Normal service is resumed

The internet pixie couldn't fix Mrs Kates blog so she has started a new one at http://mrskatesmusings2.blogspot.com/

The old one still exists, Mrs Kate just can't access it anymore since she asked Blogger to reset her password, sending the change notice to her email account.

Unfortunately Mrs Kate has forgotten her password to that too and in pressing the 'forgotten password?' link too many times got herself permanently locked out.

Dancing

This week was the 'Strictly come dancing' for us girls, organised by Lisa and June. Now normally with these sort of things I accept them with some caution 'cos it usually involves some following instructions that my rebellious side is likely to object to. But I thought 'hey, whatever' and shrugged off any thoughts of resistance and gave it a go.

Lisa got a place sorted with some reasonable floor space; the Shanghi restaurant. And June brought some music along with her Irish wit... which was needed to whip us into shape. Being a bit cautious at these sort of activities, the sort of organised 'make-a-fool-of-yourself' sort of deals; I was one of the last to get a partner.... if life isn't complicated enough June had to ask 'man or women' since we each had to adopt the relative parts. June asked that question as I was paired up with Debbie, who turned out to have the most fantastic figure... well, I couldn't exactly carry out the women's part with that sort of competition could I?

But as we got into it, learning the first few steps of the barn dance, nerves gave way to having fun and all manner of fits of giggles as we each fumbled along, stepping on toes and so on. We even got the staff to join in, they were really great. Debbie managed to win a certificate for best social foxtrot, which I have to say I had a hand in..... well .... almost.

It was only a few days later that I discovered my dance partner was actually a star - well, she had to have been to be patient enough for me catch up with some of the dance steps when I lost the sequence; no, I mean shes a star of some home-grown Sci-Fi web-movies that Lisa had mentioned that Debs and others had done... well worth a look http://www.dirtsideatomic.co.uk . Despite the limited resources, they've done a brilliant job between them. So now I can say, I've danced with Agent Poodle.

Saturday alone

Unfortunately Mrs Kate was still fighting off one of those Winter colds when we did the dancing event so she gave it a miss; she was still suffering when Saturday came around when we had agreed to meet up with Di and Paula. So I went along, alone ... well, you have to keep up appearances don't you?. Besides, I felt I really needed a good dance at Naps, having failed to 'get into the groove' on Wednesday after Junes dance lessons, and not having the opportunity at all since NYE.

The evening started out Ok; we met up in Tribeco and from there onto Taurus. Afterwards we had a drink in the newly redecorated Velvet which was surprisingly quiet... but it still had the smell of paint which made it uncomfortable - the discomfort increased when they turned the sound system up, so from there we went into Crush 2 (ex-AXM). Crush 2 was fairly crowded, a different clientele from the that of the old AXM, but most likely due to what might be their party-piece... all drinks costing £2. In there we met up with Jane and her group of girlies, had a laugh with a couple of GG's who insisted on taking everyones picture.

From here we went to Naps.... which was the point at which the evening went downhill; Naps was initially quiet, but the music wasn't upto much and the clientele was a little more of the 'admirer' social group.... I don't know?... there was something in the air... in a nut shell, a punch up (not involving any of us!), the deceitful man, well-dodgy admirers, strange sights (verging on the 'dark-side'), couldn't find my dance-groove.... or as I put it to Mrs Kate, there were far more negatives than positives for this part of the evening; perhaps we ought to try new places?

On a last point for today's entry... it's almost spooky; Di has just posted a photo of some graffiti she's seen, it says 'Enjoy Life, this is not a dress rehearsal'. Never a truer statement made. It's 'spooky' because of some of the things we were talking about only a few hours before.... If only Di, if only....

NYE and beyond

New Years Eve; well..... actually that was about 10 days ago. But I'm not going to bore myself with writing about the festivities - except to say that in over the whole 2 week break from work, we only got out on New Years Eve; had loadsa fun with our favourite girlie's at our usual spot in the Village. This in itself is a little unusual for us, such is the turn of events in our social life over the last 12 months; previous NYE's would have found us at home, even being tucked up in bed by midnight one year!

But hey!.... check out that cleavage as we party-on!

But my daily reality is a little more removed from that of our social engagements; in the run-up to the xmas break, it was like as if I had to hold my breath trying to hold out until the xmas break arrived; for an opportunity of a little light relief from work. It was around the weekend between xmas and new year when I stopped feeling weepy - why does that happen?; by the time NYE was over with I was starting to think about work (silly cow). Then I suppose it was hardly surprising that by the second day back at work that I 'had it out' with my line manager..... who admitted that I've been under quite a lot of pressure for quite some time now.

It was good to talk the problems over, but it doesn't fix anything..... but I can't carry on like this until I retire.

