Meeting Vivian for lunch today and then our zoom call tonight

It will be a long day for Susan today as I am meeting Vivian for lunch at Stanford’s in Clackamas for lunch at noon which means I need to start getting ready by 10am. I did get up early and go to the gym for an hour workout, I will do again on Wednesday and Friday mornings also. I did see a couple ladies glance my way but was not sure if hey really noticed them or not as it was just a casual glance not like they were looking. I got home a little after 9am and relaxed a little before starting to get ready a little before 10am. I took my time getting ready as it will be a long day as I have our zoom call tonight which I will do as Susan this week as I will already be dressed. I used my rose-colored eye shadow as I think it is a nice daytime look and my lipstick was Maybelline lip ink in the color ruler which I think is a nice red color that works for daytime also. I was all ready a little before 11 so I left and figured I could stop at the Starbucks just down the street if I was early. Traffic was a little heavier so I didn’t get there till 11:30 which really wasn’t enough time to hit Starbucks so I figured I would run into Target as I need some face powder and I am getting a little low on my one foundation I use. I went into target and went over to the cosmetic section. Once again they had very little as I would say 60 to 70% of the section was empty. I am not sure if they just sold a bunch and didn’t have time to restock or if it was stolen and they don’t want to replace it but needless to say both the items I wanted were empty so I left and just drove across the parking lot to wait for Vivian as it was now 11:45

Vivian showed up just before noon and we went in and got a table for lunch. I do like meeting girls for lunch like this as it really gives you a good chance to talk and get to know each other. Our waitress came and took our order, we both ordered their fish and chips as I though steak for lunch was a bit much. It was nice to sit and talk with her, she is a couple years younger than me but just retired the end of last year so I found that interesting as I am hoping to retire either the end of this year or next year. Of course one of the 2 issues I have with that is I am only 60 now s I will have to cover my own medical insurance till I am 65. The other thing is what I want to do with my time, and talking with Vivian she seems to be busy and finding things to do of course she has a girlfriend she lives with who is also retired so they do a lot of things together. Our food came and it was really good and we had a wonderful lunch and afterwards we sat and talked for a bit but we were both watching the time on our phones 1as last time we did lunch we met at 1pm and ended up sitting and talking till after 5pm. It was about 1:30pm when we decided to leave and go across the street to Clackamas Town Center and do a little shopping. Jennifer had posted in the group she was at JC Pennies at Washington Square and they had a huge selection of discontinued shoes 70% off and had sizes up to 11 and lots of boots and ankle boots and I love ankle boots.

We parked and went into Pennies and looked around some, we found the closeout racks and the selection above size 7 was very limited and really nothing either of us were interested in. we walked around checking out the clothes and dresses I even looked at the bathing suits, I do have a nice one piece but I was thinking maybe a bikini as when I go to Palm Springs I will be in the privacy of Julie’s back yard when we go swimming but they didn’t seem to have any bikini’s. I did find a few cute dresses but not in my size, Vivian did take a few pictures of me and I got a few of her also while were shopping. We got talking about the low cut on most of the outfits which if you don’t have natural breast are hard to pull off and I told her about the padded bra I like from Victoria’s Secret called So Obsessed which is a padded bra that ads 1 ½ cup sizes which I have several of. They are the most comfortable bra I own and just the bra does give me small breasts; it is what I wear when I go golfing as Susan. I can also put a rolled-up sock in to push some of the fat on my chest up and make a little cleavage. We decided to walk down and check them out. We got down to where Victoria’s Secret but it was closed and boarded up with pink boards, I don’t know if they are doing a remodel or if they have closed. We walked around the mall some more but it really was more about just talking as we did stop a few times and just stand and talk so I guess it really was just window shopping which is fine with me as it really was more about being out. at one point a young man stopped and said something we couldn’t hear and Vivian asked him again as he was speaking very softly and it actually took 3 times and Vivian had to move closer to him to hear what he said. He asked Vivian if we were together and we were not sure what he meant by that but she said yes and he just walked away so we wondered if he wanted to pick one of us up? By now it was 3:40pm so we called it a day and we both walked out to our cars and said goodbye, it was nice to spend time with Vivian again as it is fun to be out shopping as a couple ladies.

