Yay! I love root beer floats!
(This was a couple of days ago. But, they should be celebrated more!) And, not a bad day to have one. It was in the low 80s today, so it would be nice and refreshing. One of the best ones that I've had was at Red Robin, oddly. (It was huge, and really frothy!) The A&W ones are not too bad, though. 
(Didn't want to look at them until I had gotten through a good chunk of the series.) This is Tsuna from that series, while he's in Hyper Dying Will Mode with his X gloves. Kind of a different look/effect than what I'm used to for a wallpaper, but I like it. Seems August-y to me. Found a lot more Hitman Reborn wallpapers, so I'll probably be using them in the coming months. My spice calendar features cinnamon this month. Cinnamon's amazing! I've always liked it. I loved the cinnamon tea I made a couple of years ago. I should make that again sometime...
It mentions the history of it, about 2 different types, where it originated from (Ceylon cinnamon, also thought of as 'true cinnamon', comes from Sri Lanka; and Cassia cinnamon comes from Southeast Asia, Central America, and Mexico), wine pairings, and simple recipes. My Jewish calendar features a painting called Life? or Theatre? A Song-Play, by Charlotte Salomon. It was from France, around 1940-1942. Even though it says it's French, there's German written all over the painting itself. There's 2 women and a man sitting at a table eating, obviously having a heated debate. Apparently, they're sitting outside. There's also a Havdalah plate made out of porcelain, by Eduard Porzellanfabrik Haverlander. It's from Germany, 1930. Its got an interesting design. There's also a spice tower (also part of the Havdalah service), made out of silver, and the maker is unknown. Also comes from Germany, 1850. It's kind of cool. The tower part is kind of small, but it has a bunch of flags coming off it. Has a long spire at the top. It's always interesting to see the old stuff.
Also, only have a little less than a month left until Rosh Hashanah (our New Year). Can't believe it's coming up so quickly!
Starting with this morning, a lot of Jews have the tradition of blowing the shofar. They blow it every morning (except, I think, on Shabbat). It's to prepare us for it. I forgot to do it this time, but hope to do it in the near future (if not tomorrow).
The month-long holidays are: National Catfish Month, National Panini Month, National Peach Month, National Sandwich Month, Golf Month. Some are important causes, some are to make you appreciate things you may take for granted, and some are just for fun. Interesting mix this month. Doesn't seem to be much either.
Wow, its been a while!
I recently dropped, or 'blocked', my mom from my followers list on here. Mainly because it felt weird seeing her pic up there each time. Hard when she has passed away to still see it there. Still 'friends' with her on fb, but that seems a bit different to me. I don't see her every time I log on. And, they've pretty much stopped suggesting things based on what she likes. So, it's nice that if I feel like visiting her profile, I can still.
I'm not sure that I'll ever drop her from my friends on there. Dad and I were both going to get pedicures today, but the nail studio we wanted to go to didn't have anything until tomorrow. So, we made an appointment for both of us at the same time, in the afternoon tomorrow. It'll be my first time getting a pedicure.
I think I've only gotten a manicure once. And, that was a long time ago. So, it'll probably be a weird feeling having other people take care of my feet. Not to mention putting nail polish on the nails. I've never put nail polish on my toenails before, either. My feet are extremely ticklish. So, that should be hilarious.
Today, we just looked around downtown a little bit, since we were already there. I got some special WSU themed hot chocolate. It apparently turns crimson. (The school colors are crimson and grey.) I haven't gotten anything related to WSU in a long time. I loved being a WSU student. Kind of miss it.
The same shop that I found the hot chocolate also had UW related stuff. Our rival school. Their hot chocolate turns purple. (Their colors are purple and gold.) They also had special BBQ sauces for both schools. It was kind of nice and interesting to see. Yesterday, we spent most of the day in Seattle. On the way there, we went to Starbucks. I wanted to try something new. So, I ordered their orange spice iced coffee thing, and asked for it to be decaf. They said they don't do decaf when it's iced coffee. Didn't make sense to me...
So, I got their Valencia orange refresher. It was ok. A little bit weird at first, but started liking it about halfway through.Dad had a therapy appointment. When she got out, she suggested that I should sign up for therapy with them. You don't have to have insurance. So, I filled out some paperwork, and had a short conversation over the phone with someone who explained what I should expect next and how their 'system' works, essentially. They said I need to make an appointment to have a 2-hour interview before they actually pair me up with someone. Just to get a 'feel' for who would be best for me. They told me not to worry about it, and Dad said they're very respectful. I'll also eventually have a psychiatrist through them. Without insurance, it's actually cheaper there than when I was covered.
Which is very cool. Its been a while since I last saw a therapist. So, hopefully this will be good for me. (There's a lot of stuff I'll at least have to 'check-in' on.) They also deal with a lot of people related to the LGBT community. Since I'm an ally and a child of a trans parent, it might be beneficial this way as well. They'll at least be more educated about it. After that, we went to a Chinese buffet for a late lunch. It was very good, and had things I wasn't used to. I love to try new things. One of the new things I tried was roasted duck wrapped in like a special pancake with hoisin sauce. Very tasty.
Nice staff as well. Then, we went to Ross, Nordstrom Rack, and Nordstrom. Didn't find anything, but nice to look around. In Nordstom, they had a little cafe. We both had some iced tea, and I had a huge lemon bar. Dad had a strawberry rhubarb bar. Mine was very good. I think she liked hers too.
