Archive for October, 2009
Posted by Shirley Anne on October 31, 2009
Today, as almost every day, I will look in at some other people’s blogs and make comment there. In her blog called ‘Patent Pending’, Jillian is writing about her experiences through transition and now, a couple of weeks after her operation she is writing about her experiences with dilation. It is a very necessary routine which we must go through when we have this kind of surgery. It is essential for maintaining the vagina. It gets better though and becomes a once a week affair after a year or so. Last night I was having a session of dilating and fell asleep only to wake up two and a half hours later with the dilator still in place! How coincidental that she should be writing about dilating today.
Sometimes when I am writing something down the same word that I am writing is being spoken on the television which is normally on in the background. It’s uncanny and happens more often than not.
They say that when you have lived with somebody for a long time you become atuned to their thoughts. This I have found to be true. I have lived with my ex. for 35 years and often she can or I can predict each other’s actions. This I think is not merely coincidence though but quite often she will say something or do something that I was thinking of doing too.
Maybe life is full of coincidences or maybe not?
Shirley Anne
Posted in Behaviour, Paranormal | Tagged: Behaviour, Paranormal | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Shirley Anne on October 30, 2009
Last night I went into Liverpool, a trip of about 22 miles, to see a movie. My tickets were free but I had no idea what film I would be watching until the lights dimmed. Before we went in we were asked to complete a short questionaire about ourselves from the sponsor of the free show, the Volkswagon group. We were each then given a ‘goodie bag’ containing a snack, chocolate liqueur, facial and body creams, coffee drink etc. and the canvas bag itself. We went into the cinema in expectation but weren’t disappointed with the movie that was presented. It was Mamma Mia. Now when the film started I was a bit unsure because this kind of movie would not normally have been my first choice and I don’t generally like musicals anyway. However I settled into it and was pleasantly surprised. The music of course was first rate and the actors performed very well. The storyline was a bit of a damp squib though. All in all a really good movie and I enjoyed it immensely. We arrived back home fairly late in the evening, sometime after 11pm and as I’d had a difficult working day I was keen to get some shut-eye. I was quickly asleep by midnight. I woke up around 8.45am and was getting dressed when I realised I should have been paying Lauren a visit. Lauren is my electrologist, amongst the many other talents she has in her beauty studio she does electrolysis. Yes, I should have been there. I put it down to age…..LOL. So I will see her next week. Today, so far that is, I have no work so I might indulge myself and go out. Well you only live once! Hope your day turns out ok.
Shirley Anne
Posted in General Chat | Tagged: General Chat | 2 Comments »
Posted by Shirley Anne on October 29, 2009
It’s been one of those days again! The morning started with parking restrictions and waiting for my client to turn up on site. In my town’s centre there are severe parking restrictions unless you park at a meter. The problem with my job this morning was that I wasn’t near any meters. The idea was to simply drop off materials and tools etc. go park somewhere and return to do the job. This I finally did but I nearly got booked when I was dropping off materials. The nearest official parking bay for doing that was quite a distance from the job. It’s not as if unloading where I was would be causing a problem as it was a wide street with one way traffic. So I started the job which was a simple one but did it go ok? No way! It was one of the most awkward jobs I’ve done recently. Well I finally finished and went to collect my van which I’d parked a quarter mile away. Talk about time wasting. I went on to my next job 13 miles away. Thank goodness that one went well!
Tonight I am going to the movies. I had thought it was last night but no, it’s tonight. I am using two free access tickets but don’t know yet which film I’ll see. I am dining out beforehand. It has been a very busy week for me and this time of year, that is September through to Christmas, is the busiest time of the year. Usually when I come home in the evenings I am quite tired but I am always up for a night out…LOL
Shirley Anne
Posted in Activity, Entertainment, Work | Tagged: Activity, Entertainment, Work | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Shirley Anne on October 28, 2009
This morning as I set out to work I was wearing a coat. It wasn’t long before I had to remove it. It is so warm and sunny today you’d be forgiven for thinking it was still Summer. It appears we are being fed warm air from the Iberian peninsular, Spain for the uninitiated, this has kept the temperature hovering around 17/18 C. Coupled with bright sunshine it is just like Summer again! We quite often get what we call an Indian Summer in late September or early October, which is really what I have just described but it is almost November! However, rain is still forecast for the rest of the week.
Shirley Anne
Posted in Weather | Tagged: Weather | 2 Comments »
Posted by Shirley Anne on October 27, 2009
I was just thinking………I do that sometimes, I am sitting here doing practically nothing having just eaten lunch and my thoughts turned to all the activity surrounding me. Not in my room, although hidden from human eyes there are many things going on in the microscopic realm. I was thinking more of the activity down the street and in town. People milling about shopping, eating, drinking, looking at paintings in the art gallery, watching a movie, in fact hundreds of different things. The world goes on without us doesn’t it? The whole planet is thwart with activity of one sort or another and there are probably countless different things going on. How many of them will you be doing? How many will I be doing? Who knows? The thing is though that we will be doing something, anything that relieves the boredom that would otherwise ensue. I wonder about life quite often, why we are here, what follows, does it all matter? We are born to live out our lives and that is all we can do. We have no control over that but we do have control in what we do during our lives, so get out there and do something.
