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Theresa Blackburn

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Winter is here, whether we like to admit it or not. In spite of this glaring fact, I'm still seeing students and staff at my college darting in and out of their cars, trying to tiptoe through the slush in little shoes or canvas sneakers.

I myself have been known to do the 'whoa' wobble, slipping and sliding when I dress my feet for fall, laughing (and sometimes falling) in the face of winter.

You see, I own boots, but they're big, chunky Ski-Doo-type things that look like I'm ready for an Antarctic expedition, not work. They're not only heavy, but ugly things, and I really don't like wearing them. So when the snow comes, I try to get by with shoes and sneakers as long as I can.

But not this year. This year is different ... this year my calves don't resemble sides of beef and this year I will (God willing) fit properly into a pair of high, winter dress boots. You have no idea how excited I am.

I haven't been able to squeeze these porkers into a pair of calve-covering dress boots since college. It has been more than 20 years since I pulled anything other than nylons up, over and past my ankles.

I have two lovely long coats, both given to me by two lovely women - one who sadly outgrew the coat, the other whose husband was tired of seeing the coat.

One has a beautiful fur collar around a warm hood and is a lovely shade of purple. The other is a beautiful and dressy red coat with a beautiful embroidered Victorian cape. Both are begging to be worn with tall, dressy boots - and this year, those coats can have their wishes.

Finding boots that fit when you're overweight is hard. Sure they make wide feet sizes, but too few places carry wide calve sizes. I still remember getting dressed up for a few fancy New Year's Eve parties, or a few special outings like the CBC Christmas Carol being slightly embarrassed to be in a beautiful dress, a lovely and stylish dress coat and then these short, fat Ski-Doo-type boots, my wide and barely-covered calves out there for all the world to witness in the freezing cold.

Once, a former boss witnessed me donning my Ski-Doo boots with my dress coat. Her comment, "Goodness, Theresa! Get a pair of dress boots. That looks awful."

I was instantly embarrassed. I didn't have the courage to tell her I couldn't find a pair that fit my legs. That was when I was still in the 'denial' stage - not so much with myself, but with everybody else. There'd be no way I'd tell someone I couldn't find boots that would zip up over my fat appendages. Something like that would have never escaped my lips. I probably answered her comment with something like, "I haven't found any I liked," making it sound like I was picky, even when I would have bought a pair that was green camouflage with hot-pink soles at the time. Any boot that covered my lower legs when I wore a dress would have sufficed.

Last year I discovered you could buy wide-calve boots - in the states, via mail order. Then it became an issue of money - these boots are expensive... and so is the shipping.

So I went another season without dress boots - another season I only donned a dress when it was absolutely necessary.

But this year will be different. With my weight loss and with my exercise regime, I will get into some new boots - boots that look good, boots that cover, boots that keep me warm. I will laugh in the face of winter by wearing nylons at least once a week - by wearing skirts and dresses - and then covering my legs with a nice pair of tall dress boots - low on heel, but high on calve-coverage.

If my calves could talk, they'd probably give winter a good tongue-lashing.

"Take that, Old Man Winter! You're not going to try and give us frostbite this season! We're on to you now. We've cut down our size, we've outsourced the excess insulation, we're covering up and we're stepping out and there's nothing you can do to stop us!"

Boy, does this feel good ...

Theresa Blackburn is a wife, mother and New Brunswick Community College instructor who lives and diets in Woodstock. You can e-mail her at theresa@mybigfatlife.ca, or join her group, Big Fat Life, on Facebook.