An unplanned dinner with RQS and Vicki

 

Food - Our lives revolve around its consumption, simply because we need to eat now and then. Today, I texted Vicki, and the end result was a nice meal for the 3 of us (and ice cream afterwards).

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RQS and I didn't want to deal with the hot weather.  But we had to go out to pick up some items for the bathroom at Walmart.  So I got dressed in the dress I bought at Universal Standard on Thursday and the two of us headed over to Mohegan Lake. where the two of us planned to get a quick snack, then shop before going to meet Vicki at Lefteris Gyro.  

Of course things didn't work out the way we expected.  We were very hungry when we reached Mickey D's, and were surprised to find the place was closed - the place had lost all power, and couldn't serve any customers.  This meant we had to get our snack elsewhere, and that meant driving over to Taco Bell.  Driving there, I realized that we wouldn't be shopping at Walmart, as we wouldn't have enough time to be sure to meet Vicki at 6:00 pm.  Instead, we drove straight to Mt. Kisco, where we spent our time shopping at Target for the things we planned to get elsewhere.  By doing this, we made it to the restaurant at 6:00 pm, and were on time for dinner.

Upon entering the restaurant, I missed Vicki, as she was in a corner on the left and I was focusing on the right.  After that minor snafu, we settled down to enjoy a good dinner. One of the things I noted was that Vicki was dressed much more casually than in the past. Post-exercise wear for some has a look like wearing PJ's.  Yet, she should be proud of all the weight she has lost to be able to look good in this clothing.  As for me, I'll stick with my dresses, as they hide parts of my body that I want to de-emphasize. Although I knew I was going to come home with leftovers, I didn't know how much I'd be bringing home!  Conversation flowed naturally, as Vicki, RQS and I were all relaxed with each of us having something to share and to take home from the conversation.  (This isn't always the case, given the occasional imbalances we have to talk about certain subjects.) 

All too soon, it was time to brave the weather and make it down to Ben & Jerry's for dessert - Ice Cream.  Although there are a few B&J's ice cream shops scattered over the country, this is the only one I know that's close to the New York City area.  Even more surprising, this would be the first time I've stopped here in over 40 years of living here.  So I knew that I was in for a treat.  One glitch - when moving a table out to seat the three of us, my sundae fell on the floor and had to be replaced.

As we left the ice cream shop, the heavens started to open up,  Even though we were avoiding the heat and rain during the day, we were able to make a good day out of something that could have been crappy.  In the end, this was the big advantage of being outside of NYC this weekend.  

 

If you knew sushi, like I know sushi....

There is an old song that goes:

"If you knew Suzie,
 Like I know Suzie,
 Oh, Oh, Oh, What a gal..."

I rework that in my head, replacing "Suzie" with "Sushi", whenever I go out for sushi.  Today was one of those days I did just that.

- - - - - -

But first....

As has been happening lately, I didn't go to sleep when I wanted last night.  Knowing that I'd have a hard time waking up in time for lunch, I set multiple alarms on multiple devices to ensure that I'd be able to get ready and meet my friend with minimal delays. After showering, shaving, and making up my face, I decided to put my earrings in.  With q tolerable "struggle", I was able to do so without much effort.  This is important, as I don't want to go back to the piercing shop a third time.

At noon, I drove into Croton to meet my friend from the census.  We try to meet at least once each month to catch up on things, and today, we met at a sushi joint in town. The conversation flowed like water.  All too soon, it was time to go home - and none too soon, as I had GI Tract issues.  When done, I drove to Target to buy a bathroom / shower shelf, so that all my bath needs could be in an easy to reach place.

And then, it was time to go home.  I got on Route 133, and less than a mile from the Saw Mill River parkway was the site of a multi car accident blocking the road.  Instead of waiting for things to clear up, I drove back to the Saw Mill parkway, taking a wide detour to get home.  Given that it is raining as I write this, I'm going to close out this entry because I doubt anything more of consideration will happen tonight.

A short post.... A new dress.

 

I've been looking for a dress in this shade of blue for a while.  Recently, I found it at Target - with one problem.  I'd have to find it in the clearance bin at one of two New Jersey stores.  AARGH!  So I decided to drive across the river after work, and hopefully find this dress in the clearance bins.

