Howdy Y'all!

[Guest Lizzie McTrucker]

Hello hello!

My name is Elizabeth and I've been transitioning for like 5 years now. I used to be on HRT, but then lost my job a year ago and couldn't afford it so I had to stop. Same thing with therapy, couldn't afford it so had to stop. Fast forward to now: no HRT, no therapy, no hair removal...and of all things..I'm living full-time...as a truck driver!

Talk about a scary profession for a woman to be in, sheesh!

Actually it's not so bad. Many of the guys out here have wives or girlfriends and/or daughters back home and they wouldn't want anything to happen to them, so they watch out for us girls out here on the road. In fact, I had one guy escort me across the parking lot late at night from where I was parked to the main entrance. (isn't that so chivalrous?!)

However, I have been waved at by truck drivers, complimented over the c.b. radio, I was called an Amazon by another guy, and I have stopped worrying about if I pass or not. I obsess over my makeup and when I'm happy that no beard shadow is showing, I throw on some clothes, a great push-up bra, fix my hair, grab my purse and just assume the role of any other woman in this country. I've been using the ladies bathroom and ladies changing rooms and don't even think about standing out or drawing attention. I'm looking the part, I'm acting the part, so why shouldn't I be using the appropriate bathroom or changing room. I treat it like no big deal and that I belong there and nobody questions it.

I also don't worry about what other people think or may be saying. There's nothing I can do to change it, so why worry about something I cannot change? All I can do is look my best and put my best face forward.

..and the avatar is my most recent picture. like a week ago I think.

[Sally]

Welcome to the group, Lizzie,

Cute picture! I seem to be the first to greet you so I'll roll out the refreshment cart and offer you a seat by the fire.

Glad to have you here, make yourself at home, take your shoes of and stay a while.

Love ya,

Sally

[Guest Drew]

hi Lizzie welcome to the forums. it's nice to have you here. i like your attitude towards living as a trans-person, very positive ....i'm quite the opposite ...but trying to change.

anyways, welcome to the forums! you've stumbled upon a very friendly group of people here.

[Guest Elizabeth K]

From one Lizzy to another - WELCOME honey - Ya'll at the right place, dawlin.

Hey you are strikingly beautiful! JEALOUS_JEALOUS_JEALOUS

[Guest Frank67]

Hi Lizzie.

take a seat, sit back and make yourself comfortable. Nice to have you here.

Frank

[Guest Kelly Ann]

Hi ya Lizzie...welcome...downshifts...it's really great here...double clutches and grabs the second shifter ***** mechanic...loads of fun here and really GREAT people. May your load never shift and all the weigh stations always be closed for you, Kelly Ann

[Guest Lizzie McTrucker]

Hi ya Lizzie...welcome...downshifts...it's really great here...double clutches and grabs the second shifter ***** mechanic...loads of fun here and really GREAT people. May your load never shift and all the weigh stations always be closed for you, Kelly Ann

oh honey, I bypass -most- weigh stations.

I'm just hoping to stay in the south until the snow goes away for the next few months.

thanks for the warm welcome.

[Guest Evan_J]

Two southern Lizzie's.....it's ok....I can handle it lol. Seriously though, welcome to the playground. Despite my rampant attempts at humor its a very nice place to be.

As has been said, great photo. Hope you enjoy your time here.

[Guest Donna Jean]

OMG...Lizzy!!!!

I see you're getting to meet some of the greats here on the site...the best people in the world!!

Another Lizzy? Oh my, Just getting real used to one Dizzy one here and you drive up!

Make yourself at home, sweetie, that food cart is really starting to fill up, the coco's always hot and the people always warm.....

Welcome!!

Shoes off...kick back.

Donna Jean

[Guest Elizabeth K]

Donna Jean! You so bad!

The world needs more "Elizabeths" - we define ditzy! All the Elizabeths in my family - (lotsa of them too, which is how I got my name) - they ALL are very sweet and never say anything but good about all the Donna Jeans. Ha.

Lizzie - hey sweet. Everytime I come to your post - darn! You look so GOOOOOD honey. Makes me feel ole and frumpy. Don't you have some BAD LOOKING pictures you can post? Something that would make me feel better? Hee Hee

Welcome again and again.

[Guest DeniseNM]

Welcome to our crazy little (okay okay HUGE .... lol) slice of heaven, pull up a comfy chair, sit back relax and enjoy yourself. There are some really great people here as you have already meet. Evan nothing wrong with your humor (well most of the time anyway ). Liz you know we all love you hon because without you we wouldn't really know the meaning of ditzy , besides you keep us on our toes, and definately nothing wrong with being southern (born and raised there myself). As others have said Lizzie great pic and wonderful attitude.

