Happy Monday!

It was a nice weekend for us.  Friday, I told the Mr that I know it wasn't our usual hot chocolate night but I wanted a special mug of the fancy stuff to send out our tree.  I knew that would be the last snowfall before we took it down and I wanted to give it a proper chocolatey send off.  We turned off all of the lights except for the tree and little ceramic tree.  I made hot cocoa (truffle for me and his special Lake Champlain Guatemalan Chocolate I got him for Christmas) and we sipped watching the snow fall.  He said it tasted and felt just like Vermont.  Score.  We reminisced about our pup and the silly things she used to do.  Then he surprised me and brought up some 8mm tape transfer DVD's of our first Christmas and so many wonderful memories with our girl.  He also brought up my grandpa's last Christmas which was bittersweet as he and his mom and dad were in it.  At that point, he'd been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and we all knew it would be his last but he was thankfully early in the diagnosis so he still looked healthy.  We would lose his parents two years later within a week of each other after 70 years together.  After the present opening, the Mr filmed me and my two cousins having a snowball fight.  It was so funny to watch and listen to and brought smiles to our faces.  That was my favorite night of the year so far.

Saturday we woke up to a goodly amount of snow but it was quite cold which I can take but it was gusts up to 40mph which would've been not so fun to navigate.  We went out to lunch and went shopping afterward.  I found a place that had a holiday sale that carried this North Pole Post mailbox I've been eyeing for two years.  I was able to get it for $19 so I couldn't pass it up. 

I also found this little box that I can't wait to fill with greens!

We swung by a few other stores and after having felt better than I've felt in months for the previous three days, I could feel my foot starting to flare big time.  I finally figured out the root of my worst pain...those effing Brooks shoes that I've dropped over $300 on in the past year.  When I had my Saucony's, I was fine and the only time I used Brooks were to workout so I had a wider toe box to work with.  When a stick stabbed through my shoe in Martha's Vineyard and I knew I had to replace them, I did so with a Spenco insole which I used for years.  The problem is, the arch support was now rubbing the bottom of my arch in the plantar fascia making it sore and so I thought the Saucony's were the problem.  When I got the Brooks, I got Spenco insoles for those in lieu of their insoles since the chiro said those are the only shoes I should have (even the podiatrist said so 5 years ago).  But that's when the problem just built on itself.  So by the end of the day, all of the forward progress I made was out the window.

That meant Sunday was spent going to the shoe store and trying on other shoes with wider toe boxes.  We wondered if maybe the Brooks would be okay if I got the women's model (which only comes in barf colors) over the men's (which had more colors and less Rainbow Brite looking).  Well, one walk around in those and it hit in the same spot.  So Brooks are out...period.  Really sucks because I love the ones I just bought 3 months ago that are one week out of their return period.  *bangs head against wall*  I walked in the New Balance and I've never cared for those but they hit on the same spot.  What were the last ones he brought out?  Saucony's.  Of course, they fit the best and the arch support hit right where *I* need it to and I felt so much more comfortable wearing those.  Not like their color selection is much better but I picked some  (affiliate link) that didn't make me recoil in horror in wides.  I don't know what it is but it's like all running shoe companies treat people with wide feet like the bastard child that should be lucky we even get a shoe.  We'll see how I like them once they come in and I'll have 90 days to test drive them.  But it's a good thing my butt muscles are built up so hopefully, the ankle pain will go away quicker.

We got snow overnight so we're going to try shoeing today.  I know the ankle isn't in the best shape to be doing that but I get so few chances to do it that you've gotta do what you've gotta do, yo.

Happy MLK Day.  If you have 30 minutes, please make sure you watch this amazing movie that they show at the National Civil Rights Museum.  It is truly heartbreaking, inspirational and gives the full story of what happened that day.  It's on YouTube so it's free for now.

What did you guys do this weekend?

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