Hump Day!

 

Technically, as I write this, it's not summer yet.  And yet, we've already had a couple of heat spells.  I can only imagine how I'll be feeling when the dog days of summer arrive.  I know I'll be well prepared, with an over supply of summer dresses in my closet.

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Today started by me waking up 4 hours early and staying awake until noon.  I had a zoom call with my niece in London, and we caught up on things.  (As usual, I had much to say, and she listened.)  After an hour, both of us had to take care of other things, and we agreed to try for another zoom in July.

Once done with my niece, I took care of little things, then decided to cook an early dinner.  This way, I could get rid of the sausage I had in the ice box, and not have to go outside and spend money that didn't need to be spent.

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As you can see, I didn't do much today.  Yet, I needed a small break from a busy routine.  And for a change, I didn't end up browsing clothing stores' web sites today.  I own way too many dresses, and need to radically prune my closets of clothes that no longer look good on me, and no longer interest me.  This  task will be something I handle over the summer.

Unlike many M2F transgenders, I had it easy.  My wife died 30 years ago, so I wouldn't lose that much if a potential girlfriend were to leave me because of my feminine presentation.  No one has come close to living with me, save now for RQS.  And even then, we'd have to find a place that meets both our needs.  I need a place where I can park a car for days at a time.  RQS needs a place with good mass transit.  Until we find that place, we'll live in two residences and shuttle back and forth between the two.

With the above being said, I had little to stop me from buying too large a female wardrobe (especially dresses!)  Even now, I will likely be going with Vicki to the yearly Flax Barn Sale. Garments are drastically marked down to clear them from Flax's warehouse, and it's often worth the long drive to get to the sale.  Additionally, it gives me the opportunity to spend a day with my friend Vicki.

How many dresses does a woman need?  Certainly less than I have.  But I hate wearing trouser like garments, as they end up exposing the fact that I don't have a cisgender woman's hips.  If I had a typical female body, I'd likely be wearing jeans during colder weather  It would be nice for me to have the hourglass figure of a typical female, and not the rectangular figure typical for a male.  Dresses help me hide this little problem.

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There's a part of me that wants to go back to work as a female.  If I see a good weekday, part time job, I'll apply for it.  But I'll have to edit down my resume to let people know that I would willingly work in a position with lower responsibilities than I once had.  It would be nice to live part of the life I could have had if I were born with the right chromosomes.  

Someone is getting forgetful, and it's not me.

Today, RQS had to go home after a weekend at my place, and things started off relatively normally for a Monday.  Both RQS and I would get showered and dressed, and I would drive her to the train station to go home.  And our routine followed along this path until I got home.

For the next 2 days (as I write this), the one functional "Big Boy" locomotive UP#4014 would be available for viewing at the Steamtown National Historic Site.  And then, UP#4014 could be serviced by both Steamtown and Union Pacific personnel until the end of the month, when UP#4014 would make its way to Philadelphia for America's 250th anniversary.  If I had made my plan to drive to Scranton, PA immediately after dropping RQS off at the station, RQS would not be able to communicate with her family - she had left her cell phone charging in my bedroom, and the earliest I could get it to her would be Wednesday.  If I couldn't get it to her then, it would be another 11 days before she'd have her phone in her hands.  (You can imagine what it would be like if you couldn't return phone calls for 2 weeks!)  So, I decided to drive to her place before I'd be affected by rush hour traffic jams.

It was a perfect day for me to wear a summery dress with a denim jacket - the weather was warm enough for a nice dress, but cool enough to want something to keep me warm after the sun goes down.  So, I figured that I'd get to RQS's place by 3 pm, surprise her with her phone, and then have a couple of tacos with her before driving back home.  And the dress was the most comfortable thing I could wear when walking to the taco shop.

But back to RQS's place....

I used my keys to enter her building then knocked on her door.  It was the most pleasant surprise she could have gotten.  A couple of hours later, we were eating tacos, and I was ready to drive home.  And that's where the 2nd forgotten item was left in the wrong place.  She forgot to take her keys when she want to the pottery studio.  Luckily, she has a neighbor who has broken in to her apartment (with permission) in the past, so that she could get into her apartment.

I'm glad I could have been there for her today, and that her neighbor was available to help her as well.

