They are a pair of Steve Madden patent leather pumps. The husband and I are going to a wedding on Saturday, and I needed a pair of shoes to go with my dress. (The toe shoes just aren't going to cut it.) I have a pair of strappy patent leather sandals, but it's October in Montana, people, not July in Savannah. It could very well snow. And yes, I am planning to wear pantyhose, too. I think wearing dressy shoes without pantyhose looks goofy, especially at my age. I am very picky about my shoes. I refuse to wear shoes that aren't real leather. I hate anything that says "man made materials" on it. Real leather does not make my feet sweat. These shoes have 100% genuine patent leather uppers. I am not one of those women who swoons at the sight of a pair of shoes. My shoes are all very serviceable and designed not to result in me requiring hip replacements in 20 years. Besides, it would be hard to feed the chickens wearing these. I do, however, like to dress up occasionally and when I do, I really like black patent leather. This must be because my parents made us wear black patent leather Mary Janes to church every Sunday when we were growing up (white ones during the summer). These shoes come very close to making me swoon. I tried these on as soon as they arrived. They're as comfortable as 3" heels can be and they will look splendid with my dress. The husband's first question was, "Aren't those going to throw your hips out of alignment?" (He knows me so well.) They might if I were planning to wear them 24/7, but I will only have them on for a few hours. I think I can manage. As my mother always says, "If you want to be fashionable, you have to suffer." My hips can take it. ************************************* It is very cold today. I spent some time yesterday putting away my summer clothes and getting out my winter stuff. The worst part about the colder weather is that my hands and feet have a tendency to get numb and tingly, a not-so-welcome leftover side effect from chemotherapy. The technical term is "neuropathy," and if I don't stay ahead of it with my hands, it makes typing a bit problematic. I am okay as long as I drink cups of hot tea during the day and dress warmly. The husband went through a period of time where he kept turning the thermostat down without me knowing (he would turn it down to 60 and then leave for work), and then I really have issues. I keep the thermostat at 67 and usually have on a turtleneck and a sweater. I may try some fingerless gloves this winter. The neuropathy also means I can't touch cold stuff without my hands immediately beginning to hurt. I was reorganizing the freezers this morning and finally had to put on a pair of gloves to move things around. We did another 14 jars of salsa last night. Now I'd like to cut up the pumpkins and make some pumpkin soup. And I got the first batch of sauerkraut into the crocks to ferment.