10 January 2002

As I was drying off after my shower this morning, I noticed that the red lines on my feet from those stupid dress shoes were finally mostly gone.

And I said to myself, "Self," I said, "you should throw those shoes away. Any shoe so tight that it leaves marks on your feet for a whole month after you wear them for a few hours is a shoe that should not be in your closet."

And then my mind wandered into the closet (because the rest of me was still drying off) and looked at the rack of shoes - a source of occasional gentle mocking from my dear husband.

Closest to the closet door, where they're easiest to get to, are the shoes I actually wear. Loafers, sneakers... comfortable dress shoes. A little further in is my one pair of relatively comfortable dress shoes. Further back...

Further back, there are the shoes that I haven't worn in an age.

Toe-pinching flats that I haven't worn since I was interviewing two years ago.

A pair of heels that were cute in the store but clunky when I got them home.

Some more dress shoes I haven't worn in years.

The extremely uncomfortable satin shoes that were dyed to match the dress I wore to my brother's wedding. (It's conceivable that I'll wear the dress again... but I'll wear it with some other shoes.)

A pair of knee-high, black suede moccasin-boots that were very cool back when I was a college student, but which probably won't even fit around my calves these days.

"Self," I said to myself, I said, "you have got to get some dress shoes you can actually wear." And then, because sometimes I have to approach myself obliquely, I said, "But where would you put them? You should probably go through the closet and toss out all those crappy shoes you're never going to wear again."

I can think of at least three pairs of shoes - off the top of my head, without even looking! - that I haven't worn since before we moved into this house. These are not shoes that I cherish. Or even like.

And as long as I'm having to throw away the loafers that now smell like cat pee (and which, to be honest, were getting a little ratty-looking anyway) I might as well take the opportunity to clear up some space in the closet.

(The spring-cleaning bug is hitting a little earlier than usual this year. But does it want to take down and put away the Christmas decorations, few as they are? Noooo... It wants to clean out the closet. It wants to clear off what used to be the bill desk in the bedroom. It wants to pack up all the old comics and get rid of them to clear space in the infrequently-used computer room. It couldn't care less about the guest room or the living room.)

(Stupid bug.)

--Liz