See you all in 2 days. My shoes and I will be out of blogshot for that time period.

I'll be putting one foot in front of the other and soon I will be walking out the door.

Let's give high five to the Zena Warrior Princess Boots that Shii Ann wore for the past 2 weeks on Survivor Allstars. Man---I was hoping she would win against Big Tom Turkey last night. Turkeys do not wear shoes, they just scratch in the dirt. She sure did kick it up a notch. Her shoes were made for stomping and that is what she did. I hope that the others will see that Amber and Rob need to go.

Strut on Shii Ann! Strut on!

There was also so slightly disappointing news today on NPR. Bob Edwards is leaving after 30 years. I am an avid NPR listen and will miss him on that spot. I just love NPR. That is what I usually listen to when the radio is. At times whenever I want to hear a tongue run away with itself I do listen to Howard Stern. I do like Howard. Some of it is gross but a lot of it is very funny and he has had some very funny, interesting celebrity interviews. I do hate what is happening with him now. I wonder what sort of shoes Howard wears?

Avia Fôm 180 out and about today. All day. Casual friday and it is my first day ever on the job. I saw lots of other sneaks today but did not have alot of visit time with them..no time for tea. If not for casual friday I might never have ever seen the office and spent time on the rubbermaid foot rest. Very busy day..click,click, click all day on that computer key board.

I heard big, booming laughter today. All the soles all laughing about the ebay email regarding the wedding dress. This man sold his former wife's wedding dress on ebay...with a narration to match that was better than any comedy show. Take stroll on the link and check it out. It is the funniest thing I encountered today!
SIZE 12 WEDDING DRESS/GOWN NO RESERVE

Spalding walk/run is absolutely sick of the neighbor's shoes. Why? Because everytime I fill my bird feeder the neighbor's shoes feel compelled to do their part to feed the wildlife as well. They have no feeders or birdbaths as Spalding walk/run does. Their idea of feeding the birds is placing out whole pieces of bread and it must be the entire loaf also. It looks like their back yard is green and white checkerboard grass with that bread laid out all over it.

Well..can the birds eat that bread?????? NONONONONONONONONONO!!!! They try to but end up flying to my birdbath, filled with cool, clear water with the bread in their beaks. They drop the bread in my bird bath trying to get it soft enough to eat. The end result, Spalding walk/run has a nasty bread and water filled birdbath that I have to clean everyday. They do eventually stop but I have at least a week of dealing with this every month during the spring and summer. I just want to take the entire soupy mess and empty on their patio sometimes. One can wish, can't they?

Spalding walk/run has never been close enough to them to discern their shoes but it is more than apparent that they are shoes from a lower tier. Maybe some broken down, weathered, worn sole Brogans ! Some shoes are just slow to get out of the shoe box. Their tissue paper was stuffed just a litte too hard in the toe!

Spalding walk/run here and now...just walking today. To the garden in fact. I must stake my beloved peonies that have bloomed for the first time this year. Those pink and white bulbous heads smell heavenly. Some of my other favorite things in the garden include the lilac delphiniums, the rose/white aquilegia and the trumpeter vines.

I shall have to get into my stomping mode. I see some very large garden snails that are about the size of a spool of thread. Yuk! I do not know if these shoes were made for stomping but that is what I'll do. If they don't leave my garden I's gonna stomp all over the 3 of you! HMMMMMM! Why does that sound like a familiar tune?

Well---my soles did not want to have any part of snail soup so I moved them to a far corner of the yard.

I spent the morning break talking to a pair of black flats that worked in the legal department. What type....I was not able to glean that info as of yet. But I will. It is strange talking to other shoes everyday about their makers. Today black flats was having a problem with her surface. It was dry and flakey. She was complimenting me on my surface. This pair of Naturalizers only uses Estee Lauder. Black flats uses Mary Kay. I tried to sway her the Naturalizer way. I feel she may take that step and leave the dark side.