Traffic going home wasn’t as bad as I thought so I was almost home a little after 4:30pm so I stopped by the Starbucks by my house to write my blog from Sunday before going home for dinner and the zoom call. I finished and posted my blog and did a few other things, I stayed here about an hour but it was relaxing. I got home about 5:45pm and made a quick dinner and watched TV till it was time for our zoom call.

I started the zoom call at 7 and we had a small group sign in tonight. We had Nicole, Jennifer, Anna, Jan, Lynn, Michelle and me. Over the last few months the interest in our zoom calls has slowed and it seems we get members who don’t live local or cant get out regularly for our dinner. We have been doing these weekly zoom calls for a little over 4 years now every Monday so I am not sure what the members think. I do think there is value in them especially for those not able to go out in person so I think we should try to keep it going. Maybe I will check with some of the other members and see what their thoughts are as I am paid up till July and I think the $165 a year if you break it down by the week is not bad for what we get. well we talked a little and shared what was new and of course I noticed I seemed to brush my hair off my face more as I think subconsciously it was a way to show my nails. I really think I naturally use more gestures with my hands when I have pretty red nails.

We did talk a little about Esprit which is a little over a month away as Jennifer, Jan, and Lyn are going and Anna is thinking about it. We had a nice time chatting and really just about being social which is what this group is about. It was about 8:15 when Jennifer signed off and it didn’t take long after that as usually once one signs off the others follow and by 8:30pm I closed down the meeting. Now I am looking forward to the rest of the week as tomorrow I am meeting Jayne for lunch and Wednesday we have our dinner so just need to figure out what I will do on Thursday.

Thanks for reading my blog and sharing this part of my life with me.

Monday of my vacation and a late start for Susan and our zoom call

It is Monday of my stay-at-home vacation and I got up early to take care of some things I need to do this week around the house, yes my male side stuff. As much as I love spending time as Susan and looking pretty, there are still times I love being my male self. You could say I am a traditional male / female as in my life I do keep specific gender roles for me and I am not saying this is how it should be for anyone else. Around the house my male side does the vacuuming and cleaning bathrooms, repairs, yard work, and maintenance, and of course work to earn a living for both sides. My female side does the laundry, dishes, cleans the kitchen, shopping and as I have mentioned takes care of my finances, for me the perfect balance in life. This is what works for me and make me happy and my life complete. I got most of the stuff in the house done and a couple small things outside between rain shower so basically the last big thing is my yard and I need a couple days of dry weather before I can do that so that may not happen this week. This does give me pretty much the rest of the week mostly free.

It was after 2:30 before I took my shower and started my makeup to transform myself for the rest of the day. Tonight we have our zoom call and lately I don’t dress for them and there are a couple reasons, probably the biggest is if I am going to take the time to get dressed I really want to go someplace and not just sit in my house. I have thought abut getting dressed on Mondays and then going to McDonald or Panda Express to get dinner before our zoom call just to go somewhere. The other reason is it is such a short time a couple hours and again at home. Now I am not saying I don’t spend time at home as Susan as when I do go out on Saturday and Sunday afternoons when I come home I stay as Susan for the rest of the evening. I think it comes down to just dressing at home takes away a little the person I am as Susan and takes me back to when this side of my life was just a chance to dress up and not so much express this side of me if that makes sense. Anyway, I was a little sidetracked as today I figured I could go to the Starbucks by my house for a couple hours before the zoom call. I was all ready by 3:45 and drove down the street to Starbucks and went in and got my drink and worked on my blog from Sunday. I do like writing my blogs when I am Susan for the same reasons above, when I write about them as Susan it is like I am writing about myself plus it is just more fun. I stayed here till 5:45 before going home to have dinner and get ready for the zoom call.

