I laughed, I cried, I got new shoes and need new cuticles

Well, I am on the last week of T's European tour! I am really looking forward to having him home. I haven't been truly tormented in over a week and I am not sure how to handle the silence.

My goal while he was gone was to get the house completely organized, hang some pictures and shelves (thanks to the handy-dandy stud finder I got him for Valentine's Day). Well, I am pushing through but still have more to do. Last night I finally got down to the nitty-gritty with the almost three years worth of letters from my Dad and SMom. At first I was straightening all the pages, trying to find dates (or read Dad's letters to determine a round-about time period) but, after two hours, I ended up just separating them by approximate years. And, to be quite honest, towards the end I didn't straighten the pages anymore. I kinda put'em in folded. But they are now filed away in a very neat fashion so that I can keep them forever.

As I was making my way through the letters, I did open some and read a little. Some made me laugh like when Dad went to get a colonoscopy (or however you spell it) and we were calling it visiting his neighborhood - oops, sorry Dad if this was to be a private matter! I laughed so hard remembering that letter along with our phone conversation about it I almost peed. And then there were also tears like the letter about my first Christmas visit. I also ran across cards that they, my Mom, John and my Grandma Sachse who has since passed away, had sent me after I moved out here. I was a blubbering idiot for a portion of the sorting time.

I also cried a little over the cuticles of my nails. I have cuticles the size of Texas on my man hands. I kept jabbing them with the hard cardboard of the expandable files every time I would shove a letter inside it. I have no idea if you know what I mean but I can tell you they actually are still sore today. I definitely need a manicure.

Strangest thing...I have no gym stories today. Probably because my workout wasn't as extensive as usual thanks to my piece of crappy rubber running shoes that I have been wearing for about 2 weeks now. Thanks a lot, Target, I thought you were my friend! Those shoes are/were horrible! My knee feels like it is going to completely sever the nerve around it and my calves scream every time I take a stride on the treadmill. As I was running my first half mile with tears in my eyes, I thought to myself, I will get new shoes tomorrow. I won't go today because I am wearing short gym shorts that should probably not be worn in too many public places. And I also wanted to take the time to look up a good place to go in Tucson to have my strides analyzed so that I can get shoes that are meant to be on my feet.

Well, by the time I hit the one mile mark, the tears were right in the corners of my eyes where only a blink could set them free. I thought, you know what? Forget tomorrow! I am going today. I don't care that I have no makeup, my hair is slicked back in a head band and further secured with a ponytail holder and that I smell like a homeless man. I am GOING!

So I continued with my weight training - legs, butt, shoulders, abs - and then asked the young guy at the desk where I could go for some good shoes. Performance Footwear or something like that, not far from the gym. I was on it!

When I got there I seemed to be the only one there. I was so glad. I explained my dilema and Paul, the sales guy extraordinare, went to the back to get me, what he called, neutral shoes. I put the neutral shoes on and they actually felt a heck of a lot better than the junkyard tires I was walking on. We went up to this loft area of the store and he asked me to step on the treadmill. All of a sudden, on a monitor in front of me, my legs came up on the screen! Only from the knees down. He was going to record me running at my slow jog speed.

When he played it back, it was amazing. My run was causing my knees to hurt. Well, my run paired with bad clearance rack shoes. He showed me my stride in slow motion and you could see how, when I landed, I landed hard on my heel and then my entire body weight would lean into the insides of my feet. He said THAT would cause pain and injury to my knees.

He brought out running shoes with extra support in those areas as well as cushioned insoles that would further cushion the blows of a 138 lb woman on the insides of my feet! I put them on and immediately heard the cathedral choir singing "ahhhhhhh." It was my feet's soulmate (pun totally intended). It was their lobster. It was meant to be. I was so happy to feel that great in a pair of running shoes. I was tempted to head back to the gym for another run but decided to head home to start my housework. You know, a sloth's work is NEVER done!

So here I am. Listening to the crooked headed ladies kids across the street, neighbors walking their dogs and the never tiring sound of that damn Dachsund next door that NEVER shuts up! I think I might hit a little more in the craft room and look for the stud finder in the garage so that I can hang pics later. Things are really coming together in the house and I am really excited for T to see all the updates.

Oh, I was going to take an after pic of the letters in the expandable files but then thought...why? Just take a couple of brown expandable files, put them on a flat surface and take a pic. That's what it looks like! But once I am done with the office and crap room, pics WILL be taken!!