RQS came up early this weekend (a short post)

Well, it's another weekend, and another visit from RQS.  It was hot again today, and it was the perfect day to wear a short dress.  But there was one wrinkle I had to deal with: I had to do some in-person banking as Mario.  So, I figured that I'd do what I best do: Schedule the errands I must do to take place at one time of the day, and my time as Marian for the other part of the day.

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I didn't get much sleep last night, and knew I'd need a nap later on in the day.  So, when I got up, I moved slowly for the first half of the morning, but was out to the bank for co-op business, then to another bank to do some business of my own.  I was finished with the need to present as Mario by noon, and was able to switch into Marian presentation.

Once home, I didn't rush into female mode.  Instead, I folded a basket of laundry before starting my makeup routine.  And then, I made it to the train station in time to pick RQS up.  But where was she?  What I was to find out, was that RQS was delayed due to equipment change at Grand Central.  RQS had a comfortable seat on a crowded train on one platform when the train was taken out of service.  RQS, like the rest of the passengers had to move to another train waiting on another platform that was scheduled to leave at the same time as the out of service equipment  And RQS barely made it to the train on the other platform on time.  So, RQS ended up arriving a few minutes late.

Instead of going out to eat, we went home and had a bite to eat before taking a nap.  We could have gone out again, but it was not in the cards to do so - we were in for the night, and needed some quiet time for ourselves.

I think I know why RQS and I click, while my brother and I don't....

 

OK - To help understand things, I care about my brother very much.  But he's not the tyoe of person I'd associate with if we weren't related.  He's impulsive, and doesn't like to explore ideas before taking action.  He gets stuck thinking inside the box, while I think from the outside in.  For example: I'd consider secretly giving nukes to Ukraine (only for use if Kyiv were to fall to Russian forces, or if Russia were to be the first to use nukes in their war), as well as doing the same for Taiwan (for use only if invaded by the mainland).  When I said this, my brother shifted and said - then what would happen if China then sent nukes to Iran?  Then shut off the exploration on the topic.  He may see danger, but he can't explore ideas which when explored might result in a realistic solution to a problem.  He is very fixed in his way of thinking, and I'd never trust him with knowing about my life as Marian.

Now that I have discussed my brother and his narrowness of thought, I can pleasantly turn to RQS.  She's a blessing, as I've said many times.  Well, the other day, she let something slip (probably as a joke) about an interest in females.  We were looking at a couple of VLoggers and I said that if I were 30 again, I wouldn't turn her out of bed - and she said something similar about the woman.  Maybe that's how she can accept me presenting as Marian.  Who knows?

There are many types of love, and some of them are very strange.  I may not have the passion I imagined having for a "next girlfriend" when I'm with RQS.  But I care for her very much.  She's a good fit for me, and I'm glad that I have the love appropriate for a senior citizen for her, instead of the short lived passion of youth.  Hopefully, we will have many good years together. 

 

A drive to the Kingston Trolley Museum

 

The official name for the Kingston Trolley Museum is the Trolley Museum of New York.  Sadly, if this is New York's main trolley museum, we are doing the history of the Trolley (and of Mass Transit) in New York State a disservice.  No, it's not because the staff/volunteers aren't doing their best.  Instead, it's because they have a lot of "Dead" rolling stock in their yard, all waiting for proper restoration.  And that takes money, equipment and labor - all in short supply.

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RQS and I decided to drive up to the museum, as we wanted to get out of the house and do some sight seeing in the Hudson Valley.  So, we decided to dress for the weather (both of us in comfortable dresses) and make the 90 minute drive to Kingston.  Arriving at the museum at 2 pm, the place was devoid of life, save for the one volunteer explaining to 2 visitors how a NYC Subway control panel worked, and how the system prevented two trains from colliding into each other.  We were ignored while we walked around the exhibits and then into the area where they were restoring trolley cars.  Would we have paid $8 each for the visit?  No.  There wasn't that much to see, and we were glad that no one bothered to collect an admission fee.

After the museum, we drove home, and stopped for a late lunch at Panera.  By the time we were done, neither of us expected to be hungry until later - and unbeknownst to us, that would last most of the evening.  When we arrived home, we made ourselves comfortable and decided to take a nap.  Bu the time we woke up, a thunderstorm had passed through the region, and neither of us wanted the dinner we had planned on earlier in the day. 

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Hopefully, I'll soon get RQS out to Scranton, PA, where we can visit Steamtown, and a "Real" trolley museum next door.... 

