Monday

Another photo from our family foray
 in to the flowering gardens
at the UF/IFAS Extension in Orlando.

Today is the kind of day that I don't feel like writing, but it's kind of like working out, I don't have a choice not to do it (at least that's how I speak to myself in my head).  It was a long day of moving at work and although my image is a looking toward the sky, my topic is a little more earthbound aka my shoes. A little mundane, but for most teachers, our feet take a beating. As I sit here with my legs elevated and my ankle on ice with a round of heat next. I can't stop thinking about my feet and my favorite shoes!  Here are my top three for work and my special sock recommendation *thank you Erin Dorso for that).  No- I don't get kickbacks, just comfort!

1. Dansko-  I love the backless clogs and like to wear them in "winter" months with socks.  I know as a brand they are pricey, but I kept seeing how other professionals who are constantly on their feet moving (surgeons and chefs) wore them. As a shoe investment, I love that you can bring them to a cobbler and get them re-heeled or re-inner soled.  Their lastiness frankly outlives my desire to wear them, but they are so comfortable on my twelve hour days. The brand has added more attractive shoes as my daughter would say, but the sturdy clogs are my favorite.  There is an artist who paints them and I have been thinking about asking my husband to paint one of my pairs. 

2. Adidas Cumulus or Nimbus running shoes, both of which are apropos with my cloud image.  I supinate like crazy which means my foot rolls outward when I walk or run.  I rotate between two pairs at a time, mostly for working out.  I do, however, put them on for work days like today when I know that my work mileage will exceed my normal daily  mileage due to testing.  Did I tell you our campus is 35 acres?  Did I mention we testing around 1900 students today for our two hour state writing test and it was all on the computer?  Non-stop troubleshooting and movement.  Fortunately I had a hot new pair of Nimbus to wear and that made the day more fun and foot-tolerable. 

3.  My newest addition, FitFlops.  If I had written this post last March, it would have stopped a two.  But last May I discovered the comfort of the FitFlop.  Again a little pricey, but three of my five pairs were gifts from a really good friend. They are perfect for Florida weather where it rains almost every day in the summer. Some of these styles are jazzed up and appropriate it for work.  I already have some converts too.

4.  My go-to socks- Balega's.  They are expensive and my daughter has developed a taste for them too. I can't  begrudge her. As I ask myself, if I wore better shoes\socks in my youth, would I have the issues I have now?  I mean in my day we played basketball in Chuck Taylors!  I still love Chucks, but they hate me at this age. Balegas have a little compression and padding in all the right places plus they retain their shape over time and abuse.  

What are your go-to work shoe favs?