Cruise shopping

This is an example of a cruise I want to take in the next 3 years.  It would give me an opportunity to both see my uncle, as well as being able to see a friend in Florida.  Its drawback is that I would need to travel as Mario for this trip, instead of traveling as Marian.  Unfortunately, the world is not yet safe enough for a transgender person who has not legally transitioned. Even with this headaches, I still like to travel - even if I have to travel as Mario.  

Right now, I am scheduled to take a California coastal cruise this summer, as well as a Bermuda cruise later this fall.  Next year, I am planning to take two cruises: a western Caribbean cruise out of Tampa, and a combined Norwegian Fjord/Iceland cruise out of Southampton.  If possible, I may figure out a way to take another cruise in the fall of next year.

Ideally, I will find a cruise which I can take in Marian mode.  It would be easy for RQS and I to do another Canada run.  But it would likely be a bit of a bore for me, as I've done this route at least 5 times. However, I could get into doing the California coast a few times, as the cruise I'm taking this summer goes to cities I'd like to know more.  And on this cruise, I could go as Marian (on future runs), as I would not be obligated to meet with my uncle in LA.

Doctors - a short post

 

Today was a boring day with only one theme that carried through the day - Doctors.  First, I had to check whether I needed to renew my CPAP prescription before buying a new CPAP machine. Next, I received a call from my internist's office asking me whether I would be able to change my appointment. And then, the daughter of the couple hosting game night was dressed in a plague doctor's uniform.  It seems like doctors in one form or another set the tone for the day.

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Being serious, I hardly thought of medical issues today.  Instead, I rested all day until it was time to prepare for game night.  Since I didn't get out of the house until 5 pm, it made sense for me to go to the local Shoprite to pick up something sweet to bring to game night and something substantial to eat tomorrow night.

I  ended up getting dressed twice tonight, as I wanted to wear something that didn't pinch me on my waist line.  The first pair of leggings I wore were too tight, so I switched into something more comfortable that I could wear while sitting down for a few hours.

When I made it to game night, I saw the host's daughter wearing the above plague doctor costume.  I had to take a picture and send it to a couple of my friends. After that, I chatted with the host for an hour and a half, as there were not enough people attending to start a second game.  It was the longest chat I've had with him for a while, and it was a serious chat about work, family, and other assorted things. Eventually, the first game broke up, and I was able to join in a second game  - which I won.  It was a nice way to end the day.

Trivia Night - A short post

 

With the weather being what it has been of late, I wasn't in the mood to get up, go outside and do things. So, I took my time doing nothing all day until I was ready to get showered and dressed to go to trivia night with a meetup group.

Getting ready to go out normally wouldn't be a problem for me in either gender presentation.  Not knowing today's outside conditions made me think of how I wanted to dress, and whether it would be the way a cisgender female would dress.  And that's where my trouble began.  I wasn't going to wear a dress as a dress.  At most, I'd wear one as a tunic, and wear a pair of leggings underneath.  But I thought of an alternate outfit - a nice top and slacks combination.  So I pulled a nice top out of the closet and reached for what I thought was a pair of trousers.  AARGH!  These were leggings!  I couldn't wear them with the top I planned to wear.  As a result, I went back to my closet for the first tunic dress I could find.  At least, I looked put together, if a little bit drab.

Now that I was ready to go, it was off to Yorktown for trivia.  We had a small group, and we performed respectfully well after 5 rounds.  But we still lost.  And then it was time to go home for the night.  As much as I'd like to get together with the meetup group more often, I enjoy getting together with RQS more often. 

The first snow day in New York

 

We knew that it was going to snow today.  The question was: How Much?  And we found out by noon.  I went out to my car to find 5 inches of the white stuff coating my car, and knew that I had to get it out of the way for the snow plow to do its thing.  In short, the weather dictated my gender presentation for the day, and I don't expect that I'll be going out as Marian until Thursday.

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Once I brushed off my car and went to the deli for lunch, I returned home to find a parking spot that had been plowed out - but with two cars next to me that prevented a side of my spot from being cleared.  This will not be much of a problem for me over the next few days, but could become a problem if we have another snowstorm towards the end of the week.

 

When I got to my apartment, I found the "mystery dress" I ordered from Universal Standard.  The color shipped is a "Rose Clay", something a little too soft for my taste.  (I wish I could have gotten this dress in the color the woman is wearing in the above photo.) Yet, I think I'll get some value out of it this summer, as the fabric feels like one is wearing nothing at all.

