Overrun by Sneakers

advanced apology: over transitioned

My husband complains about all of my sneakers taking up room in the closet.

We have an apartment right now which makes our things "that used to fit in the apartment we lived in before we left that were stored in my parents basement combined with the things that we acquired for 2 years while living in a 3 bedroom townhouse in Turkey" seem like we once lived in a mansion before coming here.

We never lived in a mansion. And our things would let the rest of the mansion echo if we moved our stuff there. But our closets are filled with camping stuff and snowboarding stuff and electronics stuff and Christmas stuff...

Things other than clothes and shoes.

So our shoes, almost everybody's shoes, are in the front entry way coat closet. The bunch includes 4 pair of New Balance sneakers (all free of charge to me thanks to my awesome shoe-acquiring b-i-l).

This is precisely the complaint I often hear, "Do you NEED that many pairs of sneakers?"

And the answer is always yes.

Yes...

I need one for when I forget to wear the right socks at the gym and they get blood on the heel.

I need one for when I am out with the boys and need to leave the mud-filled pair out on the mat for the rain to wipe them clean (thanks rain).

I need one for nights out with the ladies at this place (the clean ones).

And I need one for just going to mom's house.

But maybe I should replace these 4 for 2 of these and hear less complaining:

1. Five fingers - the running would not end with blood so I wouldn't need anything else.

2. A nice pair of rugged yet sassy waterproof, black boots (I don't shop - can anyone tell me if these exist? Maybe the Croc people can work something up.) - I could wear these to 3 of the other places.

However, if I am working on femininity, isn't it all about having numerous shoes? Shouldn't I then replace the 2 other sneaks with cute open-toed heels or a nice pair of versatile sling backs and a nice pair of boots (Uggs is it?) and some galoshes? And possibly hold on to one set of sneaks for that leisurely run when I want to tone my buns?

I am not sure how to go about this. What I am sure of, is that the shoe complaining must come with the wedding ring and I really like all the attention.