Shirley Anne
Posted in Activity | Tagged: Activity | 2 Comments »
Posted by Shirley Anne on October 26, 2009
Sometimes things go not so well and at other times they do. That’s life. Yesterday I was thinking back to June when my ex. and I visited New York and met up with a couple of friends there, Jakkie and Linda. One day we went to the cinema, ok the movies, to see ‘The Proposal’. Unfortunately I fell asleep and missed half of it! When we got home my ex. informed me that she had received two free tickets to preview a movie here in the UK. We chose ‘The Proposal’. Again, yesterday I was thinking about free tickets and wondered if we’d ever get another, well today we did. So we are off to Liverpool on Wednesday to see a movie for free! It’s nice to get things for free occasionally don’t you think?
Shirley Anne
Posted in Life | Tagged: Entertainment, Life | 1 Comment »
Posted by Shirley Anne on October 25, 2009
This morning I lay in bed until 10 O’Clock and felt so much that I needed to. The early hours of this morning marked the end of Summer daylight saving when our clocks returned to GMT, an hour behind. That meant in essence an extra hour to lie in bed if I wished to. Even though I felt tired I got up and dressed in my sports clothes. I went downstairs and spent an hour on the treadmill. After that I felt quite the opposite from ‘tired’. I felt invigourated and recharged, I was fit for anything. Naturally I wouldn’t overdo things, that would be unwise but the fact that I’d exercised made all the difference. I’d also burned off 360 calories! Now that can’t be bad! By the time I’d bathed and dressed it was lunchtime. I’d missed breakfast of course so lunch tasted that much better. I am feeling just great now and ready for what the day might bring.
Shirley Anne x
Posted in Health | Tagged: Activity, Exercise, Health | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Shirley Anne on October 24, 2009
It turns out that today I shall be on a ‘Busman’s Holiday’. For those who don’t know that expession, it means I will be working on my day off work! I will be doing what we call a love job, that is a job we do for somebody free. Afterwards I might do some home maintenance if I’ve the time. A bathroom at home needs new taps (faucets) for the wash basin. Actually the whole bathroom furniture is something I would like to change but I guess that will have to wait. I have nothing else planned for today, that is nothing special!
Shirley Anne
Posted in Work | Tagged: Work | 3 Comments »
Posted by Shirley Anne on October 23, 2009
Here am I sitting all alone and wondering what the weekend will bring for me. Life can be so tedious for me these days and all I seem to be doing is work, work, work. Or is it? That’s not quite true. There are many things I have to occupy me but it is so easy to forget the things I do on a regular basis. That is because of their familiarity. Many things I do often and as a result they can become boring or mundane. What is it that will satisfy my lust for something new? Probably nothing. The problem is I get bored too easily. There are things I like to do but the best things involve people. I enjoy the simplicity of meeting people and chatting with them maybe over a drink or two or over a meal. Very little else for me can compare with this. I enjoy my own company for certain activities, work is one, playing my guitar is another and going for a walk another. Something might turn up for the weekend or it might not. I may make plans or I may not. I am finding that in my later years nothing really matters at all. In a recent post I invited my readers to read the book of Ecclesiastes in the Bible (Old Testament). I challenged them to do so. Whether that was taken up I am not sure for I got no response. Many people will shy away from a suggestion to read Scripture for one of many reasons known best to themselves. Many will say they don’t believe. No problem with that but if they don’t believe then there is no challenge to them and no reason not to read it. I suspect they may feel challenged as a result of reading Scripture and it is that which prevents them doing so. One way or the other still doesn’t matter. That is the message. Live your lives in this meaningless exsistence because it is all we can do. Enjoy your weekend.
Shirley Anne
Posted in Life, Religion | Tagged: Activity, Behaviour, People, Religion | 2 Comments »
Posted by Shirley Anne on October 22, 2009
One of the regular places my ex. and I visit is throwing a food tasting evening tonight by invitation only. The idea is that you get to sample every item on their new menu and then fill out a questionaire regarding what opinions you have about each dish. It’s all free! However we have to buy any drinks we want but that is only reasonable. So four of us are going, my daughter-in-law, my ex., my friend John and myself. Should be a fun evening.
Shirley Anne x
Posted in Food, Fun | Tagged: Food, Fun | 1 Comment »
Posted by Shirley Anne on October 21, 2009
I suppose everyone has dreams. I am talking about those you have whilst asleep. This morning at about 3.30 I woke up to go visit ‘Percy’ of porcelain fame…LOL As I awoke I was laughing, chuckling, giggling because of a situation in my dream. I find I do that sometimes. It was one of those dreams where everything is mixed up but it was something that my sister had said to me in my dream which caused me to laugh. Some of my dreams are a bit scary, some are simply weird and some are very happy but zany too. I never wake up in a cold sweat because of the content of my dreams so I guess all is normal. Some people have nightmares but I cannot say that even my scary ones are nightmares. I think that your dreams reflect and are influenced by your current situation in life. If things are going well I find my dreams, if I am aware of them, are mild affairs. I am glad my dreams are not disturbing.
