Late to the Party: Confession Friday

Another Friday and it is time to confess once again.

I offer this quote as an introduction to today's Confession Friday: "From the empty carpet-bag she took out seven flannel nightgowns, four cotton ones, a pair of BOOTS, a set of dominoes, two bathing caps and a postcard album." ~ Pamela Travers, Mary Poppins, Chapter One

Mary Poppins sounds like my kind of woman. Any woman worth her salt has at least one good pair of boots. And that is my confession for today - I have a thing for boots.

It is no secret that I have undergone a tremendous change in my life recently. A year ago I could hardly walk, much less walk around in boots. My shoe wardrobe consisted mainly of Crocs. Don't get me wrong, I still love my Crocs, but I wore them only out of necessity. Carrying around the equivalent of another adult on your body does not lend to one being able to stroll around comfortably in just about ANY kind of shoe. And fat calves are prohibitive to prancing around in boots higher than the ankles. Add Rheumatoid Arthritis into the equation and it is not hard to understand why Crocs and I had a long-standing relationship for years. Since I am confessing, I admit: Crocs, I am sorry, I have been cheating on you for the past 6 months and you have been mostly shelved.

Whew....Am I glad that is out! Now I can look squarely at my shoe shelves and not avoid full eye contact with my faithful rubber shoe friends.

My obsession with boots began at an early age. I recall watching the Mickey Mouse Club every afternoon and the weekly segment I loved the most was Talent Round-up Day because the girls, especially Annette Funicello, wore these fabulous white cowgirl boots. Dear God, please forgive me...I covetted Annette's boots at age five.

And the boots with that fringed skirt....killer. But, alas, those boots with accompanying Western outfit was never forthcoming.

When I was about in the 7th grade and as awkward as a pre-teen can possibly be, I set my sights on a pair of black leather ankle boots with stirrup pants. Not so bad, but the thing is I didn't know how to wear stirrup pants and I wore the one pair of stirrup pants I owned OUTSIDE the boot, strap under the arch. Not a great look but even worse, black ankle boots with shirtwaist plaid dresses and white socks that peek over the boot top is not, let me repeat that, NOT a fashion statement. Where was Stacy and Clinton and What Not To Wear back then?

I place in evidence

this. Yes, sad, but true, that is truly hideous. I am so sorry to subject you all to that, but confessions are not always pretty.

Let's move on, shall we, if you can peel your eyes from the train wreck above. Fast forward to college and I was not so awkward. No pictures to prove it, but I was slim, trim and had a pair of knee high suede boots. Can we say trendy? Or slutty....you choose. Marvelous fun, but short-lived. Thirty-eight years of marriage, four pregnancies, three children, five grands, and lots and lots of weight - life happens. I was a former boot wearer, those sexy, black, knee high boots - or any boots for that matter - a faint, faded memory. But then my life changed and hiking came into my life.

"We've got a hill to climb. But we've got some good climbing boots, so we'll be okay." ~ Herman Edwards

There was a news report yesterday that researchers have found hiking makes you smarter. I hope that is true! But since I have started hiking, at least Ed and I were smart enough to realize that if we were going to do the type of trails we tramped around on last weekend, we needed more than running shoes. Meet my latest love:

Like my men, I like my hiking boots strong, dark and handsome, as well sturdy, supportive and durable with a sole that is in for the long haul, but yet will give me plenty of room to move around in.

But these are not my only recent loves. I am a multi-booter. I can't be faithful and commit to just one pair of boots. For example, I found these at Goodwill a few weeks ago.

And I pulled these out of the closet where they had been hidden away for the past five years. They actually fit and I didn't have to wear them completely slouched down AND I can wear jeggings tucked into the INSIDE of the boot. Joy of joys!

So if you have two black pairs of boots, what is missing? BROWN boots. After searching relentlessly for about two weeks last month, I came across these:
And if brown suede boots alone were not enough, take note of that cute strap and side bow. Bliss, pure bliss.

"My optimism wears heavy boots and is loud." ~ Henry Rollins

Remember the knee high boots in college I told you about? Reclaimed youth calls and sometimes it is hard to ignore. I wanted boots, knee high boots. But slutty with heels is not in the cards. Hard to do these days - knee high boots without spike heels. So, the question is how to feel like a million bucks without looking 58 trying to be 21? Maybe 35, but never 21. Please keep in mind that for our generation, 60 is the new 40. That's my excuse and I am standing by it. Here's my solution

RIDING BOOTS!

They wait for me, unworn, in my closet, poised for the perfect weather and event. I can't wait. In an earlier blog entry, I warned everyone that I was looking for a black dress with leggings and black boots. I have the black dress, the leggings and the boots. Watch out! Coming soon! Consider yourselves forewarned!

Now I have confessed my boot obsession. Do I have enough boots? Probably. Do I want more? Duh.... Are there more boots in my future? If the opportunity presents itself, definitely! Because my philosophy falls along these lines:

"One must always have one's boots on and be ready to go." ~ Michel de Montaigne

Tomorrow is Saturday. It's going to be a beautiful fall weekend. You can bet your boots that I will have mine on!

P.S. I have heard that stirrup pants are coming back into vogue. I promise that if they do and I succumb to that fashion mis-statement, I will have the good sense to wear the stirrup on the INSIDE. I may be a slow learner, but I try not to make the same mistake twice. Happy weekend!