Sweet and Sour

It’s strawberry rhubarb pie day and I took one out of the oven a few hours ago so it should be just about ready to eat. I’ll cut us each a slice while you decide on drinks and we’ll sit and chat about the week that was.

You might recall from last week that I wasn’t feeling well. I thought I was feeling better, or at least well enough to go to Ulta with Krystal to look for some red eyeshadow similar to Colourpop Drift, but apparently I was wrong. I went to work on Monday and that was a mistake. I ended up leaving at noon and taking the rest as a sick day. Now Mondays are one of Krystal’s day off, and I’d been texting her keeping her informed and I got home to find she’d ordered enough Dominos for the both of us for both lunch and supper as well so I could eat and rest and not worry about food. She got me a pepperoni stuffed dough thing and Philly cheesesteak loaded tots. I don’t have a picture of that, but by way of an apology here’s a picture of the pomade-style eyeshadow we found on Sunday:

Tuesday was Hug Your Cat Day, and Smokey the Ghost Cat came to visit that evening. Krystal and I both saw him; Krystal saw him twice and said he must know she wasn’t feeling well. Indeed, she came down with the same thing I did, despite the steps and precautions we take to avoid passing sicknesses back and forth.

Wednesday was D&D (the Kenku monk campaign) and we spent most of it in reconnaissance and planning. I haven’t typed up those notes yet; but rest assured they are coming.

Thursday was the 80th anniversary of D-Day, and as always my thoughts were with Mr Tom. I was privileged to spend nine D-Day anniversaries with Mr Tom before he passed in 2017; I carry his memories for him. Mr Tom described D-Day as the worst day of his life (in particular D-Day +4, June 10, when the USS Meredith was sunk by German torpedoes). For him it was worse than Pearl Harbor and worse even than the day his wife, Amber, passed on.

From him through me to all those who went to France and did not return, and in particular to those Navy men on the USS Meredith, we remember; you are not forgotten. And from me to Mr Tom: I still sit at your table and think of you.

I didn’t make it to the cemetery though . . .

Friday was Donut Day, and I went out to get donuts before Krystal had to go to work. The donut run was a success, but – and I can’t believe Im typing this – I saw a cybertruck in our smallish rural town and I think it broke my brain for a good five minutes with just how ugly a piece of shit a vehicle it is. Nothing I saw online could prepare me for just how pretentiously bad that thing is in person.

Of course I told others about it, and the folks that have seen it around town say it also has a trump sticker on the back and the owner drives like they think they’re special. From my perspective, this tracks.

As I was driving I did not get a picture of the vehicle, but here’s the donuts I picked up:

Two Boston cream, two chocolate glazed, one blueberry cake, and one lemon filled. Yumm.

On Friday I struggled with the vacuum. Recently it’s been going through belts every three months or so but this last time the roller didn’t even turn and the spindle burned right through the new belt. After watching lots of maintenance videos, I think the roller needs to be replaced. Anyway, when Krystal got home from work we went looking for a pair of shoes for me suitable for dancing and I really hit the jackpot by finding one pair on clearance in my size at the shoe place in the mall.

We also went and looked at new vacuums and decided to try to get the $20 replacement part and see if it works before dropping $100ish US dollars on a new vacuum. The vacuums were just across from the DVDs and after picking up some dress socks I also got John Wick 4.

Now I had not seen John Wick before, but since spoilers don’t bother me I’ve read the plot many times on Wikipedia. Overall it was good, though I will say I’m one who believes Wick is still alive after the events of the movie.

The main premise/events of the Wick franchise are also canon in our cyberpunk game. One major change: the Marquis’ henchman Chidi died in Osaka in our game. During the initial assault on the Osaka Continental, my Rockerboy K2 made him eat an incendiary grenade, against which his reinforced suit did jack shit. As bad as our own plans ended in that sorry arc, I’m still glad we took Chidi out early because his prolonged presence would’ve made things worse/more complicated.

