It's the little things

I am thankful for good friends. I am thankful for technology. I am thankful for the combination of these two things.

Right before we boarded the rotator for our PCS (permanent change of station) move to Turkey last summer, we stayed with our great friends John and Becky for a few nights.

One of the things Becky took me to do was buy a new pair of running shoes. There was a really cool store by her in DC that watched how you ran and then told you what shoes you needed to buy to match your gait. Since I was struggling with two stress fractures leftover from the sprint triathalon I did with my best bud Kristi, I was in need of some new shoes in a bad way.

I bought the shoes. I took some time off and then started running again. And my feet got better. Yay for good (and expensive!) shoes.

Fast forward to Spain. This may seem like a strange connection but do stay with me. I brought my shoes to Spain. And I left my shoes at a hotel in Spain. My wonderful, awesome (and expensive!) shoes.

Sadness.

Not to fear. I had written down what kind of shoes they were. Mizuno X10. I wrote down the size too. Then I get on the website to order them only to discover that there were many different types of Mizuno X10. Egads! I tried to find the kind I had. I couldn't.

More sadness.

I waited. I thought. I fretted. My feet started feeling worse and worse as I ended my pregnancy and recovery and started trying to run again.

So I emailed good ol' Becky who now lives in Tucson. She called the store for me! (Did she know how much I hate talking on the phone? Especially to strangers. And how much I hate navigating the time change to make the call?)

Becky wrote me back with fantastic news. They had me in the system! They had recorded my purchase! And they had a website. And they shipped to APO addresses (always a concern.) And I could order the shoes online. And I did. And they are on the way.

Okay so it may take weeks or months to get them. But I don't care. Yay for good friends. Yay for computers that record your information. And the Internet to mail things. And the post office to send the things.

We take for granted the extras that weren't available just twenty years ago. I'm glad I'm growing up when I am.