Started the zoom call and it was a smaller group tonight, Jan, Lynn, Nicole, Jennifer, Sherri and me. We did take time and catch up and yes it is funny as I found myself pushing my hair off my face more than I normally do and then it hit me as I was noticing my nails when I did that and at first I didn’t even realize it. I think it was being able to see my nails in a more natural way then just holding them out to look at them, yes I do seem to hold my hand different when I have a bright polish on. As you can see from my pictures I love showing off my nails, they just look so cute. I wonder if any of the other girls noticed it. We did talk more and Jennifer mentioned why she was late to the zoom call, she was going to just do a very basic makeup and then noticed a concealer she hadn’t used and tried it and then some eye shadow and before she new it she was doing a full makeup job which took a little longer. I totally get that as I have done that. Now I have said I don’t like to really dress just to sit at home but there are times usually Friday nights I get home and think, I will just put on some lipstick and mascara. Well I get the mascara on and think maybe a little eye shadow and liner and then I look at it and it just doesn’t look right and next thing I am doing a foundation brows and the full makeup. Yes this is when I generally try new things. It is easy to get caught up in it. The other thing is the full makeup is better for another reason, before bed I wash all of it off as I don’t like to sleep in my foundation, if I don’t do full I usually go to sleep with it. If I do just a little makeup it is usually subtle as I doe have some neutral lipsticks I don’t wear very often and same for eye shadows, you buy a pallet and you have your favorite colors and the more neutral colors I don’t use so these partial makeovers are when I se them. The problem is there have been a few times I have gotten up on Saturday mornings and gone to the gym that way as I forgot about it.

It was a nice zoom call and yes I did enjoy doing it as Susan so I may have to make more of an effort on future zoom calls. It was about 8:30 when we started to sign off and closed down the meeting. Ow I am looking forward to tomorrow as I had posted in the group about being off this week and Vivian reached out to me and we are going to have lunch at Olive Garden in Clackamas and then do a little shopping so I am looking forward to that. I am not sure I have met Vivian in person, I think she came to one dinner but looked back and couldn’t find it so this may be our first-time meeting which is always fun.

Thanks for reading my blog and sharing this part of my life with me.

 

 

Monday night zoom call with friends

It is Monday night and we have our weekly zoom call and tonight I am doing it as Susan, yes traffic was light so I was home by 4:30pm so I had time. I had a quick dinner and then started getting ready. I took my time as I really do enjoy the time getting ready. I was ready by 6:30, now I forgot to take pictures tonight.

I started the meeting at 7pm and it was a smaller group tonight. Tonight we had just 5 of us, Sherri, Anna, Jennifer, Michelle and me. It was nice to catch up and talk with them and yes part of t was about the upcoming weather event we are going to have over the weekend. It was just casual conversation and with a small group it was easy for everyone to be involved it was a fun evening.

It was about 8:30 when we started signing off and I shut the zoom call down for the night. It was nice to be Susan this week but it was because I had extra time. The last several months I have been mostly doing the zoom calls as my male self without the video on.

Now I look forward to Wednesday nights dinner at the Old Spaghetti Factory.

Thanks for reading my blog and sharing this par of my life with me.

New Years Day Susan time and our weekly zoom call

Happy New Years everyone, it is New Years Day and as I have a 3-day weekend I will have a little Susan time this afternoon and of course for our weekly zoom calls. Now I will admit I have been lazy of late and not taking the time to be Susan on the zoom calls as it is hard to get home around 5pm have dinner and then get transformed to Susan for a couple hours at home on a zoom call. It is strange as 10+ years ago when I was only going out on Friday nights I would take the time on Tuesdays and spend an hour getting ready and 30 minutes to drive to a Starbucks away from where I lived to spend an hour there before driving home and having to remove all traces of Susan.

Any way I got up and ran up to Ilani casino as I had my free bets again on New Years Day. Now last week I went as Susan today I went as my male self. I sat down at a table to play with 4 men and a female dealer. On the second hand the dealer asked if it was a snowflake on my nail and I just said yes as I wanted something festive for Christmas. That was the only comment but I did wonder as I played briefly at her table last week as Susan and wondered if she remembered me. Well both hands I bet my free bets I lost and this week was not as good as last week. I played less then an hour but did walk away $30 up. I did run a few errands before going home and taking care of some things. It was almost 2pm when I started getting ready. I do want to go to Starbucks and catch up on my blogs before our zoom call tonight. Over the last few years I have tried to write my blog about this side of me when I am Susan and it may sound silly but I feel like I am writing about myself when I do it this way instead of my male side writing about Susan. Today I was going to wear my dark green sweater dress so I used my green eyeshadow palette and pinkish red lipstick. I was all ready about 3pm and was off to my Sunday Starbucks.

I got to Starbucks and went in and they were not busy, a big change from Christmas Day. I wrote my blog from Saturay when I went to the Escape and posted it. I did catch up on e-mails and some other things I needed to do and even started on y blog from Christmas Day. I stayed here till about 5:30 before leaving and I did stop at Panda Express and get dinner to take home.

