Very Wet Race and a Musing on Shoes

The heavens opened and it poured buckets on the girls as they started their race.  It was just normally drizzly for the boys.  My kids did about as well as they did last week (faster because this is a faster course).  I think my daughter finished higher up in the overall ranks than last week, but the same for her team.  My son is still stubbornly stuck at first alternate.  He got bottle-necked in and couldn't quite catch the kid he needed to catch for that fingernail varsity spot.  He's a sophomore, though, so he's got a couple of years.  I know it is really important to him, though, so it is hard to see him not make his goal. 

He was nearly a full 5 minutes faster than his sister, who is solidly on varsity because the girls are just slower.  Oh well, that's how it goes - and almost all the runners are faster than me, so yeah, it's all relative.

The soccer coach told me, "Lucas needs new soccer shoes."  I told him that Lucas was NOT playing soccer, and I wasn't going to spend $60 on soccer shoes, only to follow up with Lucas and find he is playing soccer.  Sigh, those shoes were new last year and he only played half the season before pole vaulting pre-conditioning started.  I swear that kid and his shoes.  All those sport specific shoes, plus his general hard-on-shoes feet are killing me.  Thank goodness Ross sells racing spikes for a decent price and we actually found some.  You know the old trope with the guy rattling dice, chanting the mantra, "Come on, baby needs new shoes!"  Yeah, that's me these days, minus the dice.

Heck, I need new shoes!  I will wear shoes until they die on my feet (same with clothes) because I LOATHE shopping, particularly shoe shopping, so when I say I need new shoes, you can imagine how bad that can be.  I don't like breaking in new shoes and I would be happiest wearing slippers (that's flip flops, I think, to those of you not from Hawaii) all the time - or boots.  I like my Ariat paddock boots for riding and live in rubber boots around the farm.  My Ariat ropers are 10 years old, and they are still great.  Rubber boots - you get them at the hardware store, they all look the same, and they function (as long as a puppy doesn't gnaw on them or they don't split from age - in which case they leak).

I like having nice clothes, but I don't like shopping for them.  I thought that would change once I got back to a size 8, but nope.  I still hate shopping.  I wonder why - my daughters like shopping, my mother likes shopping - I guess I am the odd one out.