Running Shoes

I'm still here! For those of you who were afraid that I got sucked into the whirlpool of toys, vomit, and dirty diapers, never to be heard from again...you can relax. Between swimming lessons, dentist appointments, and trying to keep my barrel horses ridden, I just haven't found much time to write the last few days. Yes, I know that I could write while my kids sleep. I could do LOTS of things while they are asleep. The only problem with that is this: while they are sleeping, I want to be sleeping, too! My body has this annoying need for 7 to 8 hours of sleep in order to function properly. Even though to the childless population, the words stay-at-home mom conjure up some image of a woman sitting on a couch in a housecoat stuffing her face and watching soap operas, nothing could be further from the truth! My daily life reqires supernatural amounts of energy and very few peaceful moments.
I prefer to think of myself as a stay-in-the-road mom. I wear running shoes every day, although some days I think I should trade them for combat boots. I dress casually, usually a tee shirt and shorts, although some days I think a referee's uniform would be a more appropriate outfit. I'm sure those stylish black pants hide a lot of flaws. But I prefer my running shoes.
I have an interesting relationship with tennis shoes. I remember the first pair I ever had - blue Kangaroos. They had a zipper pocket on the side for all the important stuff a six year old girl needs to keep...in her shoes. My first pair of sneakers held a special significance for me, because up until then I had been made to wear brown corrective shoes. Apparently my right ankle rotated inward, and the solution was to send me to school in the ugliest pair of brown shoes on the face of the earth. (At least that's how I saw it.) I suppose they did their job, as both of my ankles appear to be in good working condition now.
My current shoes are Saucony running shoes. My best friend as a kid had a pair, and I can remember wanting some so badly. Not that I was deprived as a kid...I just remember how cool I thought those shoes were. When I graduated from veterinary school and realized how much I was going to be on my feet when I was working, I bought my first pair.
Oprah Winfrey tells a story about the first time she started making a lot of money and rushed out to buy some Ralph Lauren towels. To her, that meant she had made it. Now I'm certain my salary as a new graduate was NOT the same kind of money that Oprah was making, but to a kid who'd never had a real job, I felt like I was loaded! It was the first time in my life I'd ever had money that was mine, that I'd earned and not been given. I admit that I caught a terrible case of "Doc-itis" as Dave Ramsey calls it, and bought plenty of stuff thinking, "I have a job! I can afford this!" I also admit that it came back to bite me in the butt later in life, but that is a story for another day.
I love my running shoes. I don't do much actual running in them, as is evident by the size of my butt, but when I lace them up each morning, I take a deep breath and feel like I'm headed to the starting line of my day. When the gun goes off, there are days that I'm already behind the pack. There are days that I feel like the starter loaded a live round...and pointed it at my head instead of up in the air. And every so often there are those days when I feel like Usain Bolt, sprinting down the track and looking back over my shoulder. Try to catch me, suckers! Those days are decidedly few and far between. I have also discovered as a parent that the moment you congratulate yourself on having it all together, someone immediately pukes on your shoes.
I also wear tennis shoes most of the time because my feet hurt. My grandmother and mother were kind enough to share their lousy foot genetics with me, so finding a pair of comfortable shoes is like the quest for the Holy Grail. When I went shoe shopping after vet school, it took me two solid hours of trying on sneakers to find a pair that fit. Actually, I found two. I threw the first one away last year. When I find a good pair, I wear them until they fall apart.
These running shoes have taken me a lot of places. Sometimes I feel like a hamster on a wheel, running my legs off and never getting anywhere. Other days I feel like a rat in a maze, no clue where the heck I'm going, but by golly I'm going to get there in a hurry! Wow, two rodent references in the same post. Can't wait to see what kind of ads those bring up!