But first....

Last night, I wasn't able to fall asleep until around 3 am.  This is terrible when one has to get up for work at 6 am.  So I wasn't sure if I could drive to the Hackensack Target after a periodic teeth cleaning at my dentist's office this evening.  I was very surprised to find out that my appointment was scheduled for tomorrow.  Since I didn't have anything else on my docket, I decided to go to Hackensack.

The major roads on the other side of the river were fouled up, so I took the side roads to Hackensack. Target is hidden from the main road, so I over shot the place and got lost in a city that closes up shop at 5 pm.  Thankfully, my GPS got me to the store, where I could only find the Size 3X version of the dress.  I figured that I might as well try the dress on And, amazingly - it fit!  So into my shopping cart it went, and I became the proud owner of a dress I may wear when in Hawaii later this year....

 

PS: I ordered and received the black version of the same dress.  Dressed up a little, with the right jewelry, and I can wear it on a formal night onboard a ship....

Little things can mean a lot....

 

I have found these cords to be quite helpful, as I like to wear my id badge from work on a lanyard.  When I need to open up my locker, the cord extends, so that I can open the locker, and retracts when I take the key out.  Unfortunately, the retracting on my old lanyard broke and I couldn't find the other replacements I bought last year.  So, over to Staples I went to pick up some supplies.

Before reaching Staples, I stopped by Lowe's to pick up some black duct tape to fix an issue with my cell phone case.  (I won't even try to explain it, but the plastic shield that allows a license to be visible was coming out of its place, and I wanted to secure it for good.  Next was my stop at Staples, where I bought a couple of badge reels.

It's amazing how little things like this can make life more livable....

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Thinking of little things, RQS will be coming up for the weekend.  Why do I phrase it that way?  Well, she's shorter than most of the women I've dated, and she makes me feel good when she's around.

One of the things that gets both of us salivating is when the "Lobster Truck" is in a place where we can get a Connecticut Roll or two.  Yum!   To us, it's like letting a kid loose in a candy store.  But this time, we're adults and a penny candy won't do it for us any more.

On the phone tonight, she asked whether the dresses I ordered from Target have arrived.  I told her that they are expected here in a couple of days.  Hopefully, this summer, she'll spend a day with me (in Marian Mode) while I'm enjoying the comfort of one of these dresses.

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I find it interesting how mundane my life has become as of late.  Many of the things I write about have little to do with being transgender.  Instead, they have to do with the little things in life - and they often end up meaning much more than we think at the time.  And I'm enjoying the little things right now - they mean a lot to me.

 

Oh... Of course, dear! I'll lend you MY gun.

 

I always found this bit of dark humor funny.  What type of protection does this woman really need?

As I write this entry, congress has agreed on a framework for new firearms regulations.  It's not perfect, but it is movement which we've needed for a long while.  The American public is tired of a political system that is too calcified to get needed things done.  But that's not the focus of this entry.  It's a quick note to give you an idea of one of the issues that concern me.

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Today was my first day back at work after a weekend that seemed pleasantly longer than usual.  It was also the first day that I was able to put on a dress for a while.  And this felt natural to me, as if I was born to wear them.  

Last week, I received the first of my dresses from the Avenue.  I had ordered a Steel blue/gray dress and couldn't track it.  So, I mistakenly thought that I didn't order the dress and ordered two more.  Thday, the other two dresses came in, and I now have to think about how to return one, exchanging it for one in a different color.  There are two more dresses I want to buy, this time from Target.  Both are inexpensive, one of them being on clearance.  So I might just buy these two, and retire others I have in my wardrobe.  This way, I can have some "newish" dresses I can wear when I go to Hawaii later in the year.

While we're talking about Hawaii, the cruise line sent me an email directing me to send them my full LEGAL name.  Ever since 9/11, airport security has gotten tighter and tighter, and I've had to plan things for a mode of transport I haven't used in a decade and will need to use for my trip to Hawaii.  It's hard to believe that this trip will be coming up sooner than I feel it's coming, and that I soon will need to pay for this trip.

When I do take the Hawaii trip, I'll be sure to take a lot of pictures and post them here when I get home.  Hopefully, I'll feel comfortable taking this trip solely in Marian Mode.  (I'll have to ask Kim for advice on this....)

