Ramblings. and Ramblings!

 Hi friends,

My spouse and I have been into buying and selling stuff forever. 30 years ago, we would go to auctions and buy box lots and hold a yard sale to make some side money. 20 years ago, we would go to auctions to buy box lots and sell the better stuff on eBay. For a couple years, we had a space in an antique mall where we would sell a range of crazy stuff in our 8' by 10' space. The antique mall wasn't a huge moneymaker for us.  It usually made enough to pay the space rent but it rarely brought enough to compensate either of us for spending both days working a full shift.

eBay has become an expensive site to sell on. Craigslist isn't easy to deal with the spam and bots trying to scam us. Facebook marketplace just doesn't bring results.

But... But we still monitor the sites where we used to buy. The main auction house we used has transitioned (LOL) to not selling "general estates" and the "anything or everything" in-person auctions where we could purchase huge boxes of stuff, filled with crazy, random things have gone away. That auction house is now selling online merchandise returns and online estate auctions.

The online return sales are pretty amazing. It's much like the way eBay was when it started, before every item was seemingly priced at full retail. There are deals to be had. Most of the return item auctions bidding start at one Dollar and the increments are also one Dollar. The most interesting thing is that the auction house allows returns on the return item sales if it isn't as described.

We started seriously looking at the return stuff sales at the end of last year. My spouse has figured out a way to affordably buy household stuff that we can use around the house, ground and Keurig coffee, we've gotten stuff for our cats including canned food, a couple of radios, all sorts of neat stuff. The best part though, is the clothing. For a Dollar or five, there are some great clothes we've gotten. Yesterday I picked up our 12 purchases. The listings are pretty crappy so we have to decipher what it is we're bidding on, the photos don't always show the important stuff like the size tag. This is why it's good that things are returnable if misrepresented.  I bought a bra that was supposed to be and sold as a 44C but when I opened the bag, the marking on the inside of the bra clearly said 36B. I think the most I've spent on a single piece of clothing is about $15 to buy a bra that retails for about $55. Most of the stuff I'd picked up yesterday was MINE! A gold velvet skirt and a weird black blouse that looks good with the gold skirt. An LBD with spaghetti straps. A navy dress with white Polka-dots. A black & white sleeveless mini-dress and a box of six robin's egg blue tank tops. I think I paid $7 for all six of those. There were only a couple of non-clothing items purchased, more SF Coffee Co Fog Chaser pods, waterless pet shampooing wipes and a pair of evil looking "mole killer" things that my spouse will turn into scrap metal.

My ultimate goal is to wear women's clothing exclusively. I'm building up my wardrobe to make this happen. So far pants are the hardest part to find.  It's really critical to try them on to know how they fall on my body.  Skirts, dresses, tops, underwear, leggings and socks are pretty easy to find and fit. Shoes are sometimes iffy because I have wide feet.  I have one pair of pants that I would wear but my shape and their shape weren't compatible.

Nellisauction.com in case you're wondering where I'm buying.  I don't think they will ship the stuff you buy if you're not able to pick it up at their warehouses. 

Time to ramble on about a different subject.  Travel!

Last Christmas, my oldest kid struggled to give good gifts at Christmas.  She decided to use her heart.  She made a generous donation in my spouse's name to a beloved charity. The Loon Preservation Society in New Hampshire.  She offered her mom and mom's fiancée a trip to see our son and his wife.  And for me, she offered to pay for a trip to the Nevada State Railroad Museum in Carson City, NV.  We have made reservations to go up there in the near future.  We'll be taking my van and staying in Reno.  I don't know what events or attractions will be seen when we're there. I'm excited! I can't remember if I've driven through Carson City ever. I've driven from from Vegas to Bridgeport, Ca once and from Vegas to Reno for an event at Lake Tahoe once. I think I may have driven through Carson City on the return drive but it was back in 1999 and specific details about that trip are fuzzy.

The big news about this trip will be that Heather and the two kids are the only ones going. There will be no "backup plan" for me to revert to boy mode. I may not even take shorts! Skirts and dresses, only! Heck, I've got some really nice new clothes for this trip.  I'm going to have to figure out how to navigate the world as Heather for the entire trip.  It's exciting and a bit scary but since the kids will be with me, I should have no problem dealing with what may come.

Hopefully I'll be able to take some photos and share them here.

Thanks for stopping by!

Heather

Independence Day

 Hello,

I was invited by my kids to celebrate Independence Day at their home for a pool party.  They were grilling some burgers and hot dogs, having a few friends from their office over and just hanging out.

I've met one of the women before, she's got a great personality.  I've shown photos to her of my kids and me when we've gone out to Ren Faire.  The other two were new acquaintances.  I don't know if my kids gave the three a heads-up or not but they told me that Heather was welcome.

I admit to being a bit nervous, being in the company of new people but it was fun.

I have a black one-piece swimsuit that I wore under my dress for the drive and when it was time to swim, I swapped my dress for a thin slip style cover-up.  My biggest fears were revealing too much because the suit didn't have much lining at the bottom front and having a fake boob fall out of the swimsuit.  Neither happened. The cover-up did its job almost perfectly, while in the water it was pretty flowy. When I got out of the water, the thing was nearly sheer.  I was almost feeling overexposed! 

After the friends left, I told my youngest that I didn't give myself an "out." I only had female type clothes with me again.  I need to build the confidence to just be comfortable in the world. 

Have a good summer.  I'll check in soon.

Transgender Day of Visibility redux

 Hi!

It's 12:05 on Friday April 1, 2022.

I'm sitting at my desk in my bra and panties.  We just got home from our regularly scheduled Thursday therapist appointment.  I went to our appointment in my pretty dress.  

Our therapist opened the door and looked at me and at first didn't recognize me. I waved and she did a double take and smiled. It felt great to be there, like really there.

Along the way, we stopped to pick up a drive thru burger. It was a great experience.

For the first time, I've been out on TDOV en femme.  

Okay, I've been up since 4:30 am. I am tired.  

Heather

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!