I started the zoom call just before 7pm and it was a couple minutes before girls started to sign on, being New Years Day I figured it would be a smaller group tonight. Tonight we would only have 6 of us, Nicole, Sherri, Jan, Lynn, Michelle, and me of course. It was nice to chat and see how everyone’s Christmas and New Years was. With a smaller group it was easier for everyone to talk as the one bad thing about Zoom is only 1 person can talk at a time but it does keep everyone in the same conversation. It was an enjoyable evening and yes it was a shorter zoom call then normal as by 8pm girls started to sign off and by 8:15 I had ended the zoom call but it was still a nice time.

I watched a little TV before go upstairs to wash away Susan for the night and g to bed as I have to be to work by 5am tomorrow and it will probably be a 12-hour day, the bad thing with working less day in the first week of the year.

Now I am looking forward to Wednesday nights dinner at Mazatlan Mexican restaurant in Portland which Jennifer is coordinating this week, Thanks Jennifer. I am also looking forward to next weekend as I will get my nails done again at Dream Nails. i am thinking how I will do my nails as you all know last time I got a snowflake on my nail but had red polish and some glittery polish under the snowflake, which you can see in my blog from that trip to Dream Nails. I am thinking about doing the same thing on that nail without the snowflake so it just has red on the end of the nail. Of course I could just go back to no color and the natural look or I could do a red French on the ring finger like this picture although I think this would look better on all my fingers and I am not sure I am brave enough t pull that off. I have a week to think about it though.

Thanks for reading my blog and sharing this part of my life with me.

May this be your best year ever.

Monday night zoom call

It is Monday night and yes we do our weekly zoom call and lately I have not been dressing on Monday nights so I don’t include them I my blog as I try to make my blog about being Susan. Well tonight I decided to try a winged eyeliner again and once I got started the next thing I knew I was doing a full makeup and transforming myself. I was done a little after 6pm so I worked on Sunday’s blog as I waited till 7pm to start the meeting. It was nice as I have a long blonde wig I like but really only wear it at home as it takes a lot of care.

Tonight we had 11 of us, Poppy, Jan, Lynn, Jennifer S, Jennifer T, Sherri, Katy, Kate, Michelle, Nicole and me. Now I do enjoy these zoom calls as it allows us to keep in touch with girls who can’ always go out with us, but it is way more fun when I am Susan and can have my video on. I may have to make more of an effort to dress for Monday’s. It was nice to chat with my friends and catch up.

Now we always have a question of the week and tonight Jennifer S, had the question. She wanted to know if there was something that stood out, kind of a defining moment sense we started expressing this part of our lives. It was interesting to hear some of the other girls and what they remembered and yes I had mine. It was an event from years back but afterwards I got thinking there have been many. My first time going to Diva Las Vegas with Cassandra and Peggy, this was the first time I traveled and lived completely as a female for over a week. I was in a car accident as Susan, not hurt though. Got acrylic nails for the first time, and even flew home from Las Vegas as Susan and these are just a few of the big ones but there are so many small ones and I really think the small ones may have had more of an impact. Going to the nail salon at one time was such a big event in my life and yes I love it but now it is part of my normal life as I go every 3 weeks now. The first time we went to a mainstream restaurant for dinner I thought the girls had lost their minds but now we do it every week without even thinking of it. The hearing and lawsuit over the P-club issue. There really are a of events in my life that stand out and helped make me who I am today and you can read about them in my blogs, one of the reasons I keep a blog and you should also.

As I said there are a lot of events that impacted my life but the biggest thing that had the biggest impact on my life and who I am was not these events it was the people I met along the way and the friends I have made and in some way each and everyone of them have had an impact on my life. People talk about money, cars and all the luxury things they have but for me what really counts, what is really important are people, the family and friends you have and in that area I have really been blessed.

We talked a little longer and by 8:45 girls started to sign off and by 9pm I closed down the zoom call for the night. Now I am looking forward to Wednesday nights dinner at Thai Bloom and of course the weekend and our Christmas dinner on Saturday night which Sherri is coordinating, thanks Sherri and of course getting my nails done and like last year I plan on getting a snowflake on my ring finger and a touch of red for Christmas like one of these.

