The case of the missing shoe...

It's Wednesday morning and it's not raining...(YIPEEE!!!) Sam and I hurry to get ready to go for a walk in the park before there's any time for the weather to change. I throw on Sam's new pair of jeans...which are WAY too big...and roll them up a couple of times so he doesn't trip. I grab his shoes and wiggle them on his feet. Then he's off getting into cupboards and turning on and off the tv while I get dressed. After I'm ready, I cram my bag full of goldfish crackers, raisins, and a sippy cup while we meet up with Leisy and Zeb in the hall. Outside, I strap Sam in his carseat, turn up our Halloween Sesame Street CD to full blast and we're off!

Pulling up at the park, I pop my trunk and quickly get the stroller set up. Sam is anxious to get out of his carseat and help with his new favorite job of pushing the stroller. He pushes around and around in circles while I get everything locked up. I pick up my boy to buckle him in the stroller when I notice that his left shoe is missing! His left sock is completely dirty and wet. Hmmm....I look around the car, no shoe. I look in the car, no shoe. Under the seats in the car, no shoe. Under the car, no shoe. On the grass, no shoe. In the stroller, around the parking lot, no shoe. Leisy helps in the search, nothing. We conclude that Sam's missing shoe must be somewhere at home.

After getting some much needed fresh air at the park, I pull up at home fully expecting to see Sam's left shoe in the parking lot or on the grass, but no. As we walk into our building my eyes are scanning every possible nook and cranny for that darn shoe. Nothing. Leisy watches Sam while I go back outside and comb through the grass and parking lot one more time. Still nothing. This is when Sam and I got to work. First, we inspected the garbage can and dirty clothes basket, where Sam has been known to put things before. After coming up empty there, we moved on to checking under beds and couches, to searching through drawers and cupboards, to checking the bath tub and both toilets. Still no sign of Sam's shoe!! We check with the apartment office...no one has turned in a missing shoe. So, Sam and I pile back into the car, turn on our Halloween cd and head to Swan Creek for another look.

While there we randomly meet up with a couple from our ward and enlist their help...STILL nothing! By this point I am just frustrated! A shoe DOES NOT just disappear!

Eric arrives home well after dark and I explain to him the situation and our search. We then decide to take the search efforts one step further by grabbing a flashlight and heading for the car. We again head toward the park, carefully searching the streets for Sam's shoe. I mean you never know, Sam could have easily undone the velcro strap on his shoe, rolled down the window in the back seat, and thrown his shoe outside without me noticing. Anyway, we AGAIN come up empty handed.

Now this may seem like a lot of effort for a measly shoe, but when in med school money does not grow on trees and the thought of having to buy Sam another pair of shoes just made me sick. The mystery of this darn shoe bothers me all night.

It's now Thursday morning. I rummage through Sam's bottom drawer pulling out shoes that fit him during the summer. I try to squeeze his feet into the now too tiny pairs of shoes. No good. He can barely walk in them. I finally find one pair that I think will be bearable and push them onto his feet. We head to the park for walking group.

Upon arriving there, we go through the same routine. Sam pushes the stroller around and around while I get the car locked up. I pick him up to get him buckled into his stroller and his left shoe falls off.

"That's weird," Leisy says. "Isn't that the same foot that his shoe came off of yesterday?"

"Yeah," I laugh, while thinking about the money I was going to have to spend today purchasing another pair of shoes that Sam is going to grow out of before I know it.

Everyone gets their kids strapped in and we're ready to walk when Leisy yells, "Here it is!" In plain sight, on the grass, not even 10 feet from where we had looked yesterday sat Sam's little, missing, and now terribly wet, left shoe. What in the world?? It was a miracle!!

After 20 minutes in the dryer Sam's shoe is as good as new...just goes to show you...you can never give up!