While that conversation was ongoing I really was thinking about the preservation of my "REAL" surface. The surface of my shoes. I think I have tried all the basic ones. Mink oils change the colors of leathers at times-especially light colored leather. I crossed Mink oil off the list quite a while ago. Then I discovered Lexol Leather Conditioner. It was okay. You have to leave it on , let it penetrate, dry and rub or buff. The Lexol clearner was just okay as well.

For a shoe cleaner I am a big fan of Saddle Soap for all leathers. I love it! I have heard of Meltonian Shoe Creams but have never tried. The best of all and my recommendation to every shoe in the world is KIWI shoe products. It contains a quality blend of waxes that protect leather as well as leaves a great shine.

Kiwi Shoe products originated in 1906 by the Scotsman William Ramsey who named it after his wife. Kiwi was first produced in Australia before expanding to the UK in 1911. It is actually the most famous shoe polish sold in the world today. KIWI will leave you shoe tongues wagging for more.

Discombobulated. That's me. A simple pair of discombobulated Naturalizers with a 2 inch heel. I am a strapless sling with a square toe. My color is one of my favorite things. I am cabernet with stitched piping outlining my square toe....and very comfy too. After dirty Fila drama not only am I the color cabernet but I might just have to fill up with Cabernet . How does that saying go? Drink Cabernet out of my shoes?

Top of the morning to ya! Can we say dirty Fila drama! What's a Naturalizer to do?!
dirty Fila wanted to wash gym clothes before school and there was no way they would be ready. They weren't. dirty Fila ultimately had to pick something else that was slightly out of uniform. There may be a detention for that. It is not my fault. My idea was to wash the night before! I'm just 1 pair of Naturalizers. Sometimes I can't do everything.

What a morning it was.

Sacha Too strutted right over to Carriage Court who was back again today and asked her to assist with some work. It is what Carriage Court does. Stress was causing Carriage Court to be all over the place, multi tasking all day! I had so many visits to my rubbermaid foot rest, I thought Carriage Court was moving the palace to my local.

In a way it would be nice to learn to speak the queen's english. We could drink Tips all day and feast on Bubbles and Squeak! Carriage Court is forever eating Shepherd's Pie. With a day like today behind us we should both wash out cares away with some Bass Ale!

Today I am Sacha Too--a very sassy shoe! I am the hue of butternut squash. I am a backless, dressy, high heeled sling. My heels are 3 inches high with a narrow triangular shape. I also have a very pointed toe with a slit at the tongue and 2 large leather "X's" for decoration. When I come out of the closet there is always an adjustment period to get used to the height. After about 30 minutes of wobbling on those narrow 3 inch heels, everything gets right!

Today the stress was on. I am much too pretty to be kept on the rubbermaid foot rest but that was where I was just about all day. It is where I am right now. Just look at me! I sure do look good. Those other monstrous leather pieces sharing my space do not scare me. I can hold my own. So move over Coach bag! Move waaaay over momogrammed briefcase because today I am your competition.

Turpentine: The New Wonder Drug

Turpentine is a semifluid resin obtained from trees, mainly pines of the genus Pinus. A volatile oil called spirit of turpentine, oil of turpentine or, colloquially, turps can be extracted by distillation. Turpentine has been described simply as "distilled trees". Turpentine is used as a solvent, especially for thinning oil-based paints, and as a raw material for the chemical industry. Turpentine was also used in folk medicine for the treatment of intestinal worms or mixed with animal fat as a primitve chest rub for nasal and throat complaints. Some modern chest rubs still contain some turpentine (e.g., Vick's Vaporub).Kills athletes foot! All the shoes of the world can let their tongues flap in relief!

