Not hard at all.

I thought about that for the character shoes, but the soles they have are part of the comfort. And if they're fragile, I'm not going into the ownership process knowing I'm going to have to get soft soles put on regularly -- I expect a pair of shoes to need resoling no more often than every three or four years. And even then...

I've had several pairs of shoes resoled. Wasn't a big deal.

Aerosoles feel good at first, but one of the most uncomfortable pair of shoes I've ever owned was Aerosoles. I may have gotten the wrong size, but the footbed was too small all the way around so the edge of it dug into my foot, while at the same time my foot slid around in the shoe, causing blisters.

I seem to be looking at Fluevog, Magdesians, Rockport, and Ros Hommerson.

The ones I got from Zappo's are both comfortable and pretty.

Good to know.

I don't think that character shoe soles would hold up too well for everyday wear

Also good to know.

I took a mental health day today. I highly recommend it.

happy birthday Aimee!

Such a little house, yet so much can go wrong on any given day.

Nora has just summed up home ownership in a single sentence.

I think it's been at least 10 years since I bought dress shoes. I haven't worn a dress or skirt since 1998, when I started my own business. One of the many reasons I wanted to leave corporate America was that the shoes hurt my feet.

I have a new Debet Original tiara with the Leo glyph on it.

I'm glad it got there in a timely manner!

wrt Character shoes: Have you looked into any sort of non-skid-type things you could put on the bottom that might help with reducing the wearing?

any sort of non-skid-type things you could put on the bottom

I did not know that these existed -- do you have more details so I could froogle?

Mmmm, Jars, good idea.

Happy Birthday, Aimee!

Susan:

At least so far I'm not even trying to peg my characters' regional British accents. I try to avoid Americanisms and anachronisms, and I do subtle vocabulary shifts to show education levels and some regional variation, but that's it.

That's an excellent choice. I throw away or possibly across the room, in great disgust, books that annoy me by shallow, stupid attempts at dialects that I have a passing familiarity with. Books with too many modern or American idioms will get talked to, out loud - i.e. "Oh, come ON, she so did NOT say that!". Those are more tolerable, and won't get thrown unless the rest of the writing is poor as well.

I throw away or possibly across the room, in great disgust, books that annoy me by shallow, stupid attempts at dialects that I have a passing familiarity with. Books with too many modern or American idioms will get talked to, out loud

Doesn't that leave a messy middle ground where eschewing dialect means you are putting American idiom into the characters' mouths? Or do you prefer the writers to avoid writing characters for whom they can't nail the dialect?

I want cake NOW.

I say this at least three times a day. Every day.

I think it's been at least 10 years since I bought dress shoes.

The last two pairs of dress shoes I bought were purchased at Target. I figure if I never wear them, aside from the occasional wedding, why spend good money on them?

I am such a flip-flop girl.