Denise

[Guest Lizzie McTrucker]

Don't you have some BAD LOOKING pictures you can post? Something that would make me feel better? Hee Hee

All frumpy pics of myself have been destroyed.

Besides, why take a bad picture of yourself? Seriously, if it's not a picture that makes you look cute, adorable, sexy, hot or all of the above..why hold on to it?

Lizzie McTrucker is just a play on Lizzie McGuire. Noone I know calls me Lizzie. They would get the evil cold stare of silence. Someone suggested I go by the nickname Beth and I really think Beth is too girlie-girl for me, so I stick with Liz.

and let me tell ya, I am NOT used to turning heads. I'm really humble about my looks and I'm okay with being considered 'average' (based on a 3-person poll of my str8 guy friends) and just this month I've had guys wave at me, I've overheard someone say that I look good, I've had a guy take his eyes completely off the road to turn his head to look at me. Today I had a guy crane his neck to keep looking at me while I was backing out of a parking spot. oh and I've been called an amazon. which is still a woman so I'll take that.

I think next time I'm home I'm going to get my name change forms all filled out and ready and stuff. It'll make life out on the road easier

oh, there may be some frumpy pics of me in my photobucket account but it's password protected and they're like....really old. it's odd that I look better now than I did several years ago when I was actually on HRT. *scratches head*

[Guest Elizabeth K]

Hey baby - where ya been? I've had to hold this Lizzy thing down all by myself! I need help!

Good to see you...

Lizzy also

[Guest mia 1]

A note to both Lizzie's : Jerry Seinfeld says the ultimate compliment a guy can give to a girl is honking his car horn at her when he drives by.

Jerry says every guy knows that the car horn sound makes women fall in love with the guy.

Obviously toung planted firmly in cheek.

So when the guys are driving by, and the horn honks, you'll know "YOU'RE a HEART THROB, and you have passed the test.!!!!!!!!Yeah.... Mia.

[Sally]

Liz,

When the guy honks his horn at you according to Jerry, you are supposed to kick off your heels and run after the car until he stops and then shout, "I'm so glad you honked, I never knew you cared!"

I think that you would have to qualify as "passing".

Love ya,

Sally

[Guest Lizzie McTrucker]

Ah yes, the Seinfeld bit. I love his sense of humor! Heck I would do stand-up if I didn't have stage fright. On the other hand, going out in public while transitioning is kind of like being on stage. So a brief list of passing accomplishments because this is my thread and I can do that:

- Numerous trips into public bathrooms, never had a problem. Three times include a brief conversation with another woman while waiting for a stall. If that's not ultimate passing I'm not sure what is.

- Trips into changing rooms.

(I credit the above to not walking in hoping I belong but walking in like I'm supposed to be in there. Besides, you've got your makeup on, your hair down, a cute outfit on...why wouldn't you be using the ladies bathroom or ladies changing room? You'd look totally out of place using the men's areas)

- Waved at twice by fellow truck drivers

- Talked about twice on the CB radio while driving down the road.

a) "wow that female (company) driver looks good!" (naturally I was looking in my mirrors to see if there was another of my company's truck nearby. then realizing they're talking about me!)

"man, you're an amazon! but still that's ok" I remind myself that even though I was called an amazon it still means woman. albeit a tall woman, but still a woman. to see if I could keep that look going I texted a friend and asked him where I could get a double-blade axe and some leopard print lingerie. lol!

- had the guy yesterday craning his neck to check me out while I was out of my truck and while I was backing it up

- had a guy take his eyes completely off the road to turn his head back to look at me while he was passing me.....while going down a mountain!

..and the best-feeling one..

- I was getting out my truck down in GA at a truck stop around 9p. I was already on a passing high after using a restroom and having the cleaning lady talk to me while I was washing up, checking my makeup and fussing with my hair. So I climb out of my truck and start to walk across the parking lot. from behind me I hear "I'll escort you." I turn around and see a guy walking towards me. "I'll escort you across the parking lot." I smiled and said okay. He and I talked the entire walk across the parking lot and into the truck stop. The entire time I'm thinking "well, if you're not sure if you're passing you better pull it together really quick Liz because this guy obviously thinks you're a woman!"

..and a few conversations with other women about various things. from helping the dressing room lady to offering a spritz of my perfume to a security guard (she said I smelled good) and have her lean in and politely decline because she needs to take a bath first.

Did I mention I love being a girl?! It's so much fun! Granted it's some work to do makeup and hair and deciding what to wear but the attention is worth it. Heck just passing and being treated like any other woman in the world is worth it.

[Sally]

Well Liz,

I believe that all that needs to be said is , yse it is your thread, take it anywhere you want and

YOU GO GIRL!!!

