My chances to get out at the start of the second half of 2025 were limited because of travel, including two trips to California and one to New York City (I know, tough life). I managed to sneak in a few times out, seeing a R.E.M tribute band, a night before an out of town Triathlon, and a farewell to my favorite store, the Nordstrom at the St. Louis Galleria.
OTOH, I then took two trips out of town, flying pretty for both. The first was in early September to Durham, North Carolina, to watch my school play Duke in football, AND visit my long-time friend Renee. Despite far too many health setbacks, Renee enjoys (read: loves) seeing me dressed, in photos and in person. I try to oblige by providing what she calls distractions. I had four days dressed, and on the return met with my friend Michelle and her accountant Bonnie. Bonnie is always curious what gender I will present when we meet, and Michelle says Bonnie prefers seeing me dressed.
Then in October it was five days at Dee-Va Las Vegas, sharing experiences with others and getting a chance to wear some of my fun dresses. I like sparkly and short, and Vegas is a good opportunity for both–and my collection of swimsuits. I started the trip getting long nails at Michelle’s salon–to put it mildly, I was rough on them–but a chance to catch up with Michelle and Ms. Dee-ism. During DLV I was able to hang with a couple of other friends, and sharing stories with them, realized again I have it pretty good.
I had other chances for outings–monthly STLGF lunches and dinners, Halloween, and a Yes concert, and a 10K Halloween run. I still have more clothes than chances to wear them.
But–of course–I did add to my clothing collection during 2025, perhaps fifteen to twenty items. My new store was American Eagle (I’m not exactly their target age demographic) with two dresses, a top, and a skirt, a top and sparkly dress from Nordstrom, a dress, denim skirt, strapless top and skorts, and a bikini from White House Black Market (and a sales agent in Vegas who remembered me from being there two years ago), a sundress from Dangerfield in Melbourne, a hot red sparkly dress from Akira, my Wonder Woman dress from an Aussie thrift store, and about five dresses from Refresh, my latest thrift of choice (and maybe a couple of swimsuits).
Some of my latest additions I hope to have a chance to wear in 2026. It’s a matter of the right opportunity, and a backlog of things I haven’t worn.
To make everything fit and look better, I also logged about 650 miles running, 2,500 miles biking, and 75 miles swimming during 2025. I finished six short to medium distance triathlons (the longest a little more than three hours), a Half-marathon, two 10Ks, and about a bakers dozen of 5Ks. I’m right about the middle of the pack in my age group in the National USA Triathlon rankings, and I placed in several races for my age group. I also golfed on a semi-regular basis, and played tennis on average a couple of times a week. Most importantly, during my annual physical, my PA said “keep doing what you’re doing.”
And mostly what I’m doing is having fun, both as a boy and a girl. I plan on doing the same in 2026, starting in early January when my wife and I head to Australia, where I’ll stay for twelve weeks.
As I like to say, “my life doesn’t suck.”
