dude. i will *never* again mock grandma shoes.

i went to valley fair today in search of comfort shoes for spain since i know we'll be walking around a lot and i already have a bum knee. i already knew i'd probably have to give up some (all?) style for comfort, but i was still in the hunt for something not so... old looking. so i went to clark's, and although they do have cute shoes, i couldn't find anything that wasn't super-ugly but comfortable. so i next hit easy spirit - funny, i didn't see a single shoe in the store that was easy spirit brand. also, i discovered that easy spirit now sells athena alexander shoes! (for anyone who was looking for that brand but discovered that nordstrom only sells really gaudy ones with rhinestones and buckles now, like me). anyway i tried on everything in the store, and either they didn't fit right or just didn't feel comfortable to me. off to the side was this small section of what i deem "old people" or "grandma" shoes that i totally avoided because, well, they're ugly. but just for fun, after i had torn the entire store inside out and managed to mess up every display, i slipped on a pair. and OMG. they are like... butter on my feet! i couldn't believe it. now THAT'S how EVERY pair of shoes should feel like! i couldn't get over myself. they were super ugly, but so, so comfortable. they wouldn't leave my feet. so, to compromise, i bought a slightly less ugly pair that was practically just as comfortable. you can now call me grandma, but i don't care because my feet feel GOOD!

so, moral of the story is, don't make fun of grandmas. there's a reason why we consider older people wise.

also, update on the situtation below, i complained to my HR, who in turn talked to the insurance company for me (since they are in contact with more managerial people there), and managed to get them to pay my anesthesologist another $282. So now i only owe $67! Praise the Lord. Even though I still think I shouldn't have to pay anything, $67 is a lot better than $350. Still waiting on the appeal for more PT sessions, although i found out another coworker is getting PT at the exact same clinic as me and has petitioned for more sessions as well. i think he petitioned earlier than me so we'll see how his turned out. hopefully i have some argument since i had a second surgery. we'll see. otherwise, i can definitely feel my muscles like my quads getting stronger, but the pain in my knee has not improved at ALL. at this rate, i'm going to use up my 20 sessions of PT next year come January! maybe i'll get an extension to my handicap placard though. ;)