It's been just over a week, and more real life has happened (big surprise, huh?), so have an update!
I finished off with the Easter dinner last week. So, picking up the next day...
Monday:
Electrolysis Day, two 2 hour sessions, morning and afternoon, with a lunch break at The Usual Place. The waitress, Rita, sees me coming and puts my order in.
I'm so damn predictable. My 26 year old youngest daughter called me during lunch and we had a nice little conversation. The morning electrolysis session cleared my lips and chin area, and the afternoon cleared the left jawline to neck area.
Tuesday:
Taxes are done, payment mailed. Did some grocery shopping, poked around town a bit, then came home to do some paperwork. Light day!
Wednesday:
The weather is warming up, and I need to expand my tiny (no, really) wardrobe a bit. I did need some shoes a bit lighter and more vented than my winter calf and ankle boots, so I picked up a nice pair with a modest 2" chunk heel that should work well with some of the light flare and wide-leg pants that I have in mind. Did a bunch of window shopping, and had a light lunch before heading off to visit my gender therapist an hour away. We had a little group session (3 persons) scheduled, which was both helpful and a nice social interaction. I got dinner afterward and headed back home.
Thursday:
Mohs surgery today! The atypical fibroxanthoma on the crown has to go. Dr. Michael and his assistant were very nice, friendly, and polite. No issues about my appearance, or my detachable hair! We actually worked out using the wig cap and wig as part of the bandaging system over the surgery site. I had a chemo cap (a cute floppy cap in gray linen with a baseball cap style brim, made oversized for chemo and head surgery patients) in my supplies just in case wearing the hairpiece was out during the initial healing period, but it won't be needed. I rested and just did a little window shopping the remainder of the day.
Friday:
Shopping! I had a number of nice things I had finally decided on, so I ran out to the shops and started accumulating material goods.
Jeans and good ole T-shirts I got, along with a light everyday dress and a couple nicer skirts, so most of what I was looking for was comfortable and cool but dressier clothing. I picked up some tuck flare wide leg pleated pants in black and a slightly tan pink, drape crew-neck short sleeve Ts in black and white, and a long sleeve v-neck drape T in that tan pink shade. I can mix all of these with other items in my wardrobe pretty easily for professional day and eveningware that will be comfortable in the heat.
Then I met up with some friends from the Diablo Valley Girls for lunch. I rested for a little while and did a few chores, then went off to an amateur radio club charity auction. I got outbid on a lovely late model Heathkit complete radio station, but I scored a Swan 500CX transceiver with matching power supply, speaker, and (LOL!) phone patch for $20. Yes, its a drifty rig and it eats expensive final amplifier tubes like peanuts if one is not careful, but I am careful. No worries...
Saturday
Weekend Activist time! Science March in the morning, then off to our family homeless shelter to fix lunch. Knocked out 10 grilled cheese sandwiches, 10 with ham, and another volunteer put the tomato soup together. We had a break, then onto dinner service, beef bourguignon with egg noodles and some sides. Service and cleanup were done at 8, then home for the night.
Sunday:
Early services, with a pretty neat sermon about expectations and trying to do good with no certainty as to outcome (sound familiar?), then hung out for the coffee hour as a churchmember rather than staff for once.
Lunchtime for our guests in the shelter, with leftovers and salad. We had another fairly long break, which I used to clean my apartment, then back for dinner service. One of our guests, a caterer, made a mushroom lentil soup and a fish vegetable soup that were completely from scratch (she started them on Saturday), along with her secret raw dressing for our salad. Dinner was the two soups, salad, a fried rice dish (which I replicated on Monday, with tweaks), and some tasty leftovers. We finished up a little after 8 after serving about 40 meals.
I had an absolute blast working in that huge kitchen with all these great volunteers. Oh, I was dead tired, but what a grand time! I probably washed a thousand dishes, but with commercial gear, this was easy. And cooking on a huge gas range instead of an apartment stove was heavenly.
Monday:
E-day! Another two 2 hour sessions, and lunch at the local place again. Rita got me my usual, and I even talked to my daughter again during lunch!
My electrolyst quickly cleaned up the lips and chin area, then got most of the heavy stuff on the left cheek. After lunch she got the right cheek and jawline to neck. What's left on my face is pretty darn sparse.
I got home and picked up the mail. The ministers at the UU church had sent me a letter inviting me to become a Pastoral Visitor, a "ministery of caring to help those who need a listening listening ear and affirming companionship from their church community." Wow.
This is a pretty amazing thing to have happen to me after only being a member for a few months. It is a position with considerable responsibility. I am concerned, however, that I am already overcommitted significantly, and I am not as strong as the ministers might think. I'm still pretty fragile, under therapy, and facing some personal challenges in my transition and medical care. I'll probably thank them for the honor and politely decline. I'd be afraid of letting someone down in their time of need due to my own failings. (Which I have, although I don't note some things on this site as this is supposed to be a positive and supportive place.)
Anyway, that's my real life for another week. Onward we go!
