Thursday, November 24, 2011

reflections on the thanksgiving holiday nov. 24th 2011

i have sooooo much to be thankful for!

as i ( as my other self dave) attended dinner with my dad and his sister , my aunt, at a local restaurant. these thoughts wandered through my mind. especially after my aunt mentioned about another power failure across town from her in bridgewater nj yesterday.
i thought i mentioned to my family was that we are soooo lucky to live in this part of the usa because  in many places in the world it would have taken a lot  longer than a week to get the the electric repaired and usable again.
to us in the metropolitan suburb and being this close to ny city ( about 45 min by train of bus) the 5 days it took to get back to having electricity seemed like eternity! and yet in many other places in the world that would have been a very short time!
it just seemed ironic that with all the new technology i was still relying on 1850's oil lamps.LOL

i am just glad that all the roads are finally cleared of the trees and electric wires that fell and that the roads  have been  reopened locally at least. also i was grateful that the temp wasn't any colder outside during the crisis when we were with out electricity. since we didn't need the problem of frozen or broken water pipes as well.

a bit later in the day the next thought that came to mind  was how lucky i am to still have my dad and aunt to have dinner with . you see they are both remarkable people even though my dad has slowed down a bit this year he is still a remarkable guy. and his sister is and always has been my favorite ( of the 4 original sisters).
over the last year as i have come out to both of them as well as all my immediate neighbors and most of my friends i was pleasantly surprised at how supportive and accepting they al have been of me. especially since i don't PLAN on transitioning!

which brought me to my next thought about how lucky i am to live in this part of the world and in this part of the usa. just to be able to go out in public and  come out to others locally and be accepted is truly wonderful!

so as this thanksgiving day comes to a close a final thought came to mind in that thanksgiving is not really just in one particular place or just on a specific day. it can be any place in the world on any day of the week  because thanksgiving like Christmas is really more about reflection upon the really important people in amongst our family and close friends  who have made an impact on our lives in a positive way.
it's having a roof over our heads and food in our stomach. and a safe place to rest. it is something that is deep inside of us with in our very being. but it is definitively not about having "more stuff now" as a friend of mines ' son came up with this phrase.

so to those who celebrated thanksgiving today i say i hope you had a happy thanksgiving.
hugs
Diana

Sunday, November 20, 2011

attending a friends store party nov. 19th 2011

on sat i attended a party at a friends jewelry store. this is a small store in a small local business district.  the town itself is only 1 mile square in size. it was a great party with about 25 gg's all looking at both her costume and estate jewelry along with the business partners' fine and precious jewelry.
i had a great time chatting up a storm with many of the gg's at the party. only one or 2 attending had prior knowledge to my being transgendered. and i don't thing the rest suspected or if they did they didn't seem to care!
it was soooo great to be able to chat with all those gg's and blend right it. i had a great time.
hugs diana

Saturday, November 19, 2011

catching up on the news of the great storms nov. 2011

i now it has been awhile since i wrote anything but we in NJ have had a few challenges in the last 2-3 months.
lest see back in sept. we had and earthquake and a hurricane in the same week! ( and i must add sort of tongue in cheek it proves we nj folks are tough , strong or resilient choose any of these). during the earth quake i was at an allergist office awaiting some tests for shrimp and seafood ( proved negative) when the allergist jimped out of his chair and sprung out in the reception area and returned to say the TV said we had had a earthquake of 5.9. an hour later i was at the butcher when i felt a bit woozy  and realized i had felt an aftershock and again at home i had the same feeling.
several days later we had a sever hurricane. since we are 10 miles from the linden nj bay and 50 miles from my favorite beach i don't usually worry about hurricanes but this one was a doozy! hurricane Irene left my dad and i without power for 25 hours and broke the remainder of an old pine tree down. this was mild in comparison with neighboring towns where 2 towns away in cranford nj it wiped out both cranford town hall and the police dept buildings as well as demolishing several homes and flooding many others. for several weeks as one drove through certain sections of that town one could smell the musty oder of ruined belongings out on the curb.
the power companies brought in crews from as far as Minnesota and tree crews came as far as Texas. they worked 18 hour shifts to get everything back in order. i must say a big thank you to all who came to help us in NJ and the northeast. without their help i was told it would have been 1 year before ele was available!
also the neighbors were once again compassionate to each other. each helping each other out with generators and barbeques to us op the food before it was ruined.
the day after the storm was warm and sunny so it helped with the clean up.