Lunch with Vicki

 

Often, Vicki and I will choose either Japanese or Greek restaurants for our periodic lunches.  Today, I had trouble confirming lunch with her, as she was already in an exercise class.  But once we confirmed our get together, I rushed to get showered and dressed to meet her at 12:30.

Today's lunch was at the local Japanese restaurant.  Given that Vicki had a minor GI-Tract issue recently, she decided to pass on the sushi we usually have and instead went for the hibachi steak.  Since I've had that dish before, I decided to try the scallops for something easier to digest.  And then, we got to discussing more serious matters such as my relationship with RQS, my former relationship with XGFJ, and my former friendship with FCP.  She talked about her family issues and where she might live if her husband were to pass away first.  (Hopefully, that won't happen for a long time.)

Once finished with lunch, I drove to Kohl's to pick up a dress I had on order.  Now that I knew the routine, I knew the process of locating my item.  One problem, my pickup location was on the main aisle, and not in the smaller aisles to the side.  This was a minor issue, and I drove home to rest for a while.

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Around 6:30, I put my dress back on, and was off to a Red Sauce joint for dinner before proceeding to Walmart to look for some undies (actually bike shorts to avoid chafing).  Unlike my last visit to Walmart, I encountered no females looking to chat.  Instead, I had to rush to the lavatory for an emergency bio-break.  AARGH!  At least, Walmart's stalls were clean and safe. I mention a bio-break, simply because I no longer worry about going to the women's room - I'm confident enough in my gender presentation to be accepted as a female in most places around where I live.

On my way home, I called RQS to catch up on the day's events.  It was a nice day out presenting as female, and I will be doing so tomorrow as I pick RQS up from the station.

I had to go home today - and I would have delayed this one day

 

My car was parked in a Monday/Thursday No Parking spot, so I had to go home.  Actually, it was because I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow afternoon, and my parking spot was a reminder that I couldn't postpone things this week.

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RQS and I spent Saturday by taking the subway into Manhattan and seeing the movie Pressure.  It's a movie about the Meteorologist who was tasked with the responsibility of  predicting the weather for D-Day in an age where computers had yet to be developed.  (I won't include the primitive computer being used at Bletchley Park to decode German Enigma messages, as this was top secret and known only to Churchill and a very small staff.)  I'm grateful that there were people like the British Meteorologist  on our side, as I would have hated to see a world where the Nazis won WW2.

After the movie, we were about to walk to Katz's deli when we saw a Chinese restaurant a block away from the subway station. I suggested going here, even though my knees would be killing me if we used the Essex street station to go home.  (It is not "accessible", and has a lot of stairs that need to be used to reach the platforms from which to board the trains.)  Both of us ordered pork dishes, and I think my dish of shredded pork with little buns was something I'd order again at this place.  RQS noted that a movie night and dinner would now cost over $100, and she'd be right.  When you factor in $40 for Manhattan movie theater tickets and $80+ for a meal nearby, it starts to get pricey. 

While taking the subway to/from the theater, we did some people watching .  Both of us noticed a young woman wearing a skirt so short that it barely would keep her modest standing on the subway platform.  I noticed while climbing the stirs that she was wearing a thong.  (Leave it to my gender preference to notice such things.)  There were other women we noticed, such as another young woman wearing lace trousers.  (I wondered how she could stay comfortable given the chilly weather earlier in the day.)  

When we made it back to RQS's place, off came the dress and on went the night shirt.  It was time to get comfy and relax for the evening.

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Sunday morning came, and neither of us really wanted to get up.  However, both of us moved into the living room before 10:30 (early for us on weekends) and took care of a little chore - slicing up cardboard boxes, so that the paper content can be recycled.  RQS was a little surprised at how I did things, but she liked the results.  So, once I got showered and dressed, we took the remaining bags of cardboard downstairs for recycling and it was off to my car to get a 12-pack of soda for RQS.  I then drover her back to her house, and was off on the road home.

Normally, going home from RQS's place is predictable.  But traffic jams in Queens leading to the Whitestone bridge forced me to take local roads to the Throggs Neck bridge.  And even then, I knew that I'd have to take a roundabout way home to avoid Summer Weekend Sunday traffic.  Instead of the 2 hours I usually need to get home, it took almost 2 1/2 hours to get to a nearby supermarket to get food for the week. I finally made it home around 7:30, and I was glad to strip off my dress, my makeup, and my bra (not in that order) and finally relax for the evening.