Yep. It is Simple again still hanging on for as long as possible. I had a dream last night of a time long ago, maybe of my life before this one. Hey--even shoes can have Kharma you know! This was of a roan shoe for a male child that was greatly infected with the itchiest case of foot fungus there was to have. No creams of any kind worked so one of the ancestorial, shoe matriarchs who knew a thing or two about home remedies whipped up a solution that was 99% turpentine and 1% something else to apply to infected foot to give relief to the infected shoes. It burned like the sun for a very long time but the infection left the foot and the infection left the roan shoes. It worked far better than a poke in the eye!

What do I hear? Stumpling and bumbling around as I sit here in the dark. I heard the alarm go off earlier but I heard no movement--hence the stumbling and bumbling now. It's me today--the red headed step child of the shoe closet. I only come out on days like this--when time is short. My name is Simple and I am a roan shoe with a rubber heel that is about 1.5 inches high. I look like a school girl shoe with toe all closed in and one strap that goes from side to side with a silver buckle.

Yep....just call me stumble and bumble attire. I go on with the roan colored pants and the company shirt and off to work I go. You can say that whatever can get thrown on the body quickest is what I go with. Sometimes things do not even match colorwise. I thought black was the universal color. Not roan. Today I did not even get the comfort of a sock....just bare skin and foot powder.

My birthing fee was small. Just $2.00 at Marshall's. I was hidden on the sale rack just radiating usefullness in a pinch. Thank god I was chosen to have a home. I was like so many foster children --the last to be chosen. I have a purpose now, one that I am most proud now. I know tonight I will be taken off and will be thrown all willy nilly into the back of the closet to wait until another morning when I hear the alarm clock and no movement. I will then listen closely for the panicked, stumbling and bumbling of what to wear and where is the underwear? I will come out of the darkness and into the light once more.

The Life Cycle of a Shoe



The life cycle of the shoe is arguably one of the most bizarre and impressive examples of man at work on the planet - one could be forgiven for believing that all shoes are the same but many are entirely separate species. They have very dissimilar features but they do shod all of humanity, who calls from all walks of life.

The Birth Stage

Shoes are born in a variety of shapes, colors and sizes under scrutiny of "Inspector 12" who always seems to be in China. Do all shoes come from China? Some have designer names and others are from the lower, less expensive end of the gene pool. They all come in a box and wait patiently for their parents to arrive with money at their favorite retail store. They emerge from their box all shiny and new waiting to be held and inspected for the very first time. Then they may be tried on the first time and walked in, on the carpet to assure a good fit in their new home.

The Adolescence, Teen and Adult Years

These years are swift and fleeting and they are prone to premature aging due to weather exposure and poor maintenance. Very much like human faces that need potions, lotions and alpha hydroxy's to maintain youth, so does the shoe. Saddle soaps, leather conditioners, polish and buffers are needed routinely to maintain a youthful appearance. Spare no expense to maintain your shoes. Gone are the days of using vaseline to shine up a shoe. Break out the Kiwi shoe supplies. Adulthood is usually reached with 2 years with good upkeep.

Old Age

Your feet will know it has arrived before you do. Your beloved shoe may no longer be as comfortable, heels may be worn down, arch support is gone and no matter how much you polish the scuff marks will not go away. They have served you will and you hate to put them down. Off they usually go to Good Will with the hope that someone less fortunate may be able to get a little more life out of them.

The life cycle begins again. It is time to get a new baby shoe, fresh from the box and waiting to be broken in.

Bon jour again. Marissa here. It was a long day. I was even the last one to walk out of the office today. I met other soles today but they were just ordinary. All except for one pair named Carriage Court. Carriage Court has a 2 inch heel, is beige and is a dress sandal with 5 spagetti straps across the front leading from one side to the other. I have seen her around before but I never realized she had a secret life until today. She, with her cockney accent speaks the queens english and in fact has just come back after a week in England and Scotland. Carriage Court was born in England and still has many other sole members there. Carriage Court is quite daffy but most lovable. Don't let her get upset though. She will begin speaking in english the likes we have never heard before. I too have joined the queens way of drinking tea. I drink the Queens tea...PG Tips.

