Rho Tau Newsletter

December, 2000

----

Rho Tau Christmas Party

Our annual Christmas party was held at an elegant local hotel on Saturday, December 16. The evening's festivities took place in a beautifully decorated private dining room. The focal point of the warm festive setting was an eight-foot Christmas tree covered with lights and decorations, located in one corner of the room. Catherine played seasonal music on her CD player.

At seven, seventeen lovely, festively clad Rho Tau sisters sat down to a wonderful hot turkey dinner complete with all of the trimmings. The most wonderful red velvet cake, baked by our favorite caterer, Kim, provided the perfect finish to a totally delightful meal.

After dinner, everyone was entertained by the reading of a not so traditional version of 'Twas The Night Before Christmas, that lamented the impossibility of Santa's job, given government regulations, activists for various causes and the need to be unerringly politically correct. When an article was read supporting the hypothesis that all of Santa's reindeer must be female. One wife quipped that the most compelling evidence is that they never get lost, and she added, it probably is because they ask for directions.

After our gift exchange we spent the rest of the evening in lighthearted conversation. This was truly a great way to wind up the chapter year. The only regret was that conflicts in schedules made it impossible for more of our sisters to attend.

We were made to feel welcome by all of the hotel staff. Our two waitresses did a wonderful job, with only the hint of hesitancy as to how to address those among us with lower pitched voices. At the end of the evening, both of them requested that we ask for them to serve us at any dinners we have in the future.

Return to top

Return to top

Lucy's Window

By

Lucy Stone

Maintaining A Balance

While most of my articles concern cross-dressing, I also am aware that it is very important to keep it in balance with other things we hold dear. Upper most on this list are our families who are very much on all of our minds during the holiday season. Certainly, family was uppermost in my mind, when Joan and I departed Thanksgiving week for a Caribbean cruise with our older son, his wife and their two sons.

Our planning began two years ago when Joan and I sat down with our two sons and their wives to discuss a special celebration for Thanksgiving in 2000. We decided to celebrate aboard a cruise ship in the western Caribbean. Our plans called for leaving Ft. Lauderdale on board the MS Ryndam on November 18 and returning November 25. However, everything didn't go as planned. Our younger son and daughter in law presented us with another grandson in August, and as a result have a baby who is still too small to travel. Since our older son had had to reserve time off for this event many months in advance, we decided to go ahead with the trip with him and his family. (We hope to go with the other family at a later date.)

Earlier this year, I told you how much I enjoyed spending two weeks on a cruise where I was cross-dressed for the entire duration. Now, just eight months later, I was on another cruise. Only this time, I was very much in the drab mode with none of the vestiges of Lucy. Perhaps you are wondering how I faired this time. Well, I had an absolutely wonderful time. After all, I am also a husband, a father and a grandfather, and this cruise provided me with the rare opportunity to spend a week of quality time with my wife, our older son and daughter-in-law and two of our grandsons, ages13 and 9. It was great fun to witness the delight of both grandsons as they discovered ocean cruising. They experienced great delight with the unique features of each port that we visited, took full advantage of the ship's virtually endless supply of food, and occasionally tried to get the best of grandpa.

Joan and I have something to be especially thankful for this Thanksgiving. For God has given us the grace to accept what we cannot change and to get on with life and enjoy it to its fullest.

 Return to top

Bobbi's Eye on Beauty and Fashion

	Give dry, flaky lips the brush-off; add "brushing your lips" to your morning ritual using a soft toothbrush or terry washcloth. Now add some lip balm to smooth the way for lipstick-worthy lips!		Turn up the moisture before you turn out the lights. Give your lips a touch of clear, rich moisture at bedtime. Do it each night, and you'll wake up to softer lips in no time at all!  If you don't have lip balm, eye cream makes an effective, gentle lip moisturizer.
	Avoid over-exposure to the sun, which can dry your lips the way it dries the rest of you. If you spend a lot of time outdoors, try lipstick, with moisturizers and sunscreen built right in.		If you sunbathe, be sure to use a lip balm with sufficient sunscreen. Remember to moisturize lips after soaking up the rays. Avoid lip balms with camphor unless your lips need healing. For effective moisturizing, choose a balm without camphor, or use a clear lip gloss.

Hugs  and to everyone,
Bobbi Jean

 Return to top