Game night, and I wasn't initially in the mood.

 

Although the above game is often played at game night, tonight was not the night for it.  Instead, we played a card collection game which I do poorly at, but enjoy the company of the crew at our Host & Hostess's house.

- - - - - -

But first....

The weather was crappy again today, and this meant that the driveway work originally scheduled for Tuesday and rescheduled for Friday won't be done until next week.  AARGH!  That means I will need to visit my brother and leave my car at his place for a week.  Considering that I only trust him to drive the car AND that I hate giving up my keys to anyone, I will feel a little bit naked and vulnerable when my brother drops me off at RQS's place on Saturday.

Around 5:00, I started to get ready for game night.  It would likely be the last time I would be presenting as Marian for the better part of a week.  But once ready, I sped to Yonkers (I was late as usual) and made it for the second game of the night.  Because the weather would likely be a little chilly, I decided to wear a flowing tunic top over leggings - the first visible female garments other than dresses and shoes that I've worn since early Spring.  Given the humidity, I should have stuck to  one of my dresses.  At least I know I have to start rotating my clothes for the season soon.

Was I glad to get out of the house?  Yes.  I needed somewhere other than my apartment to be in for part of the night.  But I'm also sad that I will need to present as Mario as soon as Saturday comes.

If it weren't for game night, I wouldn't have even bothered getting dressed today.

 

The rainy weather has made me a bit lethargic, and I had a hard time getting moving today.  There were two things on my docket that required me to get dressed, one being laundry, and the other being game night.  So, I figured that I could take care of a couple of things while doing laundry and caused a minor issue for myself.

RQS was originally scheduled to go home on Sunday.  Fathom Events scheduled a 2-night revival of Lawrence of Arabia for Sunday and Monday at selected theaters.  I bought tickets for Sunday evening. But that creates a conflict between the time RQS expected to be home and the time she'd be in the theater.  So I asked her if she could stay another night.

The other task that I took care of was removing the nail polish from my fingernails.  I figure that I'll need to present as a male when I meet with the sleep doctor on Monday, as well as an appointment I have later in the evening for a research study.  Given that I want to look my best when I meet RQS in the city for dinner on Tuesday evening, I'll likely schedule a Mani-Pedi for the morning.

Luckily, I had only one load of laundry to take care of.  The one problem is that I usually do my sheets along with the rest of my colored laundry.  This means that I'll have to inspect the fitted sheet to make sure that nothing got caught in it while in the dryer.  That I can do in the morning when I fold the laundry in advance of RQS's arrival.

Around 4:30 pm, I showered, and went downstairs to do laundry as Mario.  This was the more convenient way to be out of the apartment when my face had yet to be made up.  But when almost ready to go out for the evening, I had switched into Marian mode. Though I started doing the Laundry at 5:00 pm, I wasn't able to get out of the apartment until 7:10 pm. This meant that I'd be in Yonkers after the first game had started.  Even so, I drove down, and found that only an abbreviated portion of the group was in attendance.  I got into a couple of games, and left before the hostess returned with her dog.  (Just as well - he is ready to bite anyone who isn't family.)  On the way home, I chatted with RQS, and picked up some stuff for dinner to be eaten tomorrow or Saturday.

I was glad to finally be back at home by midnight, as I couldn't wait to strip and get comfortable again.

 

 

Hawaii Vacation - Day 07: Volcanoes National Park

It's hard to believe that my vacation is more than half over.  But it is.  And so far, I've had a relaxing time going out and about as Marian, leaving Mario behind when possible.  People who need to see my identification tend not to bat an eye when I'm presenting paperwork that identifies me as being Mario, when I'm out as Marian. 

 

Why is this so important?  Not having to worry about what people will think of me has allowed me to grow as a person.  The woman inside me has been freed to explore the world on her terms.  

But I digress....

I have had to present both my cruise ID card and my passport card (I could have used my drivers license instead) almost every time I have come back from a shore excursion.  Being transgender is not a big deal - especially in Hawaii.  On this ship, I'm being seen as the female I'm displaying to the world.  And this is a great experience for me.

With my face, I always have to go out with my makeup on.  But once applied, people are seeing me as female.  But I am still forced to do code switching, turning my relationships with women to relationships with men when discussing my past in general conversation.  If people see me adjusting my wig, I mention that I have alopecia, but never mention that it is male pattern alopecia.  Ideally, I will get partial facial feminization surgery, so that I can go out and about without makeup as long as I have my wig on.

Yet, I still digress....

Today was an excursion to the Volcanoes National Park.  Like yesterday, weather played a part in how I would enjoy this trip.  It was in the high 70's when we left the ship, with more than a significant chance of rain.  And it did rain on the way to the park.  One bus had to get unstuck from the mud on the road, and we ended up passing that bus so that we could get to the park on time.

I had forgotten my rain poncho before I left my cabin, so I ended up buying a cheap poncho at the park's visitor center.  When I put it on, I realized I was going to deal with one problem many transgender women have: Keeping my wig in place while putting the poncho on is where I had to be careful, as I didn't want to advertise that I was wearing a wig.

 

 

Once my poncho was on, it was off to the Sulfur Springs Trail.  It was much more comfortable to walk in the drizzle when wearing the poncho, and I made it halfway on the trail.  It was interesting to see sulfur on the rocks, along with the steam coming from the vents with a distinctive sulfur smell.  

 

 

 

Next, we were off to see the volcanic crater pictured in the video above.  Although we couldn't see much, it was an interesting sight.  I only wish that it wasn't raining so that I'd have had a better view.

This was the second time where the weather got in the way of enjoying a view of nature.  I guess this means that I will need to come back to Hawaii again to see these sights.....