Favourite quote

What counts in life is not the mere fact that we have lived.
It is what difference we have made to the lives of others that will determine the significance of the life we lead.
- Nelson Mandela

Wednesday, December 28, 2016

Ahh, holidays

Holidays are great, they are a time with family and friends
and a time when we can be ourselves.

Today started at 3 am, with Miss 19 and 4 friends waking up around the house. Miss 19 needed to be at the airport 2 hours later for a flight to Wellington, while her 4 friends drove down (1 hour flight verses an 8 hour drive). They all meet up with the rest of the gang later in the day to start the New Years party which should end in 4 nights time.

Miss 19 also left me, her recommended selection of her expensive make up to use while she is away.
I have such great kids or should I say young adults?

At 5.30 am I went for my first swim in ages due to my shoulder injury. After this mornings 500 meter swim it would appear that it's only the backstroke technique that aggravates my injury.

If I can get back up to 1,500 meters I should be able to lose this Christmas Pudding weight that I've gained these last few weeks.
Wife saw the photos of me at the pools and asked who else saw me, I told her there was 5 elderly Asians and I didn't get their names so can't really answer her. She did see the humour in my answer.







At about 9.30 am, Miss 18 borrowed our family car to go on a 2 day holiday a couple of hours away up north. As her group all have restricted drivers license, they all have to take a separate car. To my way of thinking that's 4 girls with under 18 months driving experience, who will be on the road as opposed to 1 driver with limited experience with 3 friends. Apparently there is some statistic that says 4 young drivers in 4 cars is safer than 4 young adults in 1 car - it's all about limiting driver distractions.

10 am and I've picked up my girlfriend Josie for a lovely morning coffee and beach walk. It's absolutely amazing how quickly and fun a few hours in girl mode can be, chatting out our required 3,000 words, that blokes can't handle. In my normal male mode, 3,000 words is a week or 2 worth yet so natural in a few hours of girl time.

Wife and I are off to Wellington in a few days to join my kids "after New Years" party and check out the area. So except for at home, I will be in boy mode for the next 2 weeks.

I hope you have a great New Year, be safe and I'll write to you next year.

Rachel xxx



Sunday, December 25, 2016

Merry Christmas


I hope your having a great Christmas with the ones you love

It's Christmas day, if you classify 6.30 am as part of your day.
I've been up for an hour as per my normal "work mode" body clock, and having so many girls means I'm the only one up for the next few hours
.
This week has been a bit of a breakout week.
I mean sure I've had girl time out briefly for a girl coffee, but if you remember last post I mentioned I couldn't really be bothered with my wig, well the last few days, I've not bothered.
Unfortunately the photos look like a balding man who wants to be a female.
Sometimes life sucks as I remember back to having long hair in my youth, but the main point of life is to have fun, which I always do, regardless of which personality is in charge.

Warning Photo of old man who doesn't like being old  :)

Relaxing by the beach and coffee at Hollywood Bakery at a busy shopping mall 2 days before Christmas





At local coffee shop where the staff know me very well in both boy mode and girl mode.





















At the movies watching "Rogue One" in a white tee, skin jeans and my favorite black and gold flats, no bra as I'm endeavouring to be more gender neutral.


BTW - I'm not a fan of Rogue One, to big on computerized shots, to small on script and acting.

















My Boxing Day outing, both with my wig and without (to show how scary I look without the wig) The staff at McDonalds where I had my coffee were very nice and used the correct gender when addressing me.








Boxing day also saw me getting my eyebrows waxed, threaded and shaped more feminine - I love the difference.







Sunday, December 18, 2016

Still asleep

Living the dream on 3 hours sleep.
Well Miss 19 had her birthday party, music went until 3.30am and at one stage she told me how much she loves me, at least she is a happy drunk.
This time "noise control" was not called in to shut down the party - that's a good sign of maturity. 

3 hours later and still half asleep
I had to sneak out this morning as there were quite a few bodies scattered on anything that looked like a sleeping spot. I now appreciate those who tend to live in cars, bloody hard trying to put make up on and look pretty while sitting in the driver's seat using the small vanity mirror. 
I wasn't sure if I could be bothered with my wig today but sitting at the cafe typing most of this, the wig just seems right.

Spent an hour at Sylvia Park shopping center - real busy due to Christmas, even this early as everyone tries to beat the crowd. Saw some lovely presents for my wife and checked out some teen books for Miss 14. 

I found it difficult getting the make up off in the car instead of when I'm at home next to the bathroom sink, as wife rung to advise me everyone was awake and looking forward to her late breakfast so my face and nails had to be ultra - un-girlie when I walked through the door. She was even waiting to check me while cooking the sausages.


