socks

In the past two weeks, I've reached a point that I never thought I would reach in my life: the point where I can't put on my own socks. I simply can't reach my feet and stay in position long enough--sitting or standing--where I can pull my socks on. Besides that, so many of them won't even fit any more (swollen feet). So Al's obtained a new job, one he's apparently been talking about at work. Because he came home one night last week with an interesting contraption that, for some reason, completely embarrassed me.

I was blogging (big surprise) when Al came home that night. He walked into the office and said, "So I was telling Ken that you can't put your socks on, and he brought this in for you." Ken (Al's boss) had hip surgery a few months ago and couldn't bend over to put his socks on. So he bought this contraption designed to help people put their socks on. It's like a cross-section of a huge PVC pipe attached to a jump rope. Al proceeded to demonstrate the contraption: you put your sock on the end of the pipe, grab the jump rope, put your foot into the pipe and pull toward you. It pulls your sock right on your foot and looks effortless.

I have to say it "looks" effortless because I haven't tried it. I haven't had a sock emergency when Al hasn't been home yet, being satisfied to wear my slippers alone (remember, shoes don't fit either) when I need to go somewhere. And for some reason, I am so oddly embarrassed that (a) Al would talk/joke/whatever about it at work (which really isn't a big deal; he'd do it in front of me and I would laugh, too!) and that (b) Ken would be so thoughtful to send this home in an effort to help me, when really I'd just rather have Al put them on for me. Maybe it's wondering what Al said about my feet to make it seem like such a horrible, disgusting job that Ken would go to the trouble to loan me the sock contraption. :)

So another thing I'm looking forward to after giving birth? Putting on my own socks--without a strange contraption!