More Decluttering

It goes in stages. One week, I can't bear to part with something. The next week, it's in the give away bag. An email and some awkward walking finally convinced me to give away some shoes.

JCPenney's send an email saying some of their Clarks shoes were on sale two weeks ago. About 5 years ago, I had problems with my left foot. My toes would cramp and the pain was unbearable. I had a real hard time with some shoes and had to get rid of some then. Finally, after enduring this for 8 months, I went to see a podiatrist. Of course, I had special inserts made which I moved from shoe pair to shoe pair. They relieved the stress on the toes and fixed the problem. At the time, the podiatrist said Clarks shoes were the best shoes she had seen for people who had foot problems. I loved how they fit and their styles. They are NOT cheap but when they are on sale, which is not often, they are a great bargain.

Now, not all the styles of Clarks that Penney's have were on sale. I wasn't really that interested until I had to spend more than 8 hours in the shoes to the right. I love these shoes. I got them at Penneys back when Carole lived in Seattle. They are canvas and I've washed them a few times. But 3+ years of sometimes daily wear will take a toll on a pair of shoes. As much as I like these, when I came home and took them off, my feet thanked me. I had to admit that, for me, these were just not comfortable anymore. There's still a lot of life in them, but not for me. (I have to admit that my original pair of Clarks is slowly approaching that point, too. I will be really sad when I have to get rid of those.)

Hence, the JCPenney email advertisement became very important. I poured through what was on sale. Technically, at the time of the sale, I didn't have the spare cash. But, as if karma, or something, was influencing my decision making process, an article in AOL's Everyday Health came up about shoes and people with rheumatoid arthritis. The article stressed that heels over 1.5 inches were not advisable as they can skew your joints, particularly in your ankles and hips. I needed to find shoes that were comfortable. One of the problems RA sufferers have is that if their shoes aren't comfortable, they won't keep moving and keeping moving helps keep the joints from swelling. So, I needed to look at shoes not just as a covering for my feet but as a part of my overall health. Sold.

I went back to the web site announcing the sale and looked through all the styles. Of course, a couple pair that I really liked weren't on sale or were sold out online. Then I realized that I probably needed to try any shoe on. The days of purchasing shoes off the Internet are probably gone. If I'm going to be walking around in them, I had better make sure they are comfortable. I settled on the style to the left and went off the store.

These are pewter, which doesn't show up very well in the sunlight on my bed. They are a half size larger than I've worn all my life, but I read that is better for RA sufferers because it allows the foot to move instead of being crammed into a shoe, even one that "was" your size. These are comfortable and patent leather. They look good in dressy and casual situations.

The other thing the article recommended was to buy shoes with backs. I'm very fond of what are called "mules". Those are the shoes without backs. Just slip into them and go. For RA sufferers, we need the stability of a whole shoe. I'll keep that in mind as I slowly replace other shoes that wear out. I also could use a shoe horn to help put these on. Shoes with backs require some bending over and sort of forcing the foot into the shoes. The mules don't. A shoe horn would make a good bit of difference in getting these on.

I looked at another pair but they didn't have it in my size. They also didn't have the pair of athletic shoes I wanted to try on. It's a small store and I can order them from the catalog, but I hate having to return something so I wanted to try them on.

In keeping with my one in-one out policy, I looked at my shoe rack. The black ones, above, went into the give away box. Then I looked at my heels. I have to be ruthless. The article said "no high heels". I loved these shoes. I loved how they look and how they looked on me. But I simply can't wear them anymore. Why hang onto them because of memories? The dust on them was deep enough to write my name in it. I dusted them off and stuck them in the give away bag. A veteran's group picked the bag up last Thursday. They are gone.

And I don't miss them. There are two pair of heels left on the shoe rack. One pair, I probably can still wear because the heel isn't very high. The other I know I keep for sentimental reasons and I'm not ready to part with them. At some point I probably will, but not now. I still want to try on that other pair of Clarks they didn't have in my size and I'm tempted by boots. For now, I'm happy on two fronts. I got a good pair of shoes which will last for awhile at a good price and I decluttered just a wee bit more. Now to get a shoe horn.

Beverage:  Dr Pepper

Deb