Good morning All. Coffees on.

[AmberM]

@Linda Marie I am sending good vibes your way on the screening, hopefully nothing is there.

@Elizabeth Star Hopefully you remain negative for COVID and you are just able to enjoy a couple of days off while you wait.

 

Not much going on today for me, today starts the therapy and/or support groups that lead up to my  big meeting Friday morning with HR. I'm still trying to figure out what to do about my aunts, I have a drafted email and wanted one of my therapists to go over it first and let me know what they think of it. I might end up sending that once I see my gender therapist on Wednesday (normally that is on Monday). I also need to update my mom and brothers and other extended family. I figure the big reveal is still probably a few weeks out, but I still want to give them the time they might need to come to terms with it.

 

Supposed to be nice and warm today, might try to open the windows or something. Hope everyone has a great day!

[Jani]

@Linda Marie Those are two great renditions.  They take a while to load but are worth the wait!  I also love the look of the wood on the side of your Gibson!  

 

I hope your check up goes well.  I had prostate cancer but had the offending part successfully removed. 

 

Jani

[Heather Shay]

@Linda Marie nice stuff.... sweet.....

[Bri2020]

It finally arrived, 3 months later but it's here and I'm officially "Bri Elaine....Female" on my birth certificate!! New York City even sent a congratulations on my transition letter along with an invitation to participate in a study concerning health care/access for transgender people. It's a every 5 year survey looking at whether transgender people are having trouble getting the services and care they need.  Also came with a booklet they produce on tip for a healthy life for transgender individuals complete with a long list of resources.  Obviously HIV is an issue in New York in the trans lgbt+ community because there was a lot of info on prevention and treatment options.  

I think all I have left is the VA and my massage licensing board if I choose to go down that road.  My passport change was submitted a couple weeks ago. I'm not going to bother with school records since I'm not going back for a masters or anything at this point in my life.

 

Nice jam sessions @Linda Marie. Good luck with the screening. I agree with @Jani I love the wood grain on the sides, is that cocobolo wood?

@Elizabeth StarI'm happy your test came back negative.  I'm really surprised I never had that scare since I am in the public with my business.

 

[Ann W]

Here's a little feel good story.

I went to Ikea on Sunday to get a sweet little cabinet for my shoes.  I went back in to use the bathroom.  It was men on the left, women on the right.  I have a little camper van, so I basically never have to use public restrooms, but I wasn't in my car, so even though it felt weird, I thought I'd better go left.  Some guy on the way out tried to block me by holding on to the door.  He thought I was making a mistake.  Talk about an awkward moment...I pushed past him as he stared a hole in my head, and walk straight over to a wall unit to remove any doubt.  Ok, I was looking pretty good, and carrying a purse, but didn't think I was passing.  I kind of felt like this women's lib poster from the 70s.  I couldn't help but smile, but the bathroom thing is going to be unsettling for a while.

[Susan R]

2 hours ago, Bri2020 said:

It finally arrived, 3 months later but it's here and I'm officially "Bri Elaine....Female" on my birth certificate!! New York City even sent a congratulations on my transition letter along with an invitation to participate in a study concerning health care/access for transgender people.

Wow, that is wonderful Bri. Love that NYC is so affirming! ?

[Susan R]

2 hours ago, Ann W said:

Ok, I was looking pretty good, and carrying a purse, but didn't think I was passing.

This is a good sign Ann. Very happy for you. It might be time to switch bathrooms based on that incident. Check the local laws, of course. You don’t want to ruffle any feathers..LOL ?

[AmberM]

2 hours ago, Bri2020 said:

It finally arrived, 3 months later but it's here and I'm officially "Bri Elaine....Female" on my birth certificate!! New York City even sent a congratulations on my transition letter

That is awesome Bri, congratulations on the birth certificate update. I love the fact that the city sent you a letter, that is awesome and I am sure added a cherry on top.