Tomorrow, it's off to the doctor - I wonder how he'll hector me about my weight this time.... 

Going to RQS's place for the weekend (a short post)

 

When I started to see RQS, I made sure to present as Mario whenever I went to her place.  Her neighbors might see a balding, overly large, old fellow visiting RQS on a regular basis.  Over time, things have evolved that I rarely present as Mario, except when Mario needs to be seen for appearances' sake.  And I am happy with where things are, as I could never have believed things would be this good for me.

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Today, I had only one thing on the agenda - driving down to RQS's place.  Not being sure of the weather for the weekend, I packed clothes that would keep me comfortable in 50 degree weather, as well as in 80 degree weather.  Whether or not this would be needed would depend on whether the weather forecast was for warm weather or for cooler weather.  But enough about the weather for now....

I started off to RQS's place around 1:30, and realized that I might need to take a bio-break before reaching my destination.  (Several times, I have needed a break as I reached RQS's neighborhood, and was lucky that I could find a clean loo before looking for a "rare" parking spot near her house.)  This was a smart thing to do, as I hit a bit of traffic once I reached Queens.  

Arriving at 4 (as I planned), RQS was waiting for me, and we had an early night - dinner was ready by 5:30 (a rarity for us), and we were in bed relatively early for the night.   This was going to be a weekend send as Marian, and I was prepared for Saturday and Sunday to come.

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It's amazing how normal life can become over time.  But then, I'm glad that I don't live in the American South.  In New York, my Texas friends as Marian, but can't do so because of the laws enacted there in the past few years.  I am mostly "Out" where I live, but would need to be "Closeted" if I lived in Texas.  (I wonder what Kim of Traveling Transgender, a mostly defunct blog, is doing now.  Years ago, she traveled "Pretty" between major American cities.  Now, I hope she's able to get out and about as Kim now and then.)

If it weren't for the Jewish Holidays, I might have gotten free tickets.

 

Does anyone recognize who this performer is?  I'll give you a clue - he could have been on the plane with Buddy Holley, but (as I understand it) he didn't have the money to afford to fly to the tour's next stop.  For this, I think the world is very lucky, as this man, in his 80's, is still making great music.  No, he's not making hits anymore.  But he is performing with some of the best musicians in the business.

Dion DiMucci is best known for his work in the 50's, 60's and 70's.  Yet, I think some of his later work is even better than the music he is best known for.  I love one of the songs he did with Paul Simon (Written on the Subway Wall / Little Star), where Simon sings Twinkle Twinkle Little Star in the middle of Dion's song.  It's a wonderful piece, and his later tunes such as Dancing Girl (w. Mark Knopfler) are as good or better than much of his early work.

I told my friend about Dion's scheduled performance in September, and it fell on the Jewish Holiday of Rosh Hashanah.  As a result, RQS and will not be able to scarf up a pair of free tickets.  Instead, we will likely buy a pair of tickets to a performance closer to home.  This is just as well, as I have the excuse to ask RQS to come here a day earlier than usual.

This might be one of the last chances to see Dion perform live.  So I'm going, whether or not RQS decided to come with me.  Now, if only John Fogerty would be performing at a venue and on a date convenient to us.  I'm still hoping for one last chance to see Chubby Checker perform, but given his age, we can only have pleasant memories of doing the twist like we did last summer....

We're booking another cruise.

 

I'll give my readers one clue to where we'll be cruising next year: It's a land with virtually no military at all, but it is a valuable member of NATO.

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Recently, I saw a good price on a Northern European cruise which would maximize our time in Iceland. Although we'd only have one day in Reykjavik, at least we'd have more than one port stop in the Land of Fire and Ice. It is on a cruise line that I haven't taken for almost three decades, Holland America. The deal we're getting isn't as good as we'd normally get on Princess. But it goes where we want it to go. And that's the important thing.

There are details that still have to be worked out. One of those things is airplane reservations. We can't do that for several months. That gives us time to pay down our balance on this cruise. As long as we have everything paid off before the final payment date, we should be OK. Unlike our previous pre-cruise trip to London, we have no relatives or friends who live on the European mainland. So, we'll be on our own in Europe (outside of the cruise itself) for the first time.

I never realized how quickly RQS would warm up to the idea of taking this trip. Maybe she's also looking at doing at least one "Bucket List" trip per year. Hopefully, we'll be able to do a Hawaii, a Panama Canal, and another Alaska cruise before our health starts to fail due to old age.

