It's hard to believe, but this was the second week in a row that I've attended a church service. No, I don't expect to become a weekly participant in services. Instead, I intend to use this opportunity to become part of a larger community as Marian.
Some would say that getting out and about as Marian took a lot courage to overcome my fears of being seen as a "Man in a Dress". To me, it's more of my need to present as my authentic self overcoming the resistance that prevented me from being authentic. Yet, I sometimes feel as if I'm an impostor. But with more and more time spent out in the world as Marian, with more and more time perfecting my feminine presentation, the more natural and comfortable I am when presenting as Marian.
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After church, I might have gone to a local diner for breakfast. Since I've been running lower than usual on folding money, I decided to go home to have something to eat. For the first time in a while, I cooked something on my stove top - a couple of eggs with some corned beef hash. This time, I made sure that the hash lost enough moisture that it had a little bit of a char - yum! And then I took it easy for a while.
Later on, as I was preparing an update to this website to add a page where people could download some voice samples I've recorded over the years, I got messaged by one Trans woman I wouldn't mind meeting again. We chatted for well over an hour, and this took away time that I had planned spending on searches for voice recordings. However, before I was to leave for my 5:00 Meetup, I was able to get showered, dressed,and out the door as Marian to be early for a Fun Time Friends meetup in Ridgefield, CT.
We had a room to ourselves at the restaurant we were meeting at, and yet, not enough seats at the table. Luckily, enough people were no-shoes, and we had enough stools for us to sit on and enjoy a non-pretentious BBQ dinner. Yum! The conversations were good, and I'd gladly go back to the restaurant again - but this time, at a normal table.
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Just before dinner ended, I got a call from Maria. She was totally discombobulated - her daughter is having trouble with her life, her husband is finally home from the hospital, and her computer's hard drive had crashed, leaving her without important photos and documents she had neglected to backup over the past couple of years. So I walked her through things, telling her what to do, and giving her a game plan of how to deal with the loss of her computer.
When I was done with Maria's call, I was too tired to bother to shop for supplies that my cleaning lady needed. So I called GFJ to chat on the way home. We agreed to meet at 6:15 at a Hudson Valley Restaurant Week establishment for dinner. It'll be nice to have a nice meal with her before she goes away to Florida for a vacation.