On a lighter note, the day before I had one of those moments that we often prepare for - just in case.... a colleague noticed my perfectly manicured nails; after all that planning to deliver the manufactured response of 'it's a life style choice' I completely failed and delivered a fudged grunt of appreciation instead.

On the bright side
Resolution No.1: I must lose some weight
Resolution No.2: I must stop being fashionably late
Resolution No.3: Get my eyes tested.
Particularly with regard to the last resolution; that size 18 dress we found in the sales turned out to be a size 10; no amount of weight loss will allow that to fit me. Even Mrs Kate can't understand how the dress magically shrunk between discovering it and getting it home.... it said 18 on the hanger, I swear it said 18 on the label and Mrs Kate said it felt heavy, like it was a size 18!

Perhaps there's no hope for us eh?

A belated 'Happy New Year' to all my girlfriends and welcome readers alike; take care and may all your wishes for come true.

T'was the week before Xmas...

Christmas meal at Villagios

Since my last posting we've been out a few times .... The Shanghi restaurant, Taurus, Velvet (I think?), even venturing into TribeCo - and of course Naps; Mrs Kate feels that an evening out, isn't an evening out without a visit to Naps; I tend to agree with her!

It's all a bit of a blur now but the most notable of recent was the Northern Angels Christmas get-together for about 25 girls and partners down at Villagios. It was nice to see a number of new girls joining the usual crowd, many names I can't recall 'cept one in particular who's notoriety now extends to Angels forum, Tea at Teelas, Mrs Kates blog.... more on that below!

Girls came from all parts of the UK; from Scotland, Ireland and glamorous parts of Warrington. Some of the 'Internet Famous' such as Justine Time, the 'New' such as Rachel from Kings Lynn and Emma from one of the moons of Venus. For Villagios, I wore my long green dress; very sedate for going on to Velvet and Naps, but I came prepared - I had my short sparkly dress and matching gold shoes in my bag.

So after the meal, and a quick change in the ladies at Villagios, we briefly stopped off in the upstairs part of Velvet. Some folk like it in there.... maybe I'm getting old or something, but I just can't tell the difference in any of the music that's being played rather loudly in there. Fine if you like that sort of thing, but once you've sat in 'Velvet the restaurant' and had the same music played constantly whilst having a meal (fortunately no where near as loud), you wouldn't want to hear it again for the rest of your life. At least at Naps, the music changes - even if they repeat the same sequence the next time you go, it's better than the bland 'duff-duff-duff' you seem to get in Velvet.

Mrs Kate and I didn't stop long in there, and with a couple of other girls, we walked back along Canal St to Naps. And as Mrs Kate has written in her blog - I had a bit of a 'bop'.... I think it was the sparkly party dress, I just had to dance and party (pronounced 'part-ay' for description purposes here). I even beat Mrs Kate in the 'dance-a-thon' stakes!

It was here that new girl Emma came into her own. We could have made up all sorts of stories about what she got upto whilst under the 'afluence of incahol' - it's good job the dance floor in Naps is small, in that way Emma could safely avoid getting up enough speed to injure herself on the way to the Ladies. As a result, she left a lasting impression (on the girls, not the mirrored walls in Naps!) for which she was suitably embarrassed for by the next morning - don't worry Emma; you still managed to maintain your dignity.

So a meal and show... and what more could a girl want? - plasters for my feet the next day; which brings me to another of Kates tips: There are comfortable shoes and there are pretty shoes, but there's no such thing as comfortable pretty shoes. I blame the sparkly dress, it wanted to dance.

Tea at Teelas

By now I was beginning to realise that 'outings' just recently were like buses, nothing for ages and then 3 arrive all at once.

Tea at Teelas was on the following Tuesday after the Angels Christmas meal; held at her new premises which are massive! A lot of the regulars were there and a couple of new girls including the now famous Emma, and Iyla (I think that's how you might spell her name) who was a stunner from Abergele. Speaking of stunning, Diana was in one of a her new outfits she recently bought in Teelas sale; with her long blonde wig and pink boots she could easily pass as an Abba tribute - photo's on my blog. Equally stunning was Heather in her little black party dress....

.... I could go on, but; ... as for me, well... big, pink and summery - enuf said on that 'cept I really need to lose some weight.

Manchester Concorde - or not, as the case was.

Well, we tried to join the girls in the Manchester Concorde for the Christmas buffet - but it seemed so did most of the girls from the NW and beyond. Out of a need to ensure we have something to eat (and a seat!), we went up to Taurus instead - our usual little group of friends; Diana, Lisa, Mrs Kate and myself.