Thanks for reading my blog and sharing this part of my life with me and feel free to look back on past blogs.

 

Monday back at home and a short trip out and our zoom call.

It is the Monday after Diva Las Vegas and back at home but still on vacation for the week. I got home last night just before 11pm and by the time I got unpacked and ready for bed it was almost midnight so it will be a short night tonight as I and picking Julie and Trixie up at 4:45 to take them to the airport as they are going down to Palm Springs for the winter. I volunteered to drive them as I wanted to see them one last time before they go as I will really miss them, although they will be back for a few weeks in December and I plan to go down for a visit in the spring. I saw them off and stopped at the Starbucks at Cascade Station to write my blog from Saturday. I got home and had breakfast and went to the gym as it has been almost 2 weeks.

I started getting dressed about noon as I do have some things to do today and why not do them as Susan. I tried the Foundation Peggy gave me to try, it is called Bye Bye foundation and one thing I like is it is SPF 50. I tried putting it on with the brush but I couldn’t get it to go on even and I have same problem with all my foundations so I switched to s cosmetic sponge and it actually goes on nice and feels light. It is a full coverages and I am not sure about that; it didn’t give me a good coverage but it might also be the fact it was to light a shade for me. I need a little darker foundation as my skin is not that fair but I did like the way it felt on my face. Today was a casual look, black leggings and my purple top as I need to go grocery shopping but first I need to go to Starbucks and write my blog from Sunday, yes 2 times at Starbucks today. I was going to the Starbucks in Orchards which is right by the Toyota dealer and I do need to take my car in for an oil change so I did call them and figured if I could get in today I would do it as Susan but there first opening was tomorrow morning at 8am so I booked it and just went to Starbucks.

I got there and although I don’t come to this one as often as the 2 by my house when I walked in a couple of the girls greeted me by name before I even got to the counter to order which always make me feel good. I ordered and sat down on the end table so I could plug my computer in and there were 2 women at a table near me, one small table between us. I got my drink and started working on my blog, yes I much prefer writing my blog about my life as Susan when I am Susan. I finished my blog which I will post later and then caught up on the news and stock market as the last week I was too busy to do that and I have turned over managing my finances and stocks to my female self as that is how that side of me contributes to my life. Years ago I would joke that my female side didn’t have to do anything and my male side provided everything she needed but over the years as I have come to accept her and embrace this side of my life it was important for me to find a way of making this art of me feel like a real person who has purpose and not just a side note of my life. No I am ot talking about transitioning or going full time but making my female side equal to my male side. Now as I worked one f the ladies next to me leaned over and told me she loved the color of my nails which was nice and I thanked her and we talked briefly. I did like the fact it was the color and not how long as it made it feel like she excepted the long nails and was just admiring the nail color. I only stayed here 2 1/2 hours before leaving and heading to Fred Meyers to go shopping.

I got to Fred Meyers and went in and got my cart, I do need a little more stuff as I tried to run out of stuff before going to Las Vegas for a week. I spent about 40 minutes shopping and yes I did take my time. The only thing I don’t like about shopping tis way as a lot of stores now have huge self-checkouts and very few actual registers where someone rigs you up and those always have huge lines. M ale side likes the self-checkouts but as Susan I like the interaction with the employee but I wasn’t willing to stand inline. I got my groceries and headed home and stopped by Panda Express to get dinner. it was just after 4:30 and I was surprised as there was no one else inside eating. I got my food and went home and ate and waited for our zoom call to start at 7pm.

I started the zoom call and there were only 5 of us tonight, our numbers on the zoom calls seem to be low lately so not sure if girls are burnt out on it or not but it is great to keep in touch with those who don’t live close enough to join us in person. Tonight we had Nicole who lives up by Seattle but works all over the state and joined us from I think Spokane, Katy who lives in Utah, Michelle, Jennifer and me who are all local. We talked a lot about Diva Las Vegas as Katy, Jennifer and I were all there. Jennifer trimmed her nails back and went ore natural which I will do next Saturday. We also talked about other things. It was a really relaxing evening and I did thank Nicole for hosting the zoom call last week. It is funny as even though I host the zoom calls I bet if you looked at all the zoom calls over the last 3 1/2 years Nicole has probably attended the most as I think she makes pretty much everyone. It was about 8:30 when we shut the meeting down for the night. and I watched TV till 11 before going to bed. Now tomorrow is Halloween and I was thinking about taking my car in Toyota as Susan but as I didn’t take a nap this morning I have only had about 4 hours sleep in the last 40 hours and I didn’t want to get up early to get ready.