now just about a month later mother nature in a crewel mischief night trick zapped us again with another storm but this time she sent snow mixed with rain with cooler temp. at 35 degrees. and i must note  that here in new jersey NEVER can i remember  getting 4-6" of snow before halloween! and remember some people were still cleaning up from the last storm the month before!
and again we lost ele for about 15 hours through the night. but once again i needed to get up ever 2-3 hours the help my dad find his way to the bathroom where i had rigged a work light with a gell pack battery. but i needed to light the was to turn it on since it has a limited charge of 4-10 hours.
i commeted" i can't believe that with all the new ele toys like i phones ect. i ended up using 1850's oil lamps till we went to sleep."  i also had to remember how to cook in a pan on top of the stove to cook canned soup! ( as one can guess i use the microwave a lot for cooing the meals)  but i must admit the crabcakes, pre cooked, were much better done in the oven.
unfortunately in the sept storm i had just cooked 2 doz meat balls which i trough out along with 10 hamburgers since they all defrosted. but again i caon't complain since we only had several large limbs to cut up. on the other had the towns up the hill from me just about 2 towns away were like war zones and totally impassable. their schools were closed for 1 week which means they have used all their snow days and it isn't even officially winter yet! some famialys who had well water  had the worst problem in not having ele to pump their water.

my aunt who lives 15 miles from me in Bridgewater NJ was with out power for 5 days  and came to stay with me and my dad she is 88 and dad her brother is 86. when i went back on monday to help her get clothes for the week it was only 45 degrees in her house at noon! we were lucky that it wasn't in january when it can become 0-15 degrees before any wind chill factor is added in. because then we'd have to worry about damage to the water pipes as well. and i heard that some families didn't get ele back until this past week, making it over 2 weeks with out ele for those families. remember we are not set up for heating our homes from fireplaces like they did over 2 hundred years ago. in fact people that had natural gas stoves and hot water heaters with electronic ignitions couldn't even get by and since it was colder outside they couldn't really barbeque ether. i was lucky to have a older gas stove/oven to cook on/in. which also gave us some heat as well.
but again we still did better in both storms that vermont which had some towns cut off from the world when their only main road washed away.

now an update on me Diana! i am lucky to have an understanding dad who when i came home dressed and removed my "hair" and cooked dinner and sat down at the dining room table he says" so where did cutie go (his name for me as diana)? is she eating dinner with us tonight?" so i went back and placed the wig back on my head. and sat down to dinner with him. it only came off to sleep and went back on when i went downstairs to eat breakfast in my flannel lined satin nightgown. which is the way i have been showing up (minus wig) to breakfast for the last year. as i said i feel as though i have one of the best dad's fo being sooooo understand in a "live and let live philosophy". at any rate it allowed me to be diana in fem for 2 days straight! yea! what i mean is hair (wig ) and all many times for grocery shopping and other errands.
more another time
hugs to all
Diana

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

back to the pool aug. 24 2011

Diana at the pool
well i know it has been awhille since i wrote anything due to a combination of things.

also i know this is last years photo but since i went by myself it is hard to get someone to take the photo. also the town the pool is in is somewhat urban so it is challenging enough going to the pool being transgendered without asking one of the attendants to take my photo! today there were only 3-4 children in the pool and neither of their mom's spoke english so please excuse the use of last years photo. as i am wearing the same bathing suit as in the photo and it is the same pool.