Yet, I'm rambling on. We still have one cruise left to take this year, and I might find a way to take another trip if I have the money to pay for it. For now, it's time for me to live in the present, and not in the future or past.

We're having a heat wave....

 

The thermometer broke 90° today, and I was lucky enough to have been able to stay inside.  I feel sorry for the people who had to sweat it out on the NYC Subway today, as I was once one of those commuters.

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There wasn't much on the docket for today.  Yet, I got things done from inside the house.  First on the docket was a phone call with Vicki's financial advisor - and we got along well.  (I'm glad that this wasn't a zoom meeting, as I didn't want any trace of Marian to show up in the video feed.)  He will work up a first draft of a financial plan for me, and then I can review it.

Next was a phone call with the co-op president.  We discussed changes needed for the recent meeting minutes and for the quarterly newsletter.  I would have liked more time.  But my next appointment was at 8:00, and I didn't want to be late for my zoom meeting with our Texas friends.  I opened up the zoom, and it was a shorter meeting than usual - none of us that had much to say.

Following the Zoom, I chatted with TCL for a while, and then called RQS to discuss our events of the day.  There was a 2027 Icelandic cruise that I was interested in, so I forwarded a request to our travel agent for pricing information.  If the numbers are right, I will put a down payment on the cruise.  

Finally, I got back to the editing of our meeting minutes and our newsletter.  By midnight, I was done and ready to sleep.  Tomorrow, it will be both wet (rain) and hot - AARGH!  There is no chance that I will go down to NYC to see a pay as I planned for this week. I will be staying cool and comfortable on Wednesday, and RQS will be coming up on Thursday.

90° and getting even warmer!

 

It's several days before Memorial Day as I write this entry, and the thermometer already has broken the 90° mark.  Ouch!  What made things worse is that RQS had to go home and suffer with the heat on the NYC Subway.  AARGH!!

Neither of us wanted to get up this morning, but RQS had to make a 11:42 train.  So we both got dressed in loose fitting garments, and I drove her to the station.  Once I dropped her off, it was time for me to pick up some breakfast before going home.  And then I took a nap, as I woke up at "god awful o'clock" and couldn't get back to sleep.

Around 5:00, I awoke from my nap and started to sort out laundry to go in the wash.  This wasn't much to do, but I wanted to balance out the loads so that I wouldn't have missing socks or undies between washes.  As it is, I have a bag filled with single socks that needs to be inspected for matches found from singlets I've deposited in the bag over several months.

Now that the sorting was done, I decided NOT to do the laundry due to the heat outside.  Instead, I decided to stay in for the night and stripped off my makeup.  And then, I paid my bills. For the most part, it was a boring day - which most life experiences should be for trans folk.  If we can go about our business without people hassling us, I consider that day to be a win.

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You might ask, why do I often focus on the mundane parts of my life?  Well, I consider it a responsibility for trans folk to look at how normal life can (and should) be for us and document our normalcy for others.  Only then can we have a benchmark for when things go sour.... 

 

 

A visit to the Danbury Railway Museum

 

The weather forecast for the day was for a bit of humidity and for 90° (or more) thermometer readings.  Ouch!  And yet, RQS and I figured that we'd venture out to the museum and see what they had to offer.

But first....

We woke up to an alarm  that didn't want to stop.  Both of us were shouting at our "Smart" (?) device to stop, and it took 5 minutes to do so. After this, neither of us were in the mood to go to church as we had originally planned. So we chilled until 11 am, and then prepared to go out.

Both of us decided to get dressed in blue dresses today, and drive over to the museum.  We left my apartment around 12:30, and reached the museum shortly before 2:00.  Neither of us were really prepared  for the heat outside.  We had to air out the car a little before getting inside the car.  Thankfully, the AC worked at full speed, and we had a comfortable ride.

There were many artifacts in the museum building, including a couple of miniature railroad exhibits.  Yet, if it were only the model railroad stuff, it would not have been worth the visit.  Instead, there were other artifacts from the golden age of railroading that were worth looking at.    

But the real value of this museum came from the short ride through the rail yard, followed by a tour of the museum's rolling stock.

