dookisevil

We are in a severe drought here in Raleigh, and yesterday when I went to lunch around two, I stepped across the street to go to Moe's and grabbed a Triple Lindy. It looked like it was going to rain. I had left my nice App State golf umbrella in the car (perfect place for it when they are calling for rain right??).

As I am sitting there eating my gigantic humongous burrito, it began to rain, I thought no worries. Within the 30 minute lunch break, we had an extreme down pour. So much so, that I asked the guy at the counter for a plastic carryout bag for my App State purse so my palm treo would not get wet. I ran across the street back to my workplace, within seconds, I was DRENCHED. I am not talking just wet, I mean dripping wet, that it took me hours to dry off.

Not complaining, cause we really needed the rain, we accumulated 2" of rain here in Raleigh yesterday..that is huge.

You should have seen my boss's face as I rounded the corner sopping wet, laughing my arse off!

My child is home with me today, DON'T ask....and well we had errands, and he dressed himself, dressed normally until he put his belt on I guess you could say inside out. Then he donned his cool dinosaur rain boots, no socks and no rain, beautiful sunny day here in Raleigh. We got home I was putting the groceries away, he walked in the kitchen wearing a t-shirt, and I though nothing else. I lifted up the t-shirt, shew he had on tightie whities.
Sigh, now, he has found a life jacket in his room and is running round the house in FLEECE Footed jammies with a life jacket.

No scratch that, he's just running round in tightie whities.
Standing on my bed singing at this very moment.

This evening, I was sitting here posting on CBS, and was horrified to hear on my local news that my alma mater, Appalachian State was under a LOCKDOWN. I immediately turned to the television, with my jaw dropped and listened. Then I went to the news station's website and then ASU's website for additional information. I called three people that I went to school with to let them know, they had no clue. We were all aware of the street and apartment complex that the gunman was spotted. Apparently, he was just a few blocks away from one side of campus, wearing a ski mask and he had a hand gun. From what I can gather, no shots were fired, and no one was reported injured. At the time of me writing this blog, the Lockdown has been lifted, but the gunman is still at large. You hear about these things on the news, but they are never so personal. THIS IS PERSONAL.

I remember when the Virginia Tech massacre happened last year, it was tragic and horrifying. A lot was learned from that sad day on protocols for universities, thankfully, today, Appalachian State had a plan in place and it was put in action, quickly. I remember sitting here posting and discussing campus safety after Virginia Tech. How a college campus, which used to be thought of as a haven, or a safe place, was now no longer that. I felt saddened that students would no longer walk freely on their campuses and would have to swipe id badges to gain access to buildings. Going to college is supposed to be about testing the water, expressing yourself, your freedom, and testing your boundaries. I want my son to have that experience when he goes to college in thirteen years or so, but will he?

It troubles me that our society has come to this, that this is how we have to protect our population, you are not safe anywhere, your children are not safe at school - but you hope that they will be, our young adults when they leave the nest and flock to college are not safe on their college campuses - but you pray that they will be, we aren't even safe when we shop at a local mall - but we go anyway, we aren't safe at a fast food restaurant - but we still frequent them. We can not succumb to the troubles of the few in our society, we need to continue to live and march forward, because if we coward behind the door of our homes and live in a shell, are we really living?

I am a photographer, and stay on my feet for the majority of the day. Actually, I have worked on my feet for most of my working years. I started out when I was 15 1/2 working at McDonald's, have had various customer service oriented jobs in the past. Even when I worked for the hockey team, running through the arena and on the ice during matches,  I was on my feet several hours a day, with a walkie in on hand and an events itinerary in another.

So, needless to say, at age 36, and working 20+ years on my feet, I am bound to have feet issues. And when I get home, man my dawgs hurt! I have found that the inexpensive shoes you find at the local shoe store or at Target just do not do my feet justice, in fact they make my feet hurt more and hinder my forward progress of merely walking. I am not a female that wears high heeled shoes, although my 5'3" short little person could use a vertical lift, plus I simply do not have the balance for them, I tend to clumsily fall into things, making even more of a fool out of myself than I do in a normal day.

No, I go for comfort, I have an assortment of shoes that I wear for comfort, and man does comfort cost $$$. I have a variety of New Balance tennis shoes that I rotate through, three pairs of Crocs (one pair being obnoxious yellow), several pairs of Birkenstocks - yes some are the sandal variety my sister affectionately calls "Jesus shoes" - while some are more of a styling mule/slide shoe (I know this sandal variety is commonly known to be worn by hippies and lesbians, but darn they are comfortable, just ask Josh on the CBB board), I also have a pair of Dansko mules/slides.

I have been to a podiatrist and they want to put the old lady insert thingies in my shoes, you know the things that mold to my feet. I am not feeling it, I am like, sheesh, I am in my 30's and you are trying to desperately make me feel old. Keep those things for when I am older, and I walk into the office with a walker or a cane.

I see women who wear these pointy things that have narrow heals, and I sit and stare and turn my head and ponder, one how did get her feet in said shoes, how does she walk without looking like she is 9 months pregnant, and how does she get said feet out of the shoes without using a crowbar.

I will stick with my expensive, non-stylish comfortable uninserted shoes. I love my birks, the more I wear them, the more comfy they become. Joshmyhippie, these birks are for you!