first is that i had been about and about about 3/4 of the time till about april first when i started building a n scale suitcase train layout 3.5" x 2'. so up till that time i was to busy out in the world to write. also about that time a hacker broke into my other-selfs e mail address lis.t so after running a new anti-viris program and knowing that nothing else had gotten effected accept that one e mail address list i am now faced with the slowed down of my system with the up dates to both the anti viris program and the usual updates to windows. agggghhh
this sort of takes the fun out of going on line.
and as far as the train layout i have put 100% of my time plus into it with quite a few all nighters which has not left me any time for being diana aggghhh. it is sort of like working on one of those jig saw puzzels that you can't resist putting a piece in every time you walk by. the only diff is that i have to create the pieces as well LOL!
it has really been a "siren call to the rocks" because i know know that at 54 ( as of last sat the 20th of aug) i almost can't do the all nighters anymore!

and that brings me back to this blog entry
soooo with the summer waning away i decided i better get over to the pool in the next town to get a swim. i had invited my dad  and had he agreed to go i would have made the sacrifice to go as my male self dave but... since he turned me down .... i was able to go as diana!
oh what fun i actually got 2 laps in doing a back stroke to keep my hair/wig ( older spare) dry before they closed down for the evening. i wore my one piece maillot, black with rainbow stripes on the upper front area, along with a lacy jacket cover-up and of course pink flip-flops.
on my way back home i stopped at wendys for a late lunch of salad and chicken nuggets and tea unsweetened (must watch the girlish figure you know giggle giggle).

it makes it sooo much easier since my neighbors know about diana since i could go out to the car fully dressed as diana going to the pool without worrying who was going to see me. but i must admit the old caution is still there in the back of my mind as i gave a look around as i entered the car. *sigh* i don't think that will ever go away. * sigh*

between this and my birthday on saturday were i went to lunch with my dad and my aunt at the new location of willie Mc Brides in bridgewater nj. this was formally crians and is very good.
then sunday my best friend came over and we went to the local diner. so it was a very nice weekend.

accept on tue i had an appointment at the allergist to see if i was allergic to shrimp and fish since i had had a hives attack about 5 hours after eating shrimp the week or 2 before. luckily the test turned out neg. which is great news since i like shrimp but.. unfortunately the test was being done as the now famous east coast earthquake hit! as i said luckily it turned out neg.

hence why there have't been any log entries in awhile.
i must add a not of thanks here to my friend Kim H. for somewhat convincing me to check out blog spot . and even though i hated cutting and paistin once again my entire blog  ... i am grateful for  moving everything over as now yahoo profiles are closing out the blog feature.  so all my notes would have been lost.
THANK YOU again Kim H!

hugs
Diana

Sunday, April 17, 2011

April 17, Palm Sunday/ Easter 2011

I am posting this entry late in mid may due to the fact that i have been moving all my old my space entires over to Blogspot. i have finally finished .
this is the second time i have painfully cut and pasted each entry one at a time to a new blog host site.
previously i had moved them from yahoo to my space till they jammed their site with new applications so now once again i have moved this time here.

anyway i wanted to share my palm sunday events with everyone.

on the first and 3rd sundays of each month the Dignity GLBT catholic church group- metro chapter holds their church service/Mass  in a loaned space in a Episcopal church in the late afternoon due to the views of the hierarchy of the catholic church. we manage to get a variety of priests.

as i left for the mass my dad asked to see my outfit with my hair!
this was a major easter gift for me from both dad and the powers above as dad has only recently been introduced to diana (rather me as Diana) just before Christmas.
all he said was "WOW" what a difference the hair makes! *giggle giggle*
he loved the outfit and thought it was really pretty! especially the white shoes.

This was the first time since i had bought the shoes about 4 years ago tha ti had worn them they are white pumps. unfortunately the coating on the shoes was starting to break down and this would be the last wearing of them. all dad says is " you need to go out and buy another pair of them. * giggle giggle*

it was drizzling (like it has done for the last several weeks here in nj) so i got to also wear my pink rain coat.
i have gotten soooo many compliments on this color rain coat that i have been wearing it ever since due to the unusual ongoing drizzle

i attended the Mass and since the setting was so nice i asked if it was ok to get a photo in front of the alter (understand we only have about 7-10 attending including the priest).