Later on, RQS sent me a text.  She will be having her taxes done by Fran.  She (RQS) was getting her pronouns mixed up, as she was responding to Fran's masculine voice.  It'll be interesting to see how Fran measures up to RQS's standards.  Hopefully, I'll have referred her to a good accountant.

For the most part, it was a day to stay inside and do nothing - and that I did....

This was the first weekend in a while that I spent fully as Marian

 

This weekend, RQS came up to my place, knowing that I'd be in Marian mode all weekend.  I was having lunch with a friend from the imaging/indexing firm I once worked with, and then would be spending Sunday evening with friends from my game night group to enjoy some comedy.  If I had still been with XGFJ, this would have been impossible. But I am with RQS, and am very grateful to be sharing much of my life with her....

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When I woke up on Friday, I knew that I had a 12:30 lunch appointment with my friend (noted in a prior post).  Since I didn't want to change back into Mario for the evening, I let RQS know who to expect at the train station.  She arrived on the 5:00 train, and we proceeded to Trader Joe's to do some shopping before going home for the evening.

Saturday came, and we started off the day very slowly. But we had a goal - stopping off at Home Goods and then Ikea in Paramus.  So we got on the road by 4:00, and took Jersey side roads to reach Route 17 North of the store.  Arriving at the store, RQS went a little nuts (an over exaggeration) buying things for her place, while I bought a small handful of things I know I'll be using in the near future - such as a 3 prong blind cleaner that I picked up for under $4.00.  Then, it was off to Ikea, where I found a small "baking" (?) pan I could use in my toaster oven.  I spent more in gas and tolls than I did at the 2 stores. It was a good excuse to get out of the house, and allowed the 2 of us to do something we don't get the chance to do at her place.

But Sunday was the big day of the weekend.  We were meeting friends from the Yonkers Game Night Group to go to dinner and watch some comedy.  Although the comedians weren't that great, we enjoyed a nice night out with friends who know me as Trans, but treat me as a "normal" person.  I think they are glad that RQS is in my life, and I hope that she can be with me occasionally on one of our bi-monthly game nights.

When I started to write this post, I had nothing to say.

 

As I've said in a previous post, this is how I wish I could make my face look.  When I told RQS about the website that allowed me to transform my masculine face into a feminine face, she wondered how she would look as a male.  Today, I finished work on the edit, removing extra hair from "her" face to look like a typical male - and "she" looked like she could have been her father's brother!  If I were into males, I'd be attracted to RQS's male image.  I guess that no matter what gender we were born into, we'd still find each other attractive.

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Right now, I'm relaxing in my apartment, catching up on things.  I was pleased to find that our co-op's site representative sent out a mailing on time, as directed.  (I thought that he wouldn't realize how time sensitive the material was, and would have waited for a go-ahead before a second edit review to send it out.)  Now, we're on track to take care of some business in a timely manner.

Sometime later in the day, I'll be taking care of laundry.  Although I have two loads to put away, I have (at least) another two loads to catch up on things.  It's one of those "might as well" tasks that I can take care of when I have nothing urgent to do and need to get something done to feel good about the day. 

And this triggered the thought of a conversation I had last night....

A friend of mine has family duties (that I won't describe here) that limits the activities she can do to earn money. I said that I would look up an acquaintance from my Census days and see if she still has contacts for work that my friend can do at home.  Hopefully, I'll be able to help this friend.

 

 

I met a friend today, oh boy....

 

Today's post will be a quick one, as I do not have that much to say....

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A while back, I had scheduled lunch with my friend Suzanne from the company I used to work for.  Today, we finally had another chance to get together and chat about what is going on in our lives.

Suzanne was a little late, as she was catching up on things that piled up on her in the morning. (I won't go into any details, as she has a business that she is developing.)  But when she finally arrived, the conversation flowed like water.  I told her about the "Before and After" picture in yesterday's post, but couldn't show it to her because I didn't upload it into the cloud.  I also looked for an email containing an apartment that was literally trashed, but couldn't find that one as well.  (I won't include it here, as looking at the picture makes me feel sick.)

It's always nice to talk with someone who knows that I am transgender and live in both male and female worlds.  It would be even nicer that I would have an androgynous face to go along with whatever presentation I am in, as I would like to shift more into the female mode than I am today.  And it is nice to be able to be with women who accept me for who and what I am....