Our tour guide told us about the history of each of their pieces of rolling stock, as well as the history of the yard in which the museum's rolling stock is stored.  We also got a chance to take a ride on the yard's turntable.  (You'll note that there is a woman in a blue dress in 2 of these pictures.  That's as much of RQS as I want to show my readers for privacy's sake.)  The last stop of the day was the rail car in the last photo.  This was a treat, as it was an early example of a rail car used on the 20th Century Limited, the New York Central railroad's flagship train which ran from NYC to Chicago and back.

A little bit before 4:00, we left for home.  On our way back, we stopped at a local Chinese restaurant for dinner.  Neither of us realized how drained we were from the heat outside, so when we got home, we passed out for a couple of hours before regaining consciousness.

Almost Matching Dresses

 

Both RQS and I set alarms for us to get out of bed, get dressed, and go to the Danbury Railway Museum. However, one thing got in the way - the 10:30 alarm I thought I had set didn't go off, and RQS didn't get out of bed until 11:30.  By the time got moving, it was too late to go to Danbury, as the museum closes at 4:00.  So we watched some videos, and relaxed most of the day.

Once we decided to get moving, RQS decided to wear a red floral dress.  I figured that I'd join in on the same theme and wear the red floral dress I bought from Amazon last week.  Given the 80 degree weather outside, this would be a perfect choice for me - and it was.  To be safe, I brought my denim jacket (which I didn't need), but who knew how quickly it might get cool after dark.

Our first stop was at Pepe's Pizza in Yonkers.  Both of us were hungry, and we hadn't had their pizza in a while.  It was nice to be addressed as a female by the staff, and no one took notice of my less than feminine features.  (Having worked on my voice and my presentation over the past decade and a half helps me blend in as female when I need to do so - especially when I have to go to the loo.)  After we finished our meal, it was off to Lidl for some shopping.  And today, I got off almost as well as I would have done at Trader Joe's.  But then, I wasn't planning on buying much.

Going home as the sun was getting ready to set, I took an alternate route back to my house in order to avoid the harsh setting sun burning my eyes.  Taking the "scenic route" back home, I was able to take a path where my eyes were protected from direct sunlight. 

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Tomorrow, we're planning on going to church and then to the railway museum.  I hope we get to both.

Sometimes I get bored, and can't find anything interesting to do, read, or watch. (a short post)

 

Lately, I find myself needing noise on in the background so that I can relax.  If I leave the TV on, I have to avoid newscasts, lest I get distracted and pay too much attention to the news - a scary thing, these days with the Orange Monster in charge.  But if I have quiet, I crave some form of sound coming in from almost any source.

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There is a part of me that enjoys relative solace.  I'm not sure if RQS understands this, as I can't wear a sign that says: "I don't have the energy to hold a conversation right now."  So, I participate in chat when we're together, when she wants to make it - she does the same with me, so it's a fair trade.  But when I'm alone, something different kicks in.  I leave the TV on to make some kind of noise, whether it be people speaking or music playing, it's a form of white noise that breaks the silence.

It's not easy for me to stay attentive to a TV show for long, nor do I listen to music in the way I used to do.  Reading books can be hard for me, as I need to retain my focus to read several chapters at once, and then get back to the book later on.  As a result, I have many books on my bookshelf that I want to read, but haven't forced myself to read.  Old age has given me a form of ADHD that I have to deal with.  AARGH!

At least, I still enjoy shopping for new dresses, even though I can no longer justify adding new dresses to my wardrobe without donating old dresses to charity that I am no longer interested in wearing. 

 

A trip in Manhattan for a bite to eat and a movie to watch

 

As one would expect, like many couples, RQS and I get bored staying in the house all weekend.  So she suggested that we see a movie, and I said OK.  But I caved when she wanted to see The Devil Wears Prada 2, as this was a more popular movie.  So, I put on my new dress (see below)  and we took the subway into Manhattan to see the film.

We got into Manhattan at 3:15, and walked over to the theater to pick up tickets for a 4:30 showing.  One problem: The only seats that were available were right in front of the screen, not a good spot to watch a film.  So we decided to bail on the movie, and then go to the restaurant for some food.

I was prepared for something more classy.  But RQS knew of this place called Tattoonette, a Middle Eastern fast food place.  Even so, I ended up spending a smidgen over $50 for dinner there.  The Chicken Schnitzel was good, but the Fwlafel was small for what one might expect.  Was it good value?  Yes.  But it is certainly a place where a couple would not go on a first or second date.

