I intended to wear them in Dallas, but when I tried them on, I discovered a broken heel. Disappointment, but all was not lost. I bought a replacement pair for that night in Dallas, and resolved to be more careful in the future.

Once back in Seattle, I took the shoes to my favorite repair person. Since I was picking up another pair at the time, and on my way to an Emerald City meeting, I went in as Debra. He understood the problem right away, but was not optimistic about matching the heel block or the fabric. I told him to do the best he could, even if it meant changing both heels.

A week later, I stopped by. He was apologetic, but he had not been able to get an exact match. Instead, he had replaced both suede heels with leather covered heels of a slightly different shape. They looked great to me, so I took them home. (As a side story, I went during work, in drab, but wrote a check on Debra's account. He never batted an eye, but he did mention that he was absolutely certain I would never bounce a check on that account. Boy, was he right!)

I finally got a chance to wear the shoes last week. The outfit started out with a beaded top which I found on sale at a local store. I added a black, pleated skirt and the lovely pumps. They looked great with this outfit. Then I discovered another plus. The shoe repair person had used three inch high heels, adding just a little more to the vamp. It was delightful.

My friend Karen, and I went to a local dance club where they teach swing dance. For an hour, I enjoyed the unusual experience of learning the dances my parents did from teachers the age of my children. I also got to dance with about twenty different men, all straight, and all trying to deal with me. They all did remarkably well. (Well, one of them did have a problem when the step we were learning required holding me quite close, and standing hip to hip while we did a version of a bump and grind. I'm sure I had more fun at this than he did!)

Afterwards, things changed a bit. Since there are a lot more girls than guys at this thing, my chances of competing with all those lovely, young, gg's are pretty slim. But--I do know how to swing dance as a lead. So, I picked out a girl who obviously knew how to follow, and I asked her for a dance. She was surprised but willing (after a bit of encouragement from her friends). After a couple of turns around the floor, it was apparent we knew what we were doing. After that, I had lots of people to dance with, and even two women who wanted to lead.

One guy who was also pretty good told Karen that he had learned to swing dance from his mother. When we spoke later, he asked me where I had learned to dance so well. I told him "from my mother" as well. He laughed and took me out on the floor for a few minutes.

So, if you want to have a lot of fun some night--buy a pretty pair of heels, put on a skirt which flairs, find a dance club which gives lessons, and have a fling. Oh, yes! You don't have to do this in three cities, but it does get you out a bit more!