We went to a trans support meeting after that, it was with a group I haven't been with before. Dad hadn't gone there for at least a year. A lot of people showed up. We did a check-in to see how people were and to introduce ourselves. A lot of us were new to it. Once we checked in, there was about a 10 minute break. Someone had brought some croissants, which was very nice. I had some of that, and a little bit of iced chai I had gotten from a cafe nearby, as my 'dinner'. Felt like I had been eating all day, but still needed enough food to have with my meds. It was good enough.
After the break, the group is usually so big, they break up into smaller groups. I went with the allies' group. It had a very different support group 'feel', compared to the main trans ones I've been to. Not necessarily negative, but we do go through a different 'experience'.
The other allies apparently really liked me. At some point, they said that I really opened their eyes when I explained how I view things. And, that I have a very positive outlook in general, which will help other allies. I was the only one who had a trans parent. I feel like I'm a minority even within the allies.
But, the person who facilitated it said that there are usually a few others who go, and was surprised that they weren't there. So that's at least something. They told us that they only have people break out into groups every other week. So, I'm hoping to go to the one 2 weeks from now. It seems more beneficial to me. Plus, the group as a whole was very nice. It'll be interesting to see them again, too.
The night before, we went to the local trans support meeting. Had a lot of regulars show up this time. Interesting topics as well. We, of course, all went to Shari's afterwards. I got their caramel pecan cinnamon bun. It was huge, and I read how many calories it was before I got it. Way too much for one sitting.
So, I cut it into 4 pieces, and only had one. Had another piece yesterday for breakfast, then finished the last 2 this morning. Thought it really wouldn't be too bad to have 2 pieces for breakfast. Especially if I don't have anything else. So, I was really good with that. Had a very interesting discussion while at Shari's with the members of the group. For this week I've been doing 55 sit-ups twice a day. I've only skipped doing those 55 twice so far. Pretty good. I just felt too exhausted those 2 nights to do it. (Also came home really late, and thought I needed to sleep right away.
) Trying to keep up with my 2-mile walks as well. I'm thinking of doing 2 of them a day soon. Just really feels like I need to move around a little more. That means when I do them on my own, I'll be doing 4 miles for an hour everyday in total.
I'll see if I can do it. I probably could. Might help me even more. I'm already feeling like I'm losing weight again, and quick. It's a weird yet awesome feeling for me. Being even more vigilant about my way of eating, as you can tell with the cinnamon bun. When going to buffets, I take tiny bits of everything I can eat. It oddly feels easier to eat the way I want to there.
On Monday, I set aside a day just to go through my clothes. Got through all the ones in my drawers, but haven't gotten to my closet yet. There were so many things I needed to throw out. Most had holes in them, threads were ragged, there were tears, etc. Had a small pile that we could give to charity or sell at a garage sale. Had quite a few things in a pile for keepsakes. I hadn't gone through at least the clothes in my drawers for a few years. This time was the first time Mom wasn't there nagging me about things I didn't want to wear (and knew I would never wear them). Felt nice, but somewhat sad at the same time.
I have about 4 bare drawers now. And, the rest are pretty roomy. Just means I have room for new things. Had to get rid of all of my swimsuits. (Most of them were too old, so the elastic was doing weird things.) Only have one semi-light pair of PJs. My closet will be quite a project. It's filled to the brim with stuff. A lot of it I know will either be trashed, or given to charity/sold at a garage sale. It'll be interesting to see how bare it gets. Might actually be able to walk into it a little. I feel 'lighter' with just getting rid of what I have already.
Went to another same sex wedding last Sunday. It was quite a bit different than the one we went to before. This time it wasn't at a church, which made me feel a lot more comfortable. It was outside, and there were places to sit. The only problem was how hot and sunny it ended up being. I just know I fried a little out there. Theirs was more spiritual, as well. Not more religious, just had more of a spiritual feel. They were also close friends of my dad. Afterwards, we went inside and toasted the couple a few times. Luckily, they had some sparkling water as alternatives to champagne. Then, there was a lot of snack-type things. Like nuts, fruit, cheese, crackers, etc. It was fun for the most part. And, someone said they thought it was cool that I've put out a book, and asked me to join her book club. I'm more into writing than reading a bunch of books. I like to read a lot, but not as much as I like to write, for some reason.
Plus, I always feel a bit weird at those things. Especially, if I have a different opinion about it, compared to everyone else. (Which happens quite often.) But, the gesture was nice.I attended a OneShul Shabbat service online last Friday night. It's for people who either can't make it to a synagogue, don't feel connected to their local synagogue, have different views, their congregation might not have Shabbat services every time, etc. Usually very interesting, and it's lay-led. Almost anyone can step up and help with services. Anyways, the person who led it this time called herself a kohenet or Jewish priestess. That sounded a bit odd to me. It was interesting looking at the service geared towards women. They've also had other people lead it, and they've had other takes on it. (Like, reform, orthodox, renewal, and some who didn't identify with a specific one.) I felt slightly more comfortable with them. But, I like that there's an opportunity to attend a Friday night service every week. There isn't one, at least not every week at either of the local synagogues. They also hold Torah studies every week, and do a Rosh Chodesh service each month. Rosh Chodesh is just a new month, but it's kind of a special day for women. In fact, we just started the month of Elul a couple of nights ago. The guy who created the site was just ordained as a rabbi, as well. It's a cool site.
Started a few new dramas, that I'll probably introduce at some point. Very interesting ones. A lot of them aren't from this current season, but they're still new to me.