Shirley Anne
Posted in General Chat | Tagged: General Chat | 4 Comments »
Posted by Shirley Anne on October 20, 2009
I saw a program on TV last night which reported on the story of an eight year old girl who was genetically born a boy and who lived with her parenta in Tuscon, Arizona. It told of her desire at a very early age to be the girl she felt she was, to dress as a girl and be treated as such. It is not unusual for very young children to be aware of their gender dysphoria even though they don’t understand what it is. They instinctively know that there is something wrong and that they should be the opposite gender than that which they are assumed to be. I know this to be true because the same was my experience. The difference is that this young girl has very understanding parents who have realised the psychological pressure their daughter was going through when she was being treated as a boy and took the steps to ensure that she is now treated as the girl she really is. When she reaches puberty or rather just before then she will be better able to decide whether she wants to continue into womanhood or not. She has the support of her doctors and she will commence testosterone blocking drugs at the right time until she is old enough to start hormone treatment and have GRS (Gender re-assignment surgery). It is a sad fact that many children go through their lives with this condition without the support or understanding of those around them and have to wait until they are adults before any action can be taken. By then it has become more difficult in many ways. I applaud this young girl’s parents for realising their child’s needs and acting in a proper way toward her. I feel the whole subject of transsexualism should be taught in schools for many of today’s adult population have no understanding of a condition that many among them suffer.
Shirley Anne
Posted in Transgender, Transsexual | Tagged: Family, Transgender, Transsexual | 2 Comments »
Posted by Shirley Anne on October 19, 2009
It was back in 1990 when I was involved with children’s Sunday school in my (then) church when I decided to take up playing the guitar. Over the years I had always had a secret yearning to play an instrument and particularly a guitar but I never did. I came close once when I was 22. I was out looking for a place to eat with my work buddy and we came across a shop selling musical instruments. We saw a lovely guitar and I was tempted to buy it but failed to do so. Looking back, that was a mistake because it was 23 years later that I bought one and it was much harder by then to learn. However my heart was set on learning even it was only for the children at church. So I learned to play a few cords and the children loved it. After a year or so I was invited to join the church band but I still had lots to learn. I stayed in the band for about six years. I persevered and practiced every day and gradually became competant or reasonably so. I left that church in 1998 and then I had nowhere to play my guitar. I played for personal pleasure and have done ever since. I took a backward step and left off playing for five years in 1999 but resumed playing again in 2004. That is a total of 16 years playing now and I am so glad I continued with it because it gives me great pleasure and is very relaxing. I own a Fender accoustic guitar and it appears to be the envy of those who see it. I took it in for repairs to the ‘nut’. For those who are not guitarists, the nut is the band of ivory/plastic over which the strings pass as they leave the machine head…the part where the adjustments are made. While it was in the shop other customers wanted to buy it. Yes I love my guitar and now play it every day when I am able.
Shirley Anne
Posted in Hobbies, Music | Tagged: Activity, Hobbies, Music | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Shirley Anne on October 19, 2009
When I get up in the morning I can never quite decide what to eat for breakfast. Shall I have porridge, museli, cornflakes or shall I have something different for a change? I am supposed to be on a low fat, low cholesterol diet which means I have to eat healthily. By and large I do that but once in a while I treat myself to something less healthy but not that unhealthy. It is the same with other meals I have. However I do like to ‘concoct’ a meal, invent something from what I have available at the time. Sometimes this means mixing ingredients that would otherwise not usually be on the same plate together. By experimenting like this I have had some really tasty food. We tend to stick to the rules when it comes to food but if we are more adventurous we can come up with all sorts of tasty things. Even simple dishes can be all that much more tasty by adding an unusual ingredient. For instance, finely chop an onion and fry in oil until soft but not necessarily golden, just enough to sweeten it. Now add baked beans and warm through. Place on a bed of toast as you might normally do. One simple addition makes this dish just that bit nicer. You might like to top that with a soft fried egg too. All it takes is some imagination and a willingness to try different things and you will surprise yourself. I do this with main meals too and I have made some really interesting and tasty food as a result.
Now what shall I have for breakfast?
Shirley Anne
Posted in Food | Tagged: Food | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Shirley Anne on October 18, 2009
Wednesday 14th was an anniversary day for me. Seven years ago I had my operation. The day almost passed me by unnoticed and when I did realise I didn’t celebrate or anything but just remembered back to that day seven years ago when my whole life changed. A friend in Canada has just had her operation and low and behold it was on the same date! Pure coincidence. As I read about her progress it brings the memories flooding back. I don’t dwell on the past though, what’s been has gone but it’s nice to remember the good times in one’s life. My next anniversary will be 21st November, my birthday. These days I don’t celebrate that date, in fact I don’t really celebrate any special days for myself but do like to treat those around me on their special days. New Year means to me just the next day and I never celebrate it. I suppose being a Christian I should enjoy celebrating on 25th December but the fact is I don’t, instead I celebrate being a Christian every day of the year. Anniversaries are to me, simply days to remember moments in my life. I prefer to look forward rather than backward.
Shirley Anne
Posted in History | Tagged: History, Time | Leave a Comment »
