Seeing a friend for dinner - a short post.

 

I haven't seen my friend Vicki #2 in a while, so it was nice to get together with her again.  Vicki's spouse is living with cancer, but has no quality of life.  So Vicki has to arrange her life to take care of her spouse until the home healthcare aide arrives for an 8 pm to 8 am shift.

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It's important that key details of Vicki's life be kept private.  So I'll avoid going into fine detail here.  Like any caregiver spouse who tends for a permanently disabled spouse, Vicki's life is not her own these days.  So, when I contacted her before New Year, she suggested tonight for dinner.  But she made sure that we would meet when she knew that she'd be free.  Each time we've met lately, she feels grateful that I'm making the effort to reach out.  She has too much on her plate these days.

Vicki knows that I am TG, and has met me in both gender presentations.  However, most of the time, I meet her in a feminine presentation.  And this is how I dressed when I met her tonight at The Cube Inn, a small restaurant/bar in the heart of Tarrytown, NY.  This is not one of my favorite places to eat dinner.  But it is a nice place to go for a quiet drink with a friend or two.  I was lucky that we scheduled our get together for 8:45, as I wouldn't have been able to order a burger before the kitchen closed.  Thankfully, we could drink (if we wanted) until the cows came home.

We had a leisurely chat over a couple of drinks and some food, and all too soon it was time to go.  RQS and I have an invitation to drop by when Vicki is home.  So, who knows, we will be over someday soon....

Postmodern Jukebox

 

This will be a short post, as I don't have too much to say today.

Today, I had to rush to do a week's worth of laundry, so that I could be ready for dinner with Vicki and to see Postmodern Jukebox in Tarrytown.  It was nice to get back into Marian mode for this trip, as I feel more comfortable in female mode than in male mode.  No, I'll never be mistaken for a pretty woman.  But at least, people will say that my clothes look good on me - as Vicki said tonight.

Vicki arrived 15 minutes later than originally planned, as I was running late with things in the apartment. As I was returning to the apartment to get our e-tickets, Vicki rang me to tell me she was here.  She was pleasantly surprised to see me coming out the front door as she hung up the phone, as I always seem to be late for the things we do.  And then, it was off to Tarrytown for both dinner and the concert. When we arrived in Tarrytown, we found that our favorite Indian restaurant was closed for good.  So we ended up going the the Green place down the block - and had no problem getting a table.  I told Vicki that I had Indian the night before, and she noted that it was just as well that we were forced to eat Greek tonight.

Once done at the restaurant, it was off to the theater, and they were still checking vaccination cards.  Both of us were lucky to have everything recorded online, and we went inside, not needing to wear masks.  YAY!  Even better, the seats we were in had much more legroom than the balcony seats that I was in the last time I was in the theater.  Better than that was the performances of the musicians and singers.  Wow!  This was a show well worth the money we paid for our tickets to attend.  I'd gladly pay the money to see this group of people perform again.

All too soon, it was time to go home and strip off my bra.  It was a long day, and sleepy-time comes quickly to me in my "old age".

Game Night

 

Whenever I go to game night, I try to avoid looking like a slob. But these days, I also try not to overdress. So I dress for game night the same way I go to work - casual.  Casual for me does not mean wearing jeans. As a male, I'd wear chinos.  As a female, I usually wear tunics and leggings.  Having switched to tunics and leggings has made it much easier to make my way in the world as a female.

Some of us from game night are going to see Al Franken in Tarrytown.  (By the time you read this, seeing Al Franken will be past tense.)  None of us know what to expect.  Will he be serious, or will he put on an act?  I would prefer that he be serious, but he will be entertaining no matter what.  Assuming the weather is nice, I plan to go as Marian, as that is the only way that people from game night know me.

Assuming I have the day "to myself" beforehand, I might go to church in-person, something I haven't done since before the pandemic.  In the two years that have passed, the church I have gone to has merged with a nearby church, and February services are being held at the nearby church.  Since this will be the first time I'll be going there, I'll be a little bit nervous.  But if I was accepted at the original church, I'll have a couple of people who remember me from there who can make me feel comfortable.  Afterwards, I plan to get a mani-pedi, so I can look my best before meeting up in Tarrytown.

Will I look as snappy as the characters in the cartoon above?  No.  But I will feel good about how I look, and that's the key thing...

Brunch with the Fun Time Friends

 

 

There were two things on the docket for today: 

• Brunch with the FTF's in Connecticut
• Dinner and a Concert in Tarrytown with Vicki
  

Both of them would have me attending as Marian.  Yet, if I had my druthers on this dreary day, I'd have stayed at home and in bed.

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Although I was awake before the alarms rang, I still needed them to get moving.  In a rush, I ended up putting on my makeup outside my normal sequence. And this delayed my departure, as I had do triple check that my presentation was on target.  When one has a masculine body, one has to make sure that as many signs of masculinity have been disguised, and that as many signs of femininity are displayed. For the most part, I think I do tolerably well as presenting as a large size woman.

After an hour and a quarter of driving in the rain, I made it to the meetup and had a nice brunch.  The seafood pot pie was large, and well worth the price that the restaurant charged.  However, I had two meals out scheduled for the day, and should have chosen the salad for the first meal.  But I didn't know this at the time.

When the meal was over, I drove home, talking to a new woman from OK Cupid.  She's a widow, and located on Long Island.  Given our mutual schedules, we probably won't be seeing each other until the second week of January.