It was a good and relaxing day. Thanks for reading my blog and following this part of my life with me.

Monday and some Susan time at Starbucks.

Monday morning I decided to go to the Starbucks at Cascade station as my male self as I haven’t been there for a while and needed to catch up on my blogs and also I wanted to show off my nails. This is one Starbucks I do go to both as my male and female self and a few of the ladies who work here have been here for a couple years. I got here about 8:45 and went in, they were not that busy. I went and ordered a hot chai tea latte and paid with cash as I wanted my nails to be visible. The young lady who took my order did notice my nails and told me she loved my nails which always makes me feel good and yes the main reason I came here. I sat down and wrote my blog from Sunday and posted it. I only stayed here till about 10:20a before leaving but it was really relaxing. I did make a stop at Home Depot before going home to do a little yard work.

It was about 1:30pm when I started getting ready as Susan, yes having Monday off I was going to spend the afternoon as Susan and then hosting our Zoom call tonight. I took my time getting ready as that is part of the joy of being Susan. I was all ready by a little after 2:30pm. I decided to go to the Starbucks right by my house and catch up on e-mails and do some work. It only took a couple minutes to get there and they were a little busy. I went in and ordered my drink and once again the young lady who took my order complimented me on my nails. I put my computer on a table by the window and went and waited for my drink. Now there were a couple people also waiting including a lady about my age. As I stood there I was answering a text on my phone and the lady must have noticed my nails as she also complimented me on my nails and told me they were lovely and she actually asked me where I got them done so we ended up talking briefly and I told her across the street at Dream Nails and told her they do an incredible job and would recommend them. It would be interesting to know if she goes and gets her nails done there in the future.

She got her drink and left I got my drink and sat down to do some work and yes just surf the internet. People came and went and it was fun to people watch also. It was a relaxing afternoon and a little before 5, I did move outside to a table but it was a little colder then I thought so I only stayed about 30 minutes more. While I was sitting out there Brianne one of the young ladies who works here came out to get things ready to close at 5:30 and she always stops and talks with me and yes I had to show her my nails as she has complimented me before and would love to have nails but Starbucks doesn’t allow them for health safety. Well she thought they w ere awesome and actually showed me pictures of her as she took a week off and got her nails done with just gel polish. It was about 5:30 when I left and went home to have dinner and get ready for our zoom call.

I started the zoom call at 7pm and even with it being a Holaday (Labor Day) we had a nice turnout. We had 7 of us tonight, Nicole, Jennifer, Lynn, Jan, Poppy, Michelle and me. It was nice to spend time with my friends online and actually this is the first zoom call in weeks I have been Susan and had my video on. Yes I did show off my nails as did Lynn and Jann as they just got there done this weekend also. We also got to hear about Poppy’s day Sunday as her middle daughter took her out shopping and that included going to Macy’s to get a quick makeover and some tips on makeup and yes she bought some makeup from MAC. Sounds like Poppy had a wonderful day and yes I did encourage her the next thing she needs to do is go get a pedicure and maybe get her nails done as that is one of the most relaxing things you can do and just makes you feel so good. We actually kept the zoom call going for almost 2 hours before we shut down and called it a night.

Now I am looking forward to the week ahead as I am curious what my co-workers will think about my nails as this is probably the most bold I have gone with. Thanks for reading my bog and sharing this part of my life with me.

 

 

 

Monday Zoom call with friends

It is another Monday and will spend time with my friends on our weekly zoom call. I got home and had time to get ready tonight, the last several zoom calls have been mostly my male self with video off. It is nice on Mondays as I usually have lots of time t get ready and enjoy doing my makeup. I was all ready by 6:30 so relaxed till it was time for the meeting. I started the meeting and it was a few minutes before anyone signed on.

