The amazing, mysterious, all-knowing Magic 8 Ball of truth. You know the deal – ask it a yes or no question, give it a shake, then turn it over and peer into its magic blue window of knowledge. Do you believe in the wisdom offered by a plastic 8 ball filled with blue mystery liquid surrounding a plastic icosahedron of answers? I can’t say I do, but it’s a lot of fun to play with anyway! By the way, I think “icosahedron” is the coolest word since “sargalesis” (look it up).
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Posted by Gabrielle | 7 Comments »

The other day I accompanied my wife to the hospital for her MRI. While in the waiting room, I decided to play a few games on my phone to pass the time until she returned. I soon found myself receiving some rather unexpected negative attention.
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Posted by Gabrielle | 1 Comment »

I often tell other crossdressers that I look so different en femme, fully made up, that no one (who knows my man-side) would ever recognize me if they saw. To test this a little, I changed my work-place desktop wallpaper to a close-up of Gabrielle’s face. The photo above is of my dual wide screen 22″ monitors at work. Guess what people are saying…
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Posted by Gabrielle | 11 Comments »

The cable guy made a house call at the Hermosa household recently. When he spoke to greet me, I realized immediately that the gable guy was really the cable gal. My wife and I both mistook her for a him. Honestly, she really did look more like a him than a her. Just to be clear, I’m not picking on her appearance in any way, shape, or form – only indicating that she looked male based on her physical appearance alone. The point I’m getting to is how society is very accepting of women who dress and look masculine in appearance. Society is not accepting of men who dress and look feminine in appearance. Why does this only work one way and not the other?
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Posted by Gabrielle | 2 Comments »

When in guy mode, I usually keep my keys safely stashed in my pants pockets. Most pants have really nice, deep pockets these days. I can fit a bunch of small things in there quite comfortably. For the most part, life with my pockets-o-stuff is pretty mundane. There is one odd mystery that I can’t seem to figure out though.
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Posted by Gabrielle | 3 Comments »

Most married people take showers together, at least from time to time, but have you ever washed your wife’s hair for her while doing so? For the ladies, does your husband ever wash your hair for you? If not, do you wish he would? I rather enjoy washing my wife’s hair.
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Posted by Gabrielle | 8 Comments »

Today is Memorial Day here in the United States of America. It is a day of remembrance for those who have died in our nation’s service. I’m always grateful for those who are brave enough to serve, and for those who have paid the ultimate price while doing so. All politics aside, without all the brave men and women who have served over the years, it is unlikely we would be enjoying the quality of life and freedoms so many take for granted today.
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Posted by Gabrielle | 2 Comments »

Our pet budgie died yesterday afternoon. I knew his time was near because he was showing the same signs our previous budgies did just before they passed and he was pretty old (for a budgie). Unlike our previous birds, this guy held on pretty long after displaying the initial signs. Perhaps he was able to last longer because this was our last of the once family of 5 and there were no other budgies to compete for food or territory in the cage. Or perhaps just because he was one stubborn bird.

I can’t remember if he hatched in 1997 or 1998, with his two siblings. If it was 1998, that would make him 11 years old. That’s not a bad run for a pet budgerigar. His father died after only 8 years, although we don’t know how old he was when we bought him. His mother and sister only lasted about 3 years each. His other sibling died only weeks after hatching, before we could determine its sex or get to know it. I wonder if it would have been more like its father or its mother. This one took more after his mother: cranky, stubborn, and didn’t like humans very much. Even so, I loved him a lot. He was an enjoyable little companion, if a bit on the noisy side. When he got too noisy, I’d just cover his cage with a thin blanket. It usually to calmed him.
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Posted by Gabrielle | 5 Comments »

As I finished up my treadmill exercise, I noticed a small object slowly crawling along my nearby exercise mat. It was bee, or whatever black and yellow striped winged insect that looks like a bee to my untrained eyes. I almost stepped on it by accident.

Can’t have bees in the house, right? Should I just squash it and throw it away? It looked quite harmless. I figured it shouldn’t be difficult to pick up the little fella and set him free outside.
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Posted by Gabrielle | 4 Comments »

Is there a specific signal you get from your wife or significant other, when it is time to end a phone conversation abruptly? Some people probably just get hung up on, or hastily told “bye” and then get hung up on. Not me. Mrs. H. and I kind of have a certain protocol to follow – specific words that must be spoken and properly responded to in order to end the phone conversation without an undesirable rude feeling.

I’m not sure when exactly this started. It was probably many years ago because it seems like we’ve always done it this way… or more accurately put, she’s done it this way. What way is that?

It is polite to let the other party know that they are loved before hanging up. One never knows if/when something terrible might happen to them, so we’ve always made it a point to end all phone conversations with an expression of love – just in case these words are the last ever spoken between us.
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Posted by Gabrielle | 3 Comments »