March 31 is Transgender Day of Visibility.

It is nice to feel represented in modern society.  The person in our nation's highest elected office recognizes that transgender people exist.

https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2022/03/30/a-proclamation-on-transgender-day-of-visibility-2022/ 

The person in Nevada's highest elected office recognizes that transgender people exist.

https://twitter.com/GovSisolak/status/1509224051918573568 

I know that both of these leaders have done things in the past that don't exemplify the values they express today AND I acknowledge that it's possible that maybe these people have learned and evolved.  More than anything, I appreciate that there is a change from the previous Administration's effort to return any non hetero person to the stone age or 1950's.

So... tomorrow is Transgender Day of Visibility.

I've aspired to participate in years past but never have succeeded. My wife and I have a recurring event bi-weekly Thursday nights.  I will be attending tomorrow's event in a dress.  

Go out there and be visible!

Heather.

My observations:

 Hi

After two days publicly crossdressed I recognized that at Pirate Fest and Drag Queen Bingo there was no real sense of unity in how the attendees were dressed.  I found that maybe half of the people at Pirate Fest were in street clothes. I wasn't in a pirate type outfit but having a peasant inspired outfit made sense to me. There were people in Kilts. There were Captain Jack Sparrow imitators. There was at least one furry. There were also folks in Steampunk garb.  Ultimately, it's nice to see people attending the events and visiting the vendors and it's good to see families out in the park.  

I told my Mom that we had attended the Drag Queen Bingo event.  She asked me if anyone was dressed up in the audience.  I told her that only the Drag Queens and I were dressed up.  I think she was taken aback and replied that she's glad we had fun.  

At Bingo there were a few people dressed "to go out."  My wife and kids looked pretty nice, a dress and skirts.  I didn't walk through the entire room, we arrived late so I didn't see everyone coming in or leaving but there was one woman in a lovely 1940's style red polka-dot dress that really caught my eye.  A couple of other women were wearing nice dresses, on par with mine or maybe a step above it. I don't recall seeing any of the men wearing anything above business casual "Friday" clothing.  Mostly dressed to go to Wal-Mart on a Sunday afternoon.  It's a bit of a bummer.  

I think the charitable organizations found the event to be worthwhile and are planning a return of the Drag Queens.  I WILL be attending in the future.

Two days. TWO DAYS en femme!

Hi!

Here is what I was going to type but saved it as a draft.

Going out is a bit scary, though.  Every time I've been in public in my hometown, dressed as Heather has had an "excuse" - - - Halloween. 

Attending Drag Queen Bingo will be different. People I know and people who know me will be there. My kids will be there. This will make it a bit easier. My wife will be there, reluctantly. She's not thrilled to do anything in public. She's not a fan of drag queens. Being with me dressed as Heather in public makes her uncomfortable.  

Kids and I went to Pirate Fest. I was going to wear my sundress but instead chose to wear my regular outfit of brown peasant style skirt and a new to me peasant style peasant blouse.  It was bigger than last year. We had a great day.  On the way home I stopped to pick up a frozen pizza at grocery store. I didn't fret about going in the store in a skirt and blouse and used the self check..  

AND we did drag queen bingo! I wore my pretty dress for the second time since buying it at Dress Barn so many years ago. So long ago that it was before Dress Barn closed and was reanimated as an online only entity.  I did see people I know.  I don't think there were as many people from the community at the event as there were people from the groups sponsoring it.  All in all, many of the people who I knew didn't initially recognize me.  In my opinion, I wasn't the best dressed attendee, bummer.  I was among the best dressed maybe in the top three or five.  It was fun.  

I admit I'm exhausted.

Bedtime.

Goodnight

The weekend is here. Lots of plans.

 Hello everyone!

Welcome to Saturday.

Thursday afternoon I get a text from my youngest kid. "Pirate Fest" is happening this weekend!

I reply, "Yay!💥, Seriously?"

Other kid replies, "Indeed."

Me, "Who approved that? I'm interested but have to think about it."

In reality, there is no thinking about spending two whole days out and about in public as Heather. It's more about making sure that I don't really have other obligations or "must do" tasks planned.

Oldest says, "I thought it was in April, I'm glad I looked."

Me, "Highland Games are in April."

Youngest, "Is pirate fest AND drag queen bingo doable?"

Me, "I can pirate on Saturday and bingo Sunday."

Youngest, "That would be lovely if we can, I wanna dress up in my hand made costume."

Me, "Sounds perfect."

So, after working FIFTY hours per week almost every week for months and not really getting many days to really sit and relax, I'm going to have a great day out. Last year's Pirate Fest was the first "big" event held during the pandemic era and I imagine this year will be even bigger.  I think we've been to Pirate Fest three times in the past.  It's just a fun day out.

I'm looking forward to being out today, the weather is supposed to be sunny and warm.  I promise to wear sunblock, drink plenty of water and have a good day.

Have a great weekend

Heather!

I'm here, I'm alive,.

 Hi everyone,

Been busy. Our office has been on overtime for MONTHS.  I've worked five ten-hour days nearly every week since September plus regular activities and volunteering a couple Saturdays per month.

I'm exhausted.  It's financially rewarding but phew. 

Back in January I got sick. It went around the office like wildfire. Five days out of work. I absolutely hate being sick. I think that part of the reason most of us at work got sick is that we've been working so many hours, some are working eleven hours and Saturdays had been offered and that led to everyone being overtired and not having enough personal time to do nothing so our bodies could keep our immunities up.  

When I volunteer, it's a completely different situation from work. We have a fairly tight-knit group working together, we all know our tasks and do what we need to do. It's a combination of physical and mental work and very fulfilling. We work anywhere from 8 -12 hours, usually twice a month.

About a month ago, I'd heard that one of my favorite places was holding an open house. I'd told my kids and one of my friends about the event.  Kids and friend were excited to go but friend backed out at the last minute. This gave me the ability to dress differently than if he'd gone.  

We drove to Boulder City, NV to visit the Nevada Southern Railway's open house.  Youngest wore her homemade rainbow dress and oldest looked like a mid-century lovely.  I wore leggings and a knit pullover.  If nothing else, we were colorful.  We toured all of their exhibits except the engine house.  We took a ride on the train.  It was a fantastic day.

I'm working my way up to being comfortable in public dressed however I'm dressed. It's hard. It's scary. It's totally worth it. Ultimately, nobody really cares. When we were at the Railway, I interacted with lots of people and never felt like they were staring at me or treating me differently.

Twice a month, my wife and I have been going to therapy.  I think it's been a good thing.  One of these times I'll attend my session in a dress. I've already worn the leggings with the knit pullover top. Her office is in a nicer area of Las Vegas, on the second story of a building with a couple of restaurants and offices.  When I'm not in my hometown, I don't worry as much about how I'm dressed or who sees me.  There are places in Vegas that I know that my co-workers go and I try to tone it down in case someone might be there.  Some would take it well and others probably wouldn't.  I can't say how it would be received even though they've all seen me on Halloween.

That's it for now.

I'll be on again soon. I'll share the adventures from Drag Queen Bingo.

Heather.

Bingo?

 A friend is associated with a non-profit group. The non-profit is joining a couple of other non-profits to hold a fundraiser. It will be a drag queen bingo event. The friend asked me today if I'm going and will I dress up for bingo?

I'm interested in going and haven't thought about dressing up. Hmmm.

That could be fun.

Wow.

Thirty bucks a pop to attend. It could be worth it.