Bon jour! I'm Marissa. I am red hot, a flat with a Mary Jane front. Yes... I am a knock off but I get lots of compliments on my smooth, sleek, stylish, red body. Noone can tell me apart from the designer Mary Janes. At the office everyone asks where I was born. All are expecting to hear Saks, Dillards or some other store. Targæt is my reply! Targæt! That is where I was born. I am about a year old and in my teen years. I have been worn alot. I am flexible and go with many outfits from dress to casual. I do have a career and have to plod into the office often. Today was no exception. I was off and running in to work today. Most of the morning I spent under the desk propped up on my throne- a grey rubbermaid foot rest. All day long the phone ringing. All day long tap, tap, tapping on those computer keys. All that work can wear a shoe out! The only time I get a break is to get up to go to the copier, the water cooler or the mail room. My soles are kind of sedentary under that desk all day. I do take the opportunity to get up and speak to some fellow soles once in a while. Hey look here comes a pair now.........

I had to spend 2 hours just thrown on the floor next to the sofa while my feet took a nap. The cat slept right next to me. Doesn't anyone realize I am Mickey Mouse tennis shoes and mice and cats do not get along?!?! At one point the cat was perched on my right foot alseep. The nerve of that cat. There was fur everywhere. Luckily fur does not stick to leather.

I met up tonight with dirty Fila worn by my child. Fila told me that her right tongue was kind of tired and slipped down a bit. Fila's tongue irritated the ankle above. Purposely Fila said--to teach a lesson that she must be properly tied with tongue in place at all times. Mess with Fila and you will get a little pain.

AAAWWW SHUTUP Avia Fôm 180! You think you are all that and that your inserts do not stink. But they do. Just sniff a little deeper. I am large and in charge today. That's right me--Disney white leather sneakers with the picture of the main man- mickey on the side. I am about 3 years old and was born at Walt Disney World. I was returned by my previous owner to the Disney Store and was very lucky to have been adopted by this body we share. Luckily this body knows class and a bargain price when she sees it. I only have one complaint. I was neglected for about 3 weeks on the back patio after a bath. I was supposed to be out overnight only was forgotten. I was then subjected to pollen, dirt and bird landings. I had another bath and was finally returned to the dark bowels of the upstairs closet. There were others in their with me but I could only hear faint sneaks and heal tappings in the darkness.

I am the fun one who gets to go to visit my native home each year. Today I have had a light day watering the garden and cleaning the house. My only fear is a chemical rain from one of the cleaning products that may damage my leather or discolor the man-Mickey Mouse himself. Other than that, I am having a perfectly magical day!

Hi. My name is Avia fôm 180. I am still a newborn just being brought home about 3 weeks ago. I am white with blue stipes and have a cantilever sole. I am very tired today. I was barely broken in having being worn only 2 other times before yesterday. Yesterday was WalkAmerica and I had to carry my body for 4 miles. I was very supporting and had a great finish. I was chosen over the slightly soiled Spalding walk/run shoes resting by the sofa right now. I am far better than the Spaldings. My inserts do not stink! I thought that was it for the day on yesterday-WalkAmerica-but boy was I wrong!

My brother's Nikes came in from North Carolina and so did my sister-in-laws' Keds, my nephews' Bobo's and my 9 month old neices' bare feet. I joined the Nikes, Keds, Bobos and bare feet for a day playing tourist. We all sneaked along for another 5 miles touring the city. By the end of the day I had left early childhood for my adolescent years. I still have youth on my side. I am a little dusty but not yet dusty enough for a bath. Today is my day of rest and airing out.

SHOE

Shoe as defined by Webster's Dictionary: 1a. An outer covering for the human foot usually made of leather with a thick or stiff sole and an attached heel. 1b. A metal plate or rim for the hoof of an animal. 2. Something resembling a shoe as 2a: A metal band of the runner of a sled. 2b: The casing of a pneumatic tire. 3. Status, position or plight. 4. A device that retards, stop or controls the motion of an object.