Thanks and wow

I have to take a minute to thank my wife for not being a bitch last week when I went on my epic beer run.  While I don't have a beer drinking problem (though I'm working on it), I have a beer buying problem.  And it's not a little problem, I have big issues.  Some people collect baseball cards, others collect stamps, I collect  bottles full of yummy beer, then when I'm done, I collect the empty bottles (but only one bottle for each kind).

Last year she got on my case a little bit in February.  In the previous December, I'd gone to the same Louisville (yes, I sometimes have to travel to satisfy my addiction) beer place as I went this past week.  I again filled up the trunk and came home with a haul.  I still had plenty of new stuff left in February, but two new seasonals came out and I had to buy those.  Jennifer at the time struggled to understand my constant need to have copious amounts of beer available, but I explained that I have issues and she never mentioned it again.

Things are different this year.  I'm no longer rich, but still buying beer like I am.  My beer haul this year will likely go into the record books.  I spent more than the gross national product of some third world countries and now have both empty bottles filling up two rooms, as well as cases of full bottles.  It's a beer paradise for me...for her, not so much.  But the only time she chimes in is when I need to move my stash from one room to another.  So, thank you.

And now for the wow.  Yesterday, I went to Shoe Carnivore to take advantage of their last cheap weekend of the year.  I'd asked Jennifer a while back to ask her shoe people to let me know the best running shoes out there.  Not the best-selling, but the best.  They said something Asics sells that has gel in the sole, so yesterday I went to find the suggested shoes.

When I finally found a color of shoe I could stomach (Asics has without question, the ugliest shoes on the market), I checked the price on the box.  After throwing up a little in my mouth when I saw that the box price of $119.99 (WTF...for a pair of shoes?), I noticed it had been knocked down to a still staggering $99.98.  Even with the huge discount Jennifer gets, it was still more than I was willing to pay for a pair of shoes, but I thought I'd try them on just to see what all the hype was about.  OMG.

I can't put into words what it felt like to wear the shoes.  I have several pairs of adidas that feel like you're walking on a cloud.  But these shoes went beyond that.  I figured if the government can spend more than it brings in, so can I and I bought the over-priced shoes.

This morning, I put them through their first test on the dreadmill, and again, I'm struggling with putting into words how good these shoes felt on my feet.  It felt like I was in a pool treading water.  There was no constant pounding, I could barely feel a thing.  It was amazing.  Wow.