Saturday was a day of running around. I went and got groceries only to realize I’d forgotten to mail a package. I went back out with the package and picked up batteries and light bulbs and swung by the thrift store, where I didn’t see anything of interest. At least, nothing of interest I would spend money on. While I was out Krystal let me know she couldn’t find her lipstick . . .

I changed the light in the room and looked around and looked in my car but I didn’t see her lipstick either so she had to order more. Of course they don’t sell the same brand, but a couple hours later and the new lipstick was ready for pickup.

Note: the rest of this post deals with the fact that I am nonbinary, and as such I am a part of the LGBTQIA+ community and sometimes do things within that community. It’s also Pride Month in the United States. If you have a problem with that, or take issue with me dressing in a non-masculine way, you can stop reading here. If you know either me or my wife in real life and have a problem with this, you do not need to call or message us with any negative comments, questions, or worries. I’ve already been called a godless groomer once this week for simply existing; please don’t contribute to the culture of hate.

The Main Event of the week was that Saturday was my first Pride event. If you followed me over the last couple of years, you know I’ve cooked a majority of the burgers of the day from Bob’s Burgers. On Facebook I saw fan art with a “LGBT” burger of the day – comes with lettuce, Gruyère, bacon, and tomato. So, that was supper sorted.

So, as I was saying, Saturday night I went to my first-ever Pride event. I’ve been out as nonbinary to some degree since April 2020 but what with Covid restrictions and other limitations I couldn’t attend until this year. I asked Krystal if she’d go and she said if I wanted to go, she’d go with me. I wanted to do something inspired by MCR, specifically Helena and/or The Black Parade. I never had a prom and I was determined to be my full self. Now it is no surprise Krystal is amazing, and she found the perfect jacket online and then, as she says, she dressed me and chose her outfit to match.

Saturday was the day I’d been waiting for and I’d practiced a bit with my hair and makeup but made the mistake of not practicing the glitter portion of the outfit and boy did it go very wrong such that I had to wipe it all off, start over, and get Krystal to help put on the glitter. I did not take a picture of that mess . . .

But eventfully and with lots of help it came together and when I put the whole thing on I guess my breathing changed because I heard Krystal call out “you’d better not be crying or you’ll ruin that makeup we worked so hard on!”

Yes, I was emotional, but I had the same thought and though I really wanted to, I did not cry. Here’s my inspiration photo and some quick shots I took before we left the house and a video Krystal took so I could see how awesome it looked from the back.

We went to the convention center and found parking and went inside and got our over-21 wristbands before having an “official” photo taken. Those photos haven’t been posted yet, but I haven’t taken my wristband off, because I’m still happy about how wonderful a time I had. I’ll take it off tomorrow before work, though.

And then we were in the prom proper and there was a vendor and information area and I saw one of my old students. He was the one who came up with the idea for this pride prom several years ago now (this is our town’s third Pride Prom) and we’ve also kept in touch online. He did a triple-take before realizing who I was and we EMBRACED.

The night was everything I needed it to be. Folks I see regularly didn’t recognize me; others who only know me in passing recognized me immediately. I had one person ask what my inspiration was and when I told them they geeked out and we spent fifteen minutes talking about how much MCR means to us.

So many people said I looked fabulous or amazing or beautiful that I know I was beaming. More than one person tried to “steal” my shoes and two folks wanted to know where I found the jacket. I tell Krystal all the time she makes me look good and last night was perfection in that regard.

We talked with friends (two of them got engaged to each other last night, YAY!), made new ones, danced and enjoyed the entertainment and people watching, and made sure to stay hydrated before heading home at the end of the night, stopping for McDonalds fries & Coke on the way.

The bathroom is still covered in black glitter, but that’s a problem for later. Right now I’m thinking about making frozen pizza supper and enjoying a rewatch of The Office (US Version) and anticipating that pie you saw back up at the start of this post.

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What have you been doing?