Dresses, dresses, and more dresses.

 

The one generalization a person can make about transgender people is that we like to wear clothing strongly identified with the gender of which we identify.  As a trans-woman, I love wearing dresses.  And that's OK.  But it means that to blend in I have to tone things down by wearing a dress as an oversized tunic.  So that's what I do more often than not these days.

When I bought the above dress, I didn't have the idea that it would be out of stock as quickly as it was.  I bought it just before the color above was gone.  Today, wearing this dress to work with a pair of black leggings, I felt that I looked pretty and appropriately informal for a place like my office.  (I'd hate to be wearing a T-Shirt and Jeans to the office every day as some women do at my office.)

 

This dress is slightly more problematic.  Once I put it on for a test drive, it screamed to be worn as a dress.  So, on the next warm day that I have free, I plan to do so.  It is very comfortable, and well worth the bargain price I paid for it.  (Remember, both dresses came from Target, and the net including shipping and tax was under $42.00.)  Even if this dress and the dress above it last for only one season, I'll get good value from them.

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Recently, the above dress arrived in the Mystery Box shipment from Universal Standard.  This is the type of dress I'd never buy on my own as it's best worn by a woman with a defined figure, and not by a trans-woman. It took me a while to figure out how to put this dress on, as the outer belts which tie together by the woman's left elbow didn't have a hidden hole for one tie to go through - like the one below.

This dress was also in the shipment, and I posted a mediocre picture of me wearing it in an earlier post.  At least, this dress was easy to figure out once I saw the hole for the belt that came in from the left side of the dress.

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Even though I feel that the dresses from Universal Standard are of better quality than the dresses from Target, I will get more use from the two simple garments at the top of the entry.  Will I be tempted to buy more dresses in the future?  Yes.  But most of my purchases will be for practical purposes, and not to gamble on getting something nice as I did buying "Mystery Boxes".

Someone's sense of timing is way off

 

Tonight, I thought I was supposed to see CWS.  But we got our signals crossed - I thought we were supposed to meet after work, and she thought it was supposed to be tomorrow night.  So I ended up eating Burger King instead of some nice Pad Thai.

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It was just as well that I had changed into Mario mode to see CWS, as I ended up going to Target to buy a replacement electric shaver.  My old one has a piece which is always falling off, and I lost one of the cutting heads when this happened today.  Given that the shaver is several years old, I figured that it was worth my while to buy a better shaver and use the old one for "rough cutting" when needed.  (There are times where I want to shave off 5 a little o'clock stubble, and I don't want to get the good shaver clogged with both makeup and "beard" shavings.)

I think it will take a while to break in the new shaver.  That's good, because it has most of the bells and whistles a person could want - and I want to get comfortable with all of them.  Eventually, I think I will end up spending the money to get all my facial hair zapped from my face.  Until then, I will deal with the daily task of shaving all over my body to have a more feminine appearance.

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If you're wondering why I chose the cartoon at the top of the entry, it's because I will soon take the subway - and I remember the days of being a commuter all too well.  I'm grateful that this is not a regular occurrence anymore.  Now, when I trek into the city, it's for pleasure.  And I'm grateful for that.

I got nothing done this evening - except answering the phone

 

This morning, my "smart watch" told me that I only slept 4 hours.  So I knew that I'd be fighting to stay awake all day - which I did.  But I didn't know that I'd be on the phone all evening.

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Going to work as Marian adds about 30 minutes to my daily routine.  As Marian, I need to shave all over to remove all traces of masculine hair, and then do my makeup.  Mario doesn't need to do this.  So I lose a half hour of sleep every day I go to work.  And when I have only 4 hours of sleep, I become a zombie for much of the day.  In order to avoid big screw-ups, I double check much of the work I do while doing it, and after it's done.  So far, this has worked out for me, but I feel wasted at the end of the day.

I went shopping after leaving work, and stopped into both Target and Kohl's before going home.  With a quick stop at Shoprite to pick up lunch and dinner for the next two days, I received a call from Vicki on my (now) short drive home.  After unloading my bags, I got a call from TCL.  Then, just as I was falling asleep, TCL wanted to chat again. And finally, it was time for my nightly chat with MWL.  Not much done at all - even though I had 17 things on my to-do list.  