Given that everything was 13th street related, we ambled over to the Quad Cinema to watch Fantasy Life. I won't go much into the film's plot, save that it is a love story which could not and should not be consummated.  (Look up the film on IMDB if you want to know more.)  Both of us enjoyed the film, and then it was time to go home.

By the time I got home, I couldn't wait to take off my bra (and the rest of my clothes) and get into a nightie for bed.  Just before I stripped everything off, I looked into the mirror and thought - boy am I getting old!  I'd better try to lose my weight now, or I won't be ab;e to get the FFS I desire.  (I'd love to look like that woman in the picture, even if I have to keep my current plumbing to have a stable relationship with RQS.). 

Lunch with Short Vicki, and dinner with RQS

 

No, I didn't order a "Hot Dog" for lunch.  But the menu I had for lunch wasn't what we planned....

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Vicki and I decided to get together today, as this was the only day she could be sure that her schedule and mine would mesh together.  Since I had planned to drive to RQS's place for the weekend, I packed up my stuff the night before and carted it to my car before meeting Vicki in Ardsley.

Ardsley, NY would have been a quaint, maybe picturesque village had the NYS Thruway had not cut through the center of town.  What was once its main street is now divided by the Saw Mill River parkway (which may have had a traffic light controlled intersection with Ardsley road many decades ago), and by the NYS Thruway (built in the 1950's). Ardsley road is routed over both of the two limited access roads now, but addresses on the old Ardsley road still carry the Ardsley road address.  This can be confusing to people not local to the area.

I had just enough time to get to Ardsley, even with the "confusing" route I had to take.   When one exits the Saw Mill River Parkway, one has to take a stub of old Ardsley road away from town to connect with the part of "New" Ardsley road to get into town.  Once one crosses over the highways, one has to make a sharp "U-Turn" to enter the other stub section of "Old" Ardsley road.  At least, parking is free for 3 hours.

When I arrived at the original restaurant, I realized that it would be impossible to eat inside.  So, when Vicki arrived, I suggested that we go across the street to Liebman's, an "Old School" Kosher Deli.  Vicki noted that it would be expensive.  But I was willing to pay for a good lunch - and knew the quality of the food at this place.  We sat down to eat.  I ordered the Matzoh Ball Soup with a half Pastrami sandwich, while Vicki ordered the Kreplach Soup with a half Corned Beef sandwich.  Both were yummy!  There is only one place that better pastrami, and Katz's in Manhattan is a matter of taste.

All too soon, lunch ended, and I was off to RQS's place.  It was hard to believe that I parked right in front of RQS's place by 2 pm.  And this was perfect timing.  Shortly after arriving at RQS's place, we went to the nearby Bodega to pick up food for the evening.  Once back at home, I showed RQS the dress I hoped to wear on Mother's Day (I can never be a mother, for obvious reasons - I only note which Sunday is being referenced.)  She liked how the dress and the shrug worked together, and I'm glad that I went out of my way to pick it up.

It was a long day, and I was glad to take off my dress, leggings, bra, etc.  This will be a weekend that I'm in full Marian presentation, and it's nice to be with someone with whom I can do this. 

RQS had to go home, and I had to go food shopping.

 

RQS had to go home today.  It's always a sad thing.  Yet, it's something that gives us time to do the things that nourish us alone during the week.

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I awoke early, and let RQS sleep past her morning alarms. Around 9:30, I woke her up, and both of us got dressed for the day.  Since it was "warm" outside, RQS had to carry her heavy coat home.  While I was dressed in a tunic dress and leggings.  We arrived at the train station around 11:30, and we parted for the week.  She took the train into the city, while I went home and changed into something more comfortable - a floral dress I bought from Amazon.

I like this dress, and I was glad I had decided to buy it.  It was cheap at the price, so I decided to buy a second one today, this time in a red pattern.  There were two more dresses I am interested in, one from Universal Standard, and the other from Kohl's.  Both are good values, but I don't have the money or room in my closet right now to justify buying them.  You might be asking - Why???  Well, I just dropped $5k into repairs on the family homestead, and have another $1.6k in insurance expenses to be paid before June. At least I can afford this short term hit to my bank account.

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After a little bit of rest, I put on the dress and went to Costco - and bought nothing.  But I ended up going to Lidl to do some food shopping.  And there, I ended up spending $40 on food.  It would have been $50, but the scanner didn't want to handle my meat purchases.  So I left one package on the scanner (naughty me) and brought the rest of my items to a human to be checked out properly.

