Today I spent $189 on running shoes...

...and all I got was this lousy sense of smug satisfaction.

$189 isn't even that ridiculous. Sure, it's pricey. Maybe a little over budget. One might even say a tad irresponsible.

But I've been focused and healthy for the last few weeks, and I deserve it.

I grew up poor. If I needed a pair of shoes, they came from someone else or from The Salvation Army. I always had food and I always had a roof over my head. But after we were done paying for those, there was room for little else.

Okay, maybe there was room for a super-sweet lion bathing suit:

Incredible bathing gear aside -- despite my incessant complaining -- I truly appreciate what I now have.

I'll always be that shy, awkward little girl from the rougher end of town, in a lion-clad bathing suit cooling off in a plastic wading pool.

Now, I just have nicer shoes.

Look ma, no velcro.