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Around 5:30, Vicki came over, and we drove to Tarrytown for dinner, then went to the Music Hall (a theater) around the corner to see K.T.Turnstall and Martin Sexton perform.  When we got to the theater, we were directed to a pair of orchestra level seats that Vicki found unacceptable - she ordered a pair of seats on the aisle, not in the middle of the row. When people were directed to our seats, we knew we had a problem.  So we ended up (after a discussion) being told that our seats were on the balcony level.  And again, the seats were not what Vicki thought we were getting. So, again, it was a trek to find someone who could help us.  This time, our seats were exchanged for two seats in the orchestra section, closer to the stage than before. But we had the aisle seats that Vicki wanted.

We both enjoyed the concert.  Yet, we were both glad when it ended - it was a long day for both of us. So, I dropped her off at her car, and I did the most feminine thing I could think of - take off my bra, and get into something comfortable....

 

 

 

I can't believe I stayed awake all day.

 

Today's post will be short and brief - just like the sleep I had last night.

For some unknown reason, I kept waking up throughout the night.  So I made sure to have two cups of coffee before leaving the house AND made sure to keep enough coffee in my caffeine stream to prevent blood from making me sleepy.  Even though I was getting tired throughout the day, I wasn't as sleep as I could have been.  Maybe it was the knowledge I was going to have an impromptu dinner with Vicki in Tarrytown.

Getting from Elmsford to Tarrytown via the back road isn't as easy as it used to be.  DOT is replacing the Route 100B/9A overpass, and has routed bypass traffic onto the street I work on.  So if you don't know which way to exit our lot, you could spend 15 minutes getting into a place where you could go West from Route 9a  - and that's exactly what happened to me. I made it to Tarrytown shortly after Vicki was freed up from her appointment, and we had a nice dinner at Leftris, our go-to place for Greek food.  It was hard to believe that we were finished with dinner before 6:30pm.  From that point, my phone was ringing like the switchboard at Grand Central Station.

First, it was my brother.  Then, it was TCL.  After this, I made a call to MWL.  And finally, a call from FH to discuss our Friday plans.  I also received a text from my friend from the Yonkers gaming group noting that I forgot about Trivia night.  Maybe, if I can get some sleep, I'll be able to attend the next session....

Sometimes you swing for the fences, and sometimes you play small ball....

The above picture was taken about 7-8 years ago, when minor league ball was being played.  I was dating a woman from Staten Island, and we had bargain tickets to see the "Baby Bombers" play at home.  Those were simpler times, and the eventual break with this woman didn't hit me as hard as that in my most recent relationship.

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Why, you might ask, am I referencing a relationship that ended 7 years ago?  Well, the Baseball analogy seems to fit with this picture.  When dating, one either has to go for the Thunderbolt of attraction.  Or, one has to go for "something" that grows over time.  I tend to make the latter choice, as I am too slow to deal with a Thunderbolt if it were to strike me.  And that is just as well.

In my last post, I mentioned 3 ladies: FL, MB, and FH.  I thought MB was no longer interested when she dropped out of sight.  Instead, I'd bet that one of two things happened: (1) MB had a date with someone more promising, or (2) MB got herself into a funk and was not in a good position to date.  However, I touched base the other day, and she responded this afternoon.  We exchanged a series of messages, and it looks like I'll be in a good position to see her again.  FH asked me to help her buy an air conditioner for her daughter's room, and I'll be seeing the daughter when I lug the machine into her apartment. This leaves FL. Yesterday (as I write this), I went on a date with her, and we spent a good part of the evening in each other's arms, talking on a park bench in Tarrytown after a nice riverfront dinner. Over dinner, FL mentioned that in a way, I am the best of both worlds: Someone who could be both a boyfriend and a girlfriend.  When I mentioned that I was thinking of leading a meetup to Innisfree Garden in Dutchess County, FL said she'd be interested in going with me.  I let her know that I'd be going as Marian, and she said she understood that. YAY!  But I now have a dilemma.  Is it time to start getting more intimate?

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I feel obligated to mention XGFJ in passing.  When we were fighting over meetups, I know I played my hand way too hard and I lost access to the one functioning dinner group in the Hudson Valley because of my ex.  However, I have access to the music group, and have effectively blocked her out because of her hatred of me as Marian.  The other day, I came off the wait list for a meetup, and she a couple of days later.  When she saw me as an attendee, she bailed, saying that she had made other plans.  I guess that as long as I am an active member in the music group, my ex will stay away.  I feel sorry for her.  She won't be free until she is able to see me again as Marian and confront her fears directly.  But that's not my concern - I have to make a decision on which one of the three ladies I've dated is worth gambling on, and if not, do I want to try for someone else?

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Over the past 8 months, I've been able to save a reasonable amount of money by working at the census bureau.  I have postponed taking time off from work for two reasons: (1) I want to save up as much money as I can while the census is willing to pay me to work, and (2) The pandemic has severely limited the number of places I can travel to without having to quarantine myself upon return. Recently, higher-ups in Washington have directed the census to stop counting people a month earlier than planned, as POTUS feels that the GOP will benefit from an under count in the urban (Blue) states. Today (as I write this), a judge has issued an order to temporarily stop preparations to end the census on September 30th, and continue with the "original" (pandemic adjusted) end date of October 31st.  If the October 31 date holds, I will likely save an extra month's salary (after expenses) and be better prepared for a time where I'm not working.

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And this brings me back to baseball.  Sooner or later, I have to choose which direction I want to go in my life and what I want to do when I get there.  Do I swing for the fences and go for a relationship where I can live as Marian 24x7?  Or, do I play "small ball" and take my gains when I can, but risking little in the process?  I tried the latter in my last relationship, and it didn't work out.  But maybe I can do a little better this time around.