One for Cinderella's Step Sisters

I went out one more time yesterday in search of the perfect 'glass slippers' for these unbelievably fussy and ill-formed step-sister-feet of mine.

Mission Impossible began on April 14th.

I thought I had stumbled across the perfect compromise. A pair of Dawg's for my casual walking pleasure; another pair (they were on sale) to easily slip in and out of around the yard. I then took the rest of my allotted budget amount to a shoe store that specializes in 'hard to fit feet'. I found a pair of shoes that I could wear to work and I thought my mission was complete.

Part Two of my shoe challenge involved wearing each of the above pairs of shoes around the house for a day to see if they worked for me.

Pair #1 was the first pair that was rejected. My little toe was complaining about that tiny strap that was cutting into it. And that was with light, household use. That would never work in the real world.

Pair #3 was super comfy after a day at home. I thought they were a winner. Then I tried them on with a pair of capri pants. I took a glance at how they looked in a mirror. 'Skiis' were all I could see. My feet are long, wide and ugly. I do not need shoes that accentuate the fact. I could not wear them out of the house.

I thought Pair #2 was going to work. So I kept those ...

Mission Impossible (the sequel) sent me out to my shoe shops for the second time two weeks later. The Dawg store did not have any other shoes that would work for me. They were very pleasant about it and refunded my money. I was grateful. I went to the specialty shoe store and returned my skiis. They were very understanding and we found another pair that looked and felt right for the job.

Trial #2 with the second pair of shoes went well. I ensured my orthotic was placed where it was supposed to be. I adjusted the straps so that my feet sat properly within the orthotics. I wore them around the house as I cleaned windows. They were very comfortable. Ah-ha! This was it! I was ready to take them out into the real world. Then I looked down.

The shoes were almost an inch too long in the toe area. Add to that, the fact that my bunions cause my toes to veer to the right. And the shoe itself veered to the left. I couldn't believe that I didn't see this before (I had my socks on when I tried the shoes on in the store). My foot looked long, wide, ugly and deformed. I could not wear these shoes out in public. I was losing hope.

Yesterday (May 12th - four weeks after the original mission), I set out on Mission Impossible #3. I tucked my orthotics and my feet into Pair #2 shoes and put on some miles as I wore them to my class; walked several blocks from my car to the shoe store; and did my grocery shopping. Oh, my achin' feet!! Pair #2 have got to go!

But ... I do believe that I finally found a decent pair of sandals that will work for me at my ultra-expensive-hard-to-fit-shoe-store!!

Believe it or not, these are the prettiest shoes  of the bunch. These are the ones I finally kept. 

Now I still have one horribly uncomfortable (new) Pair #2 of shoes to deal with. I wonder if I have the stamina for yet another Mission Impossible sequel??

As I hobbled out of the shoe store yesterday afternoon, I felt great empathy with Cinderella's evil step sisters. Just look at their feet!  I think they were probably bitter because they were wearing ill-fitting shoes ...