Tonight was a smaller group, just 5 of us, Lynn, Jan, Katy, Nicole, and me. Nicole only joined for a short time as her and her daughter are on vacation and they are at Disney Land but even with that she still joined for a little while. I bet Nicole has only missed a couple zoom calls if that. She actually has a better attendance then I do and I set up and host most of them. Of course we talked a little about her being at Disney Land and one of the topics were what Disney princesses would we like to be and of course for me it was Snow White or Cinderella as that is the ones I grew up with, yes dating myself a little. There is a shop there that does princess makeovers but unfortunately only for kids 3 to 12, yes I did look it up as that would be something fun to do. It would be so fun to walk around Disney Land as my female self, something Nicole is doing now but just think how special it would be if I could be Snow White for the day there. Now I have been to both Disney Land (1974) and Disney World (1976) but it was a long time ago and way before I could even imagine being seen or going out in public as my female self.

We did talk a little and just caught up on what was new in everyone’s life and just general conversations and yes with a smaller group it was easier for everyone to be involved in the conversation. The last few meetings have been smaller turnouts, I am hoping it is just the fact it is summer and girls are busy and not that girls are getting tired or burned out on the weekly meetings. We have been doing these every week now for over 3 years now. they are great though for the girls who don’t live locally as they can join in. Now normally Jennifer has a question for us every week and I sometimes have trouble remembering what the question was by the time I write my blog but as she was not on tonight I did manage to think of a questions for the group but the bad thing is I can’t remember my own question.

Well even with such a small turnout tonight we still went almost 2 hours before we ended the meeting for the night. It was an enjoyable time though. Now I am looking forward to our Wednesday night dinner at Who Song and Larry’s.

Thanks for reading my blog and sharing this part of my life with me.

Monday Zoom call with friends

It is another Monday and I get to spend time with my friends on a zoom call tonight. Now I was looking forward to this as I get a little Susan time for this, the last 2 Monday’s I did host the zoom calls but didn’t dress for them because I got home late. Tonight I was home by 5pm so I had plenty of time which I like as for me there is something almost therapeutic about doing my makeup and transforming myself. I was all ready a little after 6 and of course took a few pictures. Now I had time to relax till the meeting started and used it to finish my blog from Sunday.

I started the meeting at 6:59 and of course there was an update for the zoom program which took a couple minutes so I was just a little late and ladies were waiting. Tonight was a smaller group, only 6 of us, Jan, Lynn, Jennifer, Katy, Danielle, and me of course. Now with smaller groups it is easier for everyone to be involved, which is nice. We talked for a while and just caught up on how everyone was doing and also got to hear about Jennifer’s vacation as she has been visiting family for the last couple weeks. All her family knows about her so she doesn’t have to hide it and actually her family likes Jennifer and some of them wanted to get pictures with her which is awesome. Part of the trip as to see her granddaughter in a recital and her granddaughter actually requested that Jennifer show up to watch so of course Jennifer did. Now even though Jennifer is part time she is very open to pretty much everyone which is awesome but it is still a personal choice who you come out to and if you should. I tell girls all the time how I live my life is right for me and that is it as there is no one way that everyone hast to follow.

Well it was time for Jennifer’s question of the week and it was a good one, what is something you do or place you go that is validating for this side of you or makes you happy. Now I didn’t have to think at all about this and if you follow my blog y probably already know. Well one of the other girls went first ad it really was interesting to hear from everyone tonight. For me I guess you could call it validating of who I am but the better wording would be makes me happy. For me the thing I do that makes me happy is makeup, doing my makeup, trying new looks or just playing with it. My whole life makeup has made me feel good, if something is troubling me or I am unhappy or upset doing my makeup or even just putting on a little mascara or lipstick can brighten the worst days. I can actually improve my mood just by thinking about doing my makeup or looking forward to doing it. Makeup not only improves my outward looks but my inward self.

Now for the place I go the most important would be getting together with friends as Susan but the question was about validating myself or a place I go to and I took it as by myself and for me, yes you guessed it, the nail salon. Now the validating part of this is when I first started going you never really saw men there, it really was like being included into a secret society of women and being included and accepted there. Now a few years later you do see men come in with their wives quiet often but now days you even see men coming in for pedicures by themselves. Spending an hour or two here like my makeup is so relaxing and therapeutic but in a different way as someone else is doing the work and you are just being pampered. I started painting my toenails almost 20 years ago and having red toenails made me feel good and yes validated. Even though I really only saw them when I got up in the morning till I got dressed and then right before bed when I took my socks off but I knew they were painted and looked pretty and that was a great feeling. Going to the nail salon to get them done is the ultimate experience and I have had short acrylic nails mostly pretty neutral in color for almost 2 years now even in my male life. Now I do say short and that is all ones perspective as for the typical male most people would say they are long as I keep them between 2/16 and 1/4 inch long but to me long would be 1/4 to 1/2 inch or more. It was a good question and maybe something we should revisit when we have a bigger group. By the way if you can find something that makes you happy do it as having joy in your life even a simple thing is wonderful.