Enjoying life, that's as good as it gets,

Sally

[Guest Lizzie McTrucker]

..and allow me to vent / impart some personal wisdom.

a few years ago I was living in a house with another trans woman. She did not like that I had numerous piercings and had a punk rock/goth look. She felt it brought attention to my differences that I'm not a woman and if I wanted to blend in I should go for a more traditional look like hers..which I think included going blonde. But like the rebellious grrrrl that I am, I resisted change. and it occurred to me:

There are all kinds of women in this world, from very butch to very feminine. Just look around at the women around you. As long as you fit in somewhere between the two extremes, you're fine!

Oh I forgot to mention, I sent 1 pic to three of my str8 guy friends asking what they thought about how I looked. (figured I should poll my target audience, you know?) and they all said I looked average. One guy even apologized before saying I was average. Average is still better than ugly..or needs some work..or "maybe with a brown bag on your head." I wasn't expecting to be told I was pretty or attractive, but I think average is still okay. I jokingly asked two of the guys if they would "tap that" and one wrote back saying "ask me again once your transition is complete."

*shock*

I had no idea he thought I was attractive until that day.

..and may I remind you, the guys that like trans women like us because we're more girlie and feminine than the average woman. We don't take our femaleness for granted. and we don't have periods. I'll bet that's the real reason.

[Sally]

You are so right about the goals we have for ourselves - not all women are fashion models and movie stars - most aren't!

I like to think that I can look better than most of the women that I see in a mall.

Not taking your femaleness for granted is a reason that men are attracted to certain women - it sort of explains the guys you see with a girl and think why in the world is he with her - it is the personallity!

Women who totally fixate on how they look and are totally self centered attract men who want a trophy wife - I don't see my self as a trophy - I'm a fantastic catch - but I am a woman, a human being and I have a mind as well. I want to be with someone who can appreciate all of that.

Love ya (and apparently me as well),

Sally

[Guest DeniseNM]

Well Liz I would say you have the passing down ... you go girl. Hope I can pass as well as I transition. Nothing wrong with being an amazon (5'10" flatfooted myself) either and I love the idea of the leopard print lingerie, have to look for that somewhere .

Oh I forgot to mention, I sent 1 pic to three of my str8 guy friends asking what they thought about how I looked. (figured I should poll my target audience, you know?) and they all said I looked average. One guy even apologized before saying I was average. Average is still better than ugly..or needs some work..or "maybe with a brown bag on your head." I wasn't expecting to be told I was pretty or attractive, but I think average is still okay. I jokingly asked two of the guys if they would "tap that" and one wrote back saying "ask me again once your transition is complete."

*shock*

I had no idea he thought I was attractive until that day.

..and may I remind you, the guys that like trans women like us because we're more girlie and feminine than the average woman. We don't take our femaleness for granted. and we don't have periods. I'll bet that's the real reason.

I think I would agree with you about the reason some guys like trans women, we don't take our femaleness for granted (I for one am loving being a girl). Sounds like your target audience gave you a self esteem boost. I know it was odd to me when my one friend told me that she is pretty sure I will be a cute girl as I transition (she said this as she was showing me how to do some makeup).

Denise

[Guest Lizzie McTrucker]

Girl, make sure you have cell phone #s of your female friends handy when you're transitioning. Most of my friends are also some kind of advisor and usually text me back within an hour or so for something girl-related. I've got beauty advisors, style advisors, poise and grace advisors. Every friend advises me in at least two areas. Granted many of my female friends I admire for their beauty, or style, or poise or whatever so I ask them questions right up their alley.

I have one friend I ask makeup questions to.

one friend I ask fashion suggestions to (she's plus-size as well)

one friend I ask beauty and style questions to

another friend I a ask how to handle myself in certain situations as a lady trucker (she's a truck driver as well and essentially got me hooked on this career)

and you can do this either in person or online. If you have friends who you admire, tell them! Let them know why you admire them. All my friends were flattered when I told them and were more than happy to help with beauty or advice suggestions. Female friends with great style and/or awesome makeup are great friends to have while transitioning because they'll usually offer advice and ideas on how you can be equally fabulous.

There's also a book by Isaac Mitzrahi called "How to Have Style" which I heard is an amazing book. Whenever I can find a book store I can park this big ol truck near I have to take a look at it.

..and when you have a great accomplishment (like a no-incident trip into the ladies room), share it with your close female friends so they can be like your transitioning cheerleaders. The more little accomplishments you have, the easier things become and they become less of a big deal and more of just an every day thing. I don't even text my friends when I pass again because it's become an every day thing. But when I first started, your darn tootin I texted them every time I had a little accomplishment. and when you're having a good day (meaning your hair looks great, your makeup looks great, your outfit looks great) take a picture and share it with those same close friends. Let them see how their help is paying off and how happy you are as a result. Good friends want you to be happy.

..can someone take this soapbox away from me?! LOL!!