7.30 am coffee
8.30-9am Coffee & Brownie at Sylvia Park

Friday, December 9, 2016

Doing a long haul

Well that's what the post office sells us when we go from Auckland to Wellington.
So Saturday will be 9 hours on the road with a trailer following me with my oldest girls stuff as she now lives full time in Wellington. Sunday is the journey back with an empty trailer.
Wife is coming for the ride so little or no girl time.
Actually I've got a beard now and not really interested in having girl time but this video was brought to my attention about voice training, so I may be practicing adjusting my voice from now.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsIGRWOTxRw

Sorry my link may not work with chrome, but it does with Explorer

Sunday, December 4, 2016

Hectic Summer started

Last weekend started with a bang as a 20 year old boy racer from up the street drifted sideways in his new car, past my house and through the neighbours fence. I know most of the people in my street and I spent Sunday with him rebuilding the fence as his dad was out of town and he had no idea how to re-build it. He had about 5 different stories as to why it wasn't his fault

This weekend, with money being allocated to Christmas, meant apart from a coffee and picking up essential stuff, which went over budget, left me with only gardening and mounting a large bird house to fill my time.

 

Local Saturday craft & produce market

Back yard looking better with more colourful plants

Front yard, lovely spot for a relaxing beer in this heat


My helpful little cat
Earthquake photos from NZ that you may have already seen.
The New Zealand Herald has recently also put on line a 3D graphic display from AUT geological department - very cool.

Saturday, November 19, 2016

So - out with my co-consciousness

Plan B - plan A was to to fire up the compressor early enough to wake the neighbourhood and put a clear coat of lacquer on the bonnet of my long suffering wagon, after doing such a nice job on wife & daughters car last weekend. Luckily for Plan B, it's raining and my wagon doesn't fit in the garage.

Plan B - Go out for an early morning coffee (8.30 am), read the nation paper and also get some cat food.
What I wasn't expecting, was a really nice young lady help me take photos for you (she saw my distress at trying to use my phone camera, which focused on everything except me). She even helped by mentioning I had lipstick on my teeth and grabbed a napkin to help wipe it off. I think she may have been a photography buff as she thought about back lighting etc. She took about 10 photos before her coffees were ready and trotting off to her partner who was waiting for her in their car.
People are so nice


I really like this skirt I picked up for $4 from the Op shop and have been itching to wear it.
This morning before getting dressed, I went outside with my beard trimmer and shaved my hairy legs, but it was only once I got back from my morning outing and put my glasses on that I realized my legs were still quite hairy in patches

Wednesday, November 16, 2016

Library, Coffee, Groceries, Pub in under 2 hours

Finished work, watched Liam Neeson movie, wife gets home so I prep and add a bit more clear gloss paint to the problem area of her car.
After dinner - 6.45 pm, I had to go library to drop off a book and quickly check a few others, I also had to buy milk and tampons at the supermarket, but while I was out I decided to have a coffee at McDonalds and a wine at the pub on the way home.
Got home at 9 pm, changed then set up my PC so my oldest daughter could practice her presentation with us, it's her last before picking up her degree.
Due to time constraints, make up was once again, concealer, mascara and lipstick only.
One day I'll wax my legs and get back in to skirts for summer.

Library
 

 


Saturday, November 12, 2016

Co Consciousness

My 23 year old daughter used the phrase when I told her how my brain works.
Apparently she learn it at Uni doing a psychology paper as part of her teaching degree.

Google gave me...

Research by Paul Dell has found that most multiples have subjective awareness more often than not while their others are out - this is called “co-consciousness”. 
http://dissociationawareness.tumblr.com/post/58947213572/myths-about-did-dissociation

Each alter has his or her own style and his or her own likes and dislikes. Alters also vary in age.
Different alters also have different needs
From http://www.healthyplace.com/blogs/dissociativeliving/2015/10/forming-relationships-with-alters-in-dissociative-identity-disorder/

                                                               *******************

Interestingly, this is the first time I've read anything close to how life is for me.

Having a "medical label" for my condition other than crossdresser, tranny, crazy, is kinda cool, 
I can just imagine a conversation at the pub.......
Mike "I've a 8 inch pistol"
me "I've a 9 inch canon and co-consciousness"
Mike will be thinking either I'm intelligent and scientific, or his beer glass needs a refill.

Well my plan for this morning, was to dress up with plenty of lace, dark eyeliner, dark wig and head out for coffee and spend a few hours of visiting the art gallery or similar.
My daughter turned up last night unexpectedly and wanted a cameraman for her school project this morning and dark eyeliner will probably make me look older so instead....
Quickly throwing Thin Lizzy concealer on (no other make up)....

I had a coffee, snack and read the national news paper across the road from a blood testing lab, waiting for some of the 20 people to have their tests. 