We talked a little more and it was about 8:30pm when ladies started to sign off and by 8:45 I closed down the meeting. Now I am looking forward to Wednesday nights dinner at Outback Steak House.

Thanks for reading my blog and sharing this part of my life with me

Monday, Memorial Day and some Susan time and our zoom call tonight

Happy Memorial Day.

It is Memorial Day today and yes I have a 3-day weekend which is nice but today is really not about 3-day weekends or BBQ’s it is about honoring the men and women in our armed services and what they did for our country and our freedoms. I know our group and a lot of my friends on Facebook were in the military and I want to thank each and every one of you.

Now as I said I have today off but there were a few things I needed to do today. I could have done most of it as Susan but as we have our zoom call tonight I didn’t want to get ready to early so I decided to do some of the stuff as my male side and then in the afternoon transform into Susan. I started off by going to Starbucks at Cascade Station to finish my blog from yesterday, I picked this one as I also need to stop at Home Depot. I only spent about 45 minutes at Starbucks before going to Home Depot, I needed some yard supplies and a new faucet for the front of my house. Mine broke last year so I am going to fix that and yes that will be a project for my male side next weekend. Next weekend one of my neighbors is doing a garage sale and put-up signs to try and get the rest of us to do one so that will be my weekend next week and I figure it is a good time to replace my outside faucet as I will be in the garage anyway, probably not any Susan time next weekend. I also did lay out in my deck a little today, I do have 2 women’s bathing suits, a one piece which is what I wear when people are around like when I was in Palm Springs but I also have a bikini which is only for me at home. I do like slight tan lines.

It was about 1:30pm when I started getting ready. I tried a little different shape on my eyebrows today and kind of messed up the left one slightly but my hair covers it. I was already by 2:40 and as our zoom call doesn’t start till 7pm I figured I would go to the Starbucks by my house and sit outside for a while and work on my computer as it really is a nice day, sunny, mid 70’s and no wind, perfect for being outside. I got there and as I forgot to plug my computer in from this morning I only had about 2 hours so I started off sitting inside to charge it up. I got my drink and went to sit down and as I walked by this older man he said hi to me so I said hi back. He was probably in his late 80’s and walked with a cane. When he got up to leave he dropped his wallet on the ground and was having trouble bending over to get it so I went and picked it up for him as he was at the next table. He thanked me and said he had seen me here before but never thought to say hi so we talked briefly before he left. I worked on my blog from yesterday, it was about 4pm when my computer was fully charged so I got another drink and used that as an excuse to move outside to the table by the door. It was a relaxing afternoon, but there was one problem I could smell the BBQ ribs they were cooking at Safeway (old Albertsons) down the walkway. I walked down to get some. Now you have to go inside to pay which was a new experience as this is where I do a lot of my shopping as my male self and yes I have gone here a few times during COVID as Susan when I had to wear a mask but this is the first time just walking in like a normal customer but it was just to the check stand to pay. The bad thing about this store is they are almost all self-checkout as they only had one regular register going. The lady at the self-checkout, though I have seen her many times before, gave no indication of recognizing me.

I got home and ate, and eating ribs without getting messy is hard one reason I don’t normally have this when I am Susan but I managed to not make a mess of my face but it did take a lot longer to eat, by the way the ribs smelled better then they were. I started the meeting just before 7 pm. Now being a holiday weekend I wasn’t sure how many we would have tonight and I was right it was a small group. Tonight we just had 4 of us, Sherri, Jennifer, Danielle and me. Now smaller groups can be good as it is easier for everyone to be involved. We all just talked for a while and Danielle gave us an update on her upcoming wedding. We had a nice time and it was about 8:30 when we started signing off and we closed the zoom call down. It was a fun day.

Now I am looking forward to Wednesday nights dinner at Amaro’s Table.

Thanks for reading my blog and sharing this part of my life with me.