it, but every shoe in the place was buy one get one half off and my son could only find one pair he wanted. He's such a boy! That left me in a quandry. No, the question wasn't "Should I buy shoes?" but "Which shoes should I buy?" That question was soon answered for me.

There on a bottom shelf were the last two boxes of white Van's with checkere flag stripes. Of course you can guess that one of them was my size. It was the one on display. Was it fate, an evil plan of Satan or something meant to be? Maybe I will never know, but it really doesn't matter. These new shoes feel great on my feet and they go with everything!

Yes, I guess it's true that the first step is admitting you have a problem. Is there a Sneakers Anonymous meeting anywhere in my neighborhood?