When I finished at the cafe and meandered to the lab, there was still 20 people waiting on the seats. 
Times like this, when my first and last name is called out in front of so many people, I wish there was a way I could officially have a different name as I was ushered in to "room 1".
As a blood donor, having a blood sample is no worse than scratching the parsley off your front teeth after a meal.


My take on the elections in the USA
Yes we have been bombarded with the news, mostly negative but think on this.
1) Your democracy, is the model the rest of the world wishes we had
2) What makes America great, is the American people and that hasn't changed.
3) You have had bad presidents before, and still done well.
So if you stick together as one people in one nation, doing your bit for your country, you will do well.

Saturday, October 29, 2016

Ugh - One of those weekends

I tend to wake up about 3 or 4 hours before wife does at the weekend and today was no exception.
Thursday while browsing an Op Shop I found a couple of skirts ($3USD each), one being what seems to be a compulsive requirement for crossdressers - leopard print.
Okay so it's my first leopard print, and I've been crossdressing since the age of 4. I blame the leopard print skirt, squarely at the feet of Joanna Lumley and her TV series Absolutely Fabulous.
So my day started early, with coffee and a trip to the beach since it's looking like the perfect early summer day, patted a few dogs walking their humans, but left the beach before 8.30.
 

So wife did advise me as Saturday was scheduled as a working bee day, that if I woke her with coffee at 8.30, it would also be a good time for special cuddles. I so got her coffee, got ready for special cuddles but didn't realize that she had been reading up last night about the University riots in South Africa. It was not a subject that promoted bedroom intimacy, and after 45 minutes I decided to start the working bee by hiring a trailer while wearing a pretty bra and tight white top but otherwise still looking like my driver licence photo that the attendant had to check. Hours later the years of rubbish from renovations were at the rubbish tip.

For Halloween, I decided that the character Gru from Despicable Me 2, would be great, as in when he played a fairy at his daughters party.
Just need a bald cap, but wife doesn't want me using her dress :(




















SUNDAY morning - just a bit of grocery shopping and a coffee to start what is an otherwise busy day painting the fence.



Auckland city is have some major changes, which is good since we have high levels of cruise liners visiting, but parts of downtown look like a demolition site, which it is.

No that's not a ghost of a cruise liner tourist haunting the old Downtown shopping complex on the bottom left, it's my smart phone doing a HDR photo.

Monday, October 24, 2016

Long weekend with a difference

Friday -  midnight, dropped 3 of my girls off in the city to go clubbing. I remember the days when I used to dance all night with lots of hot girls. Now my girls are the hot girls and I'm to old to get past the bouncers.

Saturday - 4 am and 5 drunk and danced out kids crash at my house, sounds like they had a blast.
                  5 am and wife's facebook app starts kicking off as relatives from the other side of the
                            world start posting
                  6 am and it's fun bedroom time :)
                  7 am and we need milk for our morning coffee, but I wasn't in the mood for full
                            dress up, so I didn't do makeup or a wig, and instead went to the
                            supermarket exactly like this scary outfit.



Semi-transparent "bright orange" top (don't know why the camera sees it as the colour it does), shiny black pants, jandals and painted toe nails.

At first I was scared to get out the car, thinking "what the hell am I doing". But once I was in the shop I realized how FREE I really was. I was at peace with myself and feeling very confident with just being me.
So with that revelation, I realized the wig and makeup isn't to make me a girl - it's there so as not to scare you  :)




Saturday 11 am - Just a though that I should share - reports from the kids clubbing is that the straight clubs they visited are boring and full of guys with bad attitudes whereas they reckon gay club really rocked, go figure.

Monday morning outing.
Amazing dawn with the sky glowing pink, I had hoped to photograph it for you from the Auckland Museum but got there to late, so went to Greenland McDonalds for a coffee and to read the newspaper (ie. passing the time waiting for shops to open)
 




















Finished that to early, so visited Sylvia Park where I needed to eventually buy stuff for Miss 18 studies, so decided to have breakfast, read some software code (I haven't done C++ for about 12 years). On the way home I stopped at my local supermarket, I think they are getting used to "the crazy old (wo) man"
 








Sunday, October 16, 2016

Woke up feeling naughty

Wishing you were here.
I'm getting tech savvy with my first post from my phone, it's great having such a versatile device.
Anyway I digress, 7 am and due to a late night my wife will sleep another few hours.
Being in a naughty mode, means ultra short skirt, bright red lipstick, big boobs etc. My first choice shiny top was to figure hugging around my shoulders. Glad I don't have a shiny maids outfit as it's probably not appropriate for the coffee shop even if it matched my mood.


After a breakfast coffee I found myself drawn to KMart for a t-shirt I liked while there last night with my girls. While I could have tried on the t-shirt then, I really wanted to see how it hung with boobs on. I liked it this morning so much I got one orange and one blue for what will hopefully be a warm summer.