My ankles and feet hurt horribly until I switched completely to sneakers with added heel and arch pads. They still hurt occasionally, but I can at least stand up from a chair and walk immediately.

The shoes I have are the best I have ever found (New Ballance 628s outside and Crocs Bistro for inside shoes at work, and Birkenstock sandals at home) as witness significantly less pain in my actual arches on both feet. I could try rolling my foot over a can or somthing to massage it. That's a good idea, aurelia.

I can definitely say that my foot fit and support needs are some of the reasons I very much appreciate the old-fashioned shoe store here in our little town. All the salespeople are very knowledgeable about shoes and feet, and they have a guy on premises who custom-makes orthotics. Orthotics guy has sometimes added support and cushioning to my insoles when I needed just a bit of a tweak. They really all take a lot of time over making sure that I get the support and comfort that I need to be able to do my job and live my life.

We lost our shoe store that focused on supportive shoes recently. Still plenty of store fronts with 6" heels and the like. But most people I know (who, granted, lean toward the middle-aged, f— your patriarchal beauty standards, end of the spectrum) would much rather get to try on new Danskos and Reickers.

Good shoe stores make a big difference. My heals everything BIL told me to soak my achy bits with coconut oil and I did so while rolling my eyes. The arthritis in my fingers was such that I couldn't bend my index fingers at all so I was willing to try anything. Damned if it didn't work! I soaked a piece of gauze and wrapped the knuckles with sports tape and all bendy now. He said it would work for my ouchy knee too, but it takes longer because it has further to soak into the joint.

Well, after rolling my foot over a ball for a couple minutes, I put on a neoprene brace thingy. No foot cramps. However I did have a muscle cramp in the calf of the other leg. How badly out of balance are my electrolyes?!?

ETA: Coconut oil, hmm. I know that my skin generally likes it, so even if it doesn't touch the ankle pain, it would make my feet happier.

Why am I sitting silently in a 9AM conference call with 4 other people, waiting for someone else to join, when I could be working with Crazy Ex-Girlfriend in the background?

Some sort of curse?

I just got a call that was like, We might have to cancel your doctor's appointment tomorrow, but maybe not? Call us back. Which I did, which was dumb, because I can definitely do the appointment if they will be there, since it is right by my house. So now I'm waiting until their afternoon meeting when they will make the call.

You guys, this is hilarious: one of my FB friends is a nun, about 4 years older than me. (She was also a Marine and is currently a journalist who rescues/fosters feral kittens in her spare time. Nuns roll deep.) She posted that her newest foster kitten is a total snugglebug, EXCEPT that he gets freaked out if she has a hoodie on with the hood up -- she called that her "Nun thug" look. The comments have run wild with what she should have printed on her hoodie. So far the winner is "Notorious N.U.N."