at this point i must note to ignore the date on the photo my camera has decided to date all photos with this date *sigh*

Palm sunday at dignity mass 2011

after the church service /mass was done i stopped at my usual coffee/dinner spot at Manny's Texas Weiner/diner in Maplewood NJ. this is across the street from the whole foods and home depot shopping malls. they have great home made dinner specials each week like pot roast or lasgana ect. not just hot dogs!
one of the waitresses is the sister in-law of the greek owner. so you know the service is as good as the food. the owner has had this for over 30 years and has just bought the Steriling dinner in Sterling NJ so now they make their own deserts as well. ahhhh but i digress. I ordered the lasgana and had to take half of it home.
this place is only about a long block from the entrance to rt 78w



Mannys hotdog diner

Me at Manny's hotdog diner 4/17/11

as one can see from the menu board that is the regular menu not including the specials.

me at mannys Diner 4/17/11

this gives you a better look at the entire outfit including the white shoes that were starting to self destruct on the finish *sigh*
i loooove the look of this outfit. it had originally come with a pink matching shell blouse but i preferred
 the white embroidered one instead as it tied in with the white shoes and purse better.
when my friend Elaina of the look twice shop in Scotch Plains first suggest this outfit i hesitated due to the fact that it was a 16 petite i am a reg. but it fit so i bought it.
i have only gotten  to wear it once since i bought it as it is really a lightweight spring outfit.
it was bought about 3 years ago to wear to a monday after easter wedding at a civil ceremony in a neighboring town hall of an acquaintance of mine. unfortunately that year i had a break line go on my car on east evening and since dad didn't know of Diana in those days i could't borrow his car sooooo i didn't get to wear it. whoops i am digressing again sorry it is early in the morning when i am typing.

the next stop was to scotch wood dinner on rt 22 in scotch plains on the way home to pick up some take out pot roast for Dad as Mannys didn't have it on their specials today.

the interesting thing is that the waitresses at the Scotch wood have gotten to know me as Diana (they know Dave as well) and one allways wants to see my latest outfit!
as more places know both selves it has made it much much easier for me so that i don't have to look for those slowly disappearing phone booths to do the supper girl change. LOL
in fact for the most part i have been able to leave the house dressed as diana much of the time this whole spring . this again has made it much easier and has really saved me a lot of time as i can put on make up in about 15 min with good lighting maybe another 5min if i use mascara with out the worry of poking myself in the eye in the car.

after i got home (still dressed as diana hair and all) i of course snacked on some of the pot roast  as well while dad and i sat and discussed the days events over the dinning room table.

this was a truly great day and  even the drizzle let up for the afternoon!

hugs
Diana

Monday, January 24, 2011

Jan. 24, 2011 - another first dad gets to see me with my diana hair

well today is another first i came home from a event run by Lady ellen  which was a ballroom dance  group lesson at arther murry in green brook nj. and since i had been out as my other self dancing earlier in the afternoon to a swing band so i was recounting the days events to my dad. some how in a comment of the transgendered ballroom lesson the topic of hair came up and my dad asked what i did for hair and i said of course a wig. he said oh do you you have a wig (my dad at one time wore a custom made hair piece) i said would you like to see it? so i showed him and modeled it for him . ( of course i was still in the outfit i wore to the dance lesson which was a gray and white tunic sweater with black leggings and my new black sketchers boots which i changed to my guy ballroom shoes for the lesson) he said wow what a difference the hair makes! so he got to seem for the first time as diana! i think i can say yeaaaaay!  it is such a relief for me to be able to discuss my diana side with my dad finally. i also re-showed him some of the photos he had seen in the past but only once before several weeks ago after lady ellens fashon show.
now maybe i haven't given my dad enough credit as my dad has always been a live and let live kind of guy. but i misinterpreted his reaction several years ago when he found out by accident about my cross dressing that he was more "don't ask don't tell"

i am only sorry my mom didn't get to see me with the hair as diana or at least a photo of me as diana but at least i  did get to tell her about my being non transitioning-transgendered and i got to hear her say "so what we love you anyway".
hugs to all
Diana