Will I eat anything I bought tonight, or will I cook it tomorrow?  Right now, I do not feel hungry, and I ate too much starch during the day.  So, I figure that I'll use the toaster oven tomorrow, and toss out expired stuff from the icebox tonight.  And, if the weather is as warm as I expect tomorrow, I will wear the one dress I bought from Kohl's the other day.

It's May, and it feels like March

 

This weekend would be the first time RQS would be up at my apartment for the first time since before our Bermuda Triangle cruise.  Even though it was the beginning of May, RQS had to prepare for weather that could get close to freezing at night.  As for me, I couldn't break out the new summery dresses I wanted to wear. Cool weather would define the start of the weekend.

On Friday, RQS arrived wearing her heavy winter coat.  Yes, it was a little bit too much for the daytime.  But it served her well in the evening.  When she arrived, we drove to White Plains to pick up fresh sea scallops for dinner.  And then it was back to the apartment for the evening.  Dinnertime came quickly, and we had a good dinner.  (We also learned something about cooking scallops, but that's another story for another day.)  It was easy to fall asleep afterwards, so I don't have much to say about the day,

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Saturday came, and we had a few things on the docket.  So, I got dressed in something comfortable, but warm enough for the cool weather - a tunic length dress over leggings.  And then we went to Walmart to pick up a few items: (1) a narrow rolling cart for the bathroom, (2) a shower mat for the bathtub, and (3) a set of pillowcases to match the sheets I have on the bed.  (Right now, I'm using pillowcases that are too large, and wanted to get something that fits my pillows correctly.)  Once we were done at Walmart, we had time to kill before dinner.

We had scheduled a 7 pm dinner with Vicki.  It's been a while since the 3 of us were together.  Yes, RQS and I are together every weekend, and I see Vicki (on the average) or every month.  Today, we'd be sitting at the same table for a change.  RQS and I arrived first, and Vicki a few minutes later.  Vicki almost made the mistake of going to a restaurant with a similar name in the same village.  But I made sure she knew which one of the two restaurants where I planned for us to meet.

For the next 2 hours, we chatted non-stop.  It was a long overdue get together.  Vicki understands what RQS and I see in each other, and RQS understands what I share with Vicki.  These are all special relationships, and something I cherish.  Vicki thought that my past 2 cruises had me traveling as Marian until I told her about my caution in regards to interacting with Federal authorities given the Orange Monster's attitudes involving TGs.  RQS and Vicki talked about how they deal with their ailments.  We all had things we would talk about for hours.

All too soon, dinner had to end, and we had to part.  So, we drove home, and I got around to taking care of putting together the rolling cart from Walmart.  It is not as good as the cart I bought from IKEA several weeks before.  But it will do for now.  Now, things that were casually dumped into baskets are organized in areas of the cart.  Although cluttered, things look a bit less messy than before - a small victory for me.

A trip through Brooklyn to see a new friend

 

I may have mentioned that RQS grew up in Brooklyn before gentrification started.  Neighborhoods that had been segregated by race were now segregated by economic status.  Although RQS is mixed race, she grew up identifying as Black.  (My family on my mother's side became whiter and whiter as we assimilated into American society. That might be the only thing I might respect my maternal grandfather for doing when he arrived in America over 100 years ago.)  

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Today, RQS and I were scheduled to meet one of her friends at her apartment in Crown Heights.  Like Bed-Stuy, both of these Brooklyn neighborhoods were classic ghettos (in the modern US sense) a generation ago.  Now both neighborhoods are being transformed from "The Hood" (with all of its crime) to a up and coming "Neighborhood" with all of the problems of gentrification.  RQS's friend bought into her apartment building before gentrification, and will likely see it increase in value as poor people get squeezed out of the area.

Around 2:30 pm, we took an Uber across Brooklyn to reach RQS's friend, IS.  They have known each other for decades, and I was a little nervous about meeting someone new.  So, I ended up being extremely talkative.  Yet, this wasn't a problem - I made a good impression on IS.  While there, I fixed a problem IS had with her entertainment system before IS cooked dinner for us.  And then we feasted.  We chatted until 10 pm, and then Ubered home for the night.

Although my original plans were to drive home that night, I decided to stay the night and drive home the next day.  This was a good move, as both RQS and I were exhausted, and only sleep was on our minds when we got home.

PS: I feel that it will be safe to tell IS about Marian.  We'll see what happens in the future.