We went back to MC afterwards and it was still standing room only as one or two squeezed out a tune on the karaoke. A brief chat and a drink with some of the regular girls and then on to our usual venue for the last half-hour or so (Naps - where else?).

The first year (and it passes relatively un-noticed)

Today is the anniversary of when I came out to Mrs Kate, an event which at the time was as difficult for me as the day we got married and the days since have been just as comfortable, accepting and happy. Thank you my love for being so supportive, and not just for me, but for the new girl-friends we've made... being accepted by a real girl is the validation any t-girl wishes for.

Ok enough of the slushy stuff! - I write this towards the end of the first coming-out-anniversary and how did I celebrate it? - well, having to work for starters... but taking some comfort in a little shopping between trains in Birmingham. I bought a blue satin top and black skirt; the skirt was the sort that has very little in the way of elastic in the waistband so I thought it better to select a slightly larger size so it fits more comfortable - when I got it home I was rather surprised to find that it was way too big for me!... and it falling around my ankles; at this rate it might have to be a size 14 (I'm still around a size 16... or at least I used to be!). Oh well, will have to see if we can exchange it at a local branch or wait until the next visit to Brum.

Saturday
Last Saturday we did a very late excursion to the Village to meet up with one of our special girl-friends Karen and the 'gang'; we arrived at Naps for about 11pm - straight from home, which felt a bit strange to say the least - to be going out around the time we're usually preparing to retire for the night. Whilst it was brilliant to see Karen and the others from our little 'gang', much has been said in Mrs Kate's blog about that - read that for the details ... but I just want to mention the situation prior the arrival of girls, with a certain pushy guy who seemed to take more than acceptable interest in Mrs Kate. 'D' has stated that I gave him 'daggers', looking at him as he attempted to put his arm around her waist.... to be honest I was rather bemused by the brass-neck of this guy; more from a perspective of how Mrs Kate might deal with him? - it was obvious we (Mrs Kate & I) were 'together'... but he clearly missed the bleedin' obvious (typical male - that doesn't sound too sexist does it?!)... thinking about it, I'm seeing it all from the other side of the fence; two girls out without the protection of an alpha-male?

'D' handled it reasonably well although I sensed she wasn't as confident as she makes out since she was in relatively unfamiliar territory; but the guy fortunately got the hint without the liberal application of a left-handed slap across the face!

And that excursion was the latest ever we've been out... hmmm!... it was heading towards 5am before my head hit the pillow.

Pondering moments...

The last week or so has been a difficult time for a couple of girlfriends I now count as my closest friends - which is a strange situation for me as in the past, I can't really say I ever really had a best friend - except for Mrs Kate who is my special friend; but I'm really talking about the complete strangers that we come to trust and perhaps to rely upon for that bit of support; to laugh with, shed tears with, but most of all to be there with.

One friend in particular has had a really awful time with a representative of the same authority group that is supposed to protect us; despite great strides in understanding and tolerance, there are still some folk who abuse their position - without a doubt, a definition of a bully. And I really hate bullies - although I've learned from Mrs Kate to pity them since the universe will one day redress the balance.

Next week will be 12 months since I 'came out' to Mrs Kate - like the Queen, I wonder if that might count as my official/unofficial birthday? But one thing is for certain, the last 12 months has had a profound impact on me; even life-changing? - all far more positive than I could have ever wished for when I started out on this journey; but the main thing for me has been acceptance of just being myself... hmmmm ... on second thoughts, I still need to work on that; I still get confused with the whole 'him' and 'her' thing, especially as we've come to realise that sexuality is no longer a binary definition.

Universe in balance

Mrs Kate has often referred to the little 'gifts' from the Universe that sometimes turn up - her most recent was a nice zebra print halter-neck dress and of course the re-appearance of the 'forbidden fruit' shoes.

Today we went to the Trafford Centre and in New Look, the 'forbidden shoes' were on display; they even had them in my size, but to Mrs Kates dismay, there weren't any to be had in hers (shoe size). We decided to go and have some lunch, and for me to ponder about a lovely pair of the forbidden shoes in my size. As we made our way to the exit we saw some lovely fur jackets. Rather bizarrely, one of the jackets was marked at £25, £10 less than all the others. We couldn't see anything wrong with it, so we decided to slip it back into the rack between all the others and let the Universe keep that for us too - after all, if it was meant to be, the jacket and the shoes would still be there later.

Lunch was leisurely and lovely, and on our return we found the shoe racks had suffered similarities to a 'bun fight', they were in disarray with various shoes tried and discarded all around; but the forbidden shoes were all gone. But what of the lovely fur jacket? - the Universe had protected it, it was still where we left it amongst all the others. And as though as compensation for all the forbidden shoes being taken, the jacket had a further £5 discount when we went to pay for it at the till!