I have been the only person home for a week. My clothes and makeup came out of hiding and I have been at least partially en femme the whole 7 days. The first event was a Metropolitan opera live broadcast that I attended wearing a nice skirt, top and necklace, among other things. It was a ticketed event and I had purchased a ticket several days earlier at the box office. I enjoy many operas and this was one, but the best part was when the young woman taking tickets looked me in the eye and said, "Enjoy the show, Ma'am." To which I replied, in my best ambiguous sex voice, "Thank you, I will."

Wednesday, I journeyed about 2 hr to visit a Burlington Store (used to be Burlington Coat Factory). The store occasionally has had wonderful bargains, but not this time. Somewhat weird, but the large store was almost completely devoid of other customers. Then on to the Marshalls next door. Not even the intimates section was appealing. The third stop was in a large thrift store with many items for sale, in contrast to what is available to me more locally. I tried on two pairs of slacks, but one had a broken zipper and the other turned out to be more like a pair of leggings. Altogether, it was a nice adventure that I wish I could have shared with a gg.

Today is my last full day alone and this morning I started getting ready while it was still cold and rainy. But the weather cleared and the temperature went up, so no jacket was necessary. Then, with all my nails and makeup on, along with watch and earrings, I was out the door. First stop--Walmart. I browsed the makeup aisle for 20 min trying to decide what to get as a replacement for my exhausted Max Factor Pan Stick, a brand I have used for over 20 yrs (Max Factor items are no longer made by Max Factor, but by a third part, and seem to be harder to find). I settled on a full cover foundation by Revlon. Plus I bought a new compact just to leave in my purse, checking out via a self-service checkout console.

Then, on to the supermarket where I collected the makings of 3 dinners, before again venturing to the self-service checkout area. It was a busy place and when my turn came, all bar codes were read properly and I placed the items in the bag as directed by the body-less voice, until the scanner read the bar code for the asparagus bunch. Things went haywire, and were caught on the master screen by the area attendant when I heard, "Is that vegetable yours, Ma'am? I'll be right over to help." This was followed by, "OK. I fixed it, you can enter it again." Which I did, but that did not work, either. And, within seconds, the attendant was at my scanner, entering info to clear the mess and start me anew with the asparagus. This time it worked, and I was given permission, even encouraged to "Place the item in the bag."

I completed the transaction with a credit card, loaded everything the shopping cart, and rolled out of the self-service area, thanking the attendant for her help, before exiting the store. Great day! I wish I had more opportunities to interact with people in public so that I would not worry as much about doing so. Again, shopping with gg as company would make be feel a lot better about it. All said and done, it has been a good week. Mary