Sooner or later, I must take care of ALL the things on this evolving list.  But first, it's time for me to go to bed....

A short post about a long line at Walmart.

 
Today, I wanted to price check a couple of things AND get home "early".  (I slept away most of the day yesterday, and I know my sleep patterns will be out of whack for a while.)  Unfortunately, this was not the case.

My first stop was at Staples to price out a chair mat to protect my carpet from the chair by my computer desk.  $70 is an uncomfortable expense for me, but one I know I'll need to spend.  Instead of me bringing this unwieldy object home in my car, I figure that I'll order it from Amazon, and have it shipped to me for free.  After this, I stopped at Target, looking for inexpensive reading glasses to replace the ones that fell out of my pocketbook.  No luck there, so it was off to Walmart.

Normally, a trip to Walmart ends up with most people spending more than planned.  But today was worse.  All of the self service checkout stations were closed, and there were lines 10 carts deep at the remaining manned stations.  Instead of being in and out in 15 minutes (I knew where the reading glasses are stocked), I was there for an hour, most of which was waiting in line.  If I ever see lines like this again outside of the Xmas rush, I'll shop elsewhere if possible.....

BTW: I bought two pairs of glasses while I was there....

It was nice to see a friend today.

 

Today, I met a friend for lunch.  Although we met via OK Cupid, we knew from the beginning that we'd be friends, and not much more.  And this is a good thing.  She would be a little bit out of my league if we had tried to start a relationship.  As friends, we can overlook things that we could not overlook in a romantic partner.

My friend and I have been trying to get together for a while.  Her health and her business has gotten in the way, and I hadn't had the opportunity to get together with her since the beginning of summer.  So we decided to meet somewhere in the middle (we live 90 minutes from each other), in Beacon.  

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No, we didn't go to the restaurant above  If we did, we probably would have gotten very sick. In fact, we may have needed the following maneuver performed on us if we choked on our food:

Instead, we went to a place called Meyer's Olde Dutch for an early lunch.  It WAS FILLING!  My friend, who barely weighs 100 lbs. soaking wet, was filled on her salad.  While I was filled on an oversized, overloaded bacon cheeseburger.  Yum!  I'd go back there again. Over lunch, we talked of many things, such as one Catskills area property not selling.  My friend had sold her place for just under $1 million, and within 18 months, it has recently been flipped for $1.700,000.  Right now, a place either has to have character, enough vacant land to build a place with character, or be cheap enough for someone to tear it down to build a place with character.  The unsold place fits neither of these conditions,  So it remains unsold - for now. For the most part, we talked about her business and her upcoming vacation with her boyfriend.

Next on our list of things to do was picking up some gluten free goodies for her boyfriend and his daughter.  For this, we made the mistake of walking a little over a mile to a store on the other side of Beacon.  And neither of us thought the heat would be getting to us.  To make things worse, I was wearing the wrong shoes for this walk, and my right foot loudly announced that this was a big mistake.  We sat down for a few minutes, then returned to our cars.  Hopefully, she will be able to make her overseas trip soon, as I just learned that her destination country has enacted new quarantine requirements for United States residents.

Once done with my friend, I drove to Poughkeepsie to pick up some stuff at Target.  I've been intrigued by the above dress for a while, and to drop $20 to see how it looks on me.  It looks comfortable, and it is something I can wear on hot summer days.  After I was done with Target, I stopped into Walmart to pick up some food on the way home.  It was strange to see an empty space where the in-store McDonald's used to be. But I guess Mickey D wasn't making enough money in their Walmart outlets, and prefers to make its money off of franchisees by renting out the land their franchised restaurants sit on.

Eventually, I made it home and decided to take a nap.  Even after 2 hours of rest, I didn't feel rested.  I could have easily gone back to sleep.  But I decided to stay awake and call up MWL to chat for a little while.  While on the call, one of my OK Cupid ladies decided to call me (very late), and I wasn't going to break off my call with MWL to speak with someone for the first time.  I was glad when MWL decided to end the call, as both of us were tired after our long days.  Hopefully, I'll have more energy for tomorrow's Brunch Meetup in Peekskill.