[Ivy]

2 hours ago, Ann W said:

Some guy on the way out tried to block me by holding on to the door.  He thought I was making a mistake.  Talk about an awkward moment...I pushed past him as he stared a hole in my head, and walk straight over to a wall unit to remove any doubt.  Ok, I was looking pretty good, and carrying a purse, but didn't think I was passing.  I kind of felt like this women's lib poster from the 70s.  I couldn't help but smile, but the bathroom thing is going to be unsettling for a while.

That must have been encouraging.  I'm still terrified of bathrooms.

[Jackie C.]

2 hours ago, Jandi said:

I'm still terrified of bathrooms.

 

In all fairness, the state of you average men's room can be legitimately terrifying,

 

Hugs!

[Linda Marie]

Great news. No sign of lung cancer. I do have arthritis in my back.

I will quit smoking!!!

[Bri2020]

3 hours ago, Linda Marie said:

Great news. No sign of lung cancer. I do have arthritis in my back.

I will quit smoking!!!

Awesome news!!!  I’ve found CBD oil really helpful for the inflammation of arthritis. 

[Britany_Relia]

I've had coffee and coffee spills, and eventually a nap. I'm back in this thread to say I see y'all, and omg yes CBD products are so wonderful for pain relief.  I love Seventh Sense, they have a roll on tube that's really warm on application and always helps me calm down any major flares I have. 

3 hours ago, Linda Marie said:

Great news. No sign of lung cancer. I do have arthritis in my back.

I will quit smoking!!!

That's so good! Healthy enough and wanting to be even healthier!  I wish you luck and the unwavering confidence that is needed for this step in your life Linda! 

I've been enjoying seeing your posts, and I love the sense of light humor you bring with a soft touch.  You have a bright heart and you deserve all of the good things! 

[Linda Marie]

Thanks. I hope to bring more humor. 

[Elizabeth Star]

I had a bit of a trying day. I went to file the petition for my name change only to find out there is some local voting going on and they were closed. Their sign said they were closed today to support the voters. There was no mention of this on their website this morning. What the?? I'm a voter, they're not supporting me by being closed. As I walked back to my car I started to get overwhelmed by so many negative thoughts. I was feeling everything but happy. This makes the fourth time something has happened. By the time I got to work I was 2 hours late. They knew so it wasn't a problem but still 2 hours of lost pay. I spent most of the day with my emotions precariously perched and did my best to keep them in check as I didn't have any idea when I could miss a morning to try again. Turns out the people I work with are better than I thought. My supervisor spent a good chunk of his day rearranging schedules, then tells me at the end of the day he freed me up to go try again this Thursday. I've got my fingers crossed.

[KymmieL]

Congratulations Bri. It is great to have gov documents saying your preferred gender.  My driver's license lists  female. It will be a while before I can get my birth certificate changed. I was born in MI. And they require you to have GRS. To change it. 

 

Kymmie 

[Linda Marie]

I am so happy for all here to achieve their dreams. So much work and heart aches involved in what ever we do.

My next video here requires a lot of practice, lighting, and more. I'll give you all a hint, stand up comedy, with a voice, live from the basement, lol. I do have my routine, short, fast, and funny. I have been on stage before with the guitar, but never as a drag queen. So having said that, you have been warned, P.S. it will be clean and PG. and funny. 

Love,

LM♥️ 

 

[Bri2020]

Ugh, woke up at 3:30am. Haven't been able get back to sleep for an hour so I guess I'll make some coffee. It's gonna be a long day.  Beside a work shift the only thing on my agenda is getting routine HRT labs done this afternoon. 

[Jamie68]

19 hours ago, Bri2020 said:

It finally arrived, 3 months later but it's here and I'm officially "Bri Elaine....Female" on my birth certificate!! New York City even sent a congratulations on my transition letter along with an invitation to participate in a study concerning health care/access for transgender people. It's a every 5 year survey looking at whether transgender people are having trouble getting the services and care they need.  Also came with a booklet they produce on tip for a healthy life for transgender individuals complete with a long list of resources.  Obviously HIV is an issue in New York in the trans lgbt+ community because there was a lot of info on prevention and treatment options.  

I think all I have left is the VA and my massage licensing board if I choose to go down that road.  My passport change was submitted a couple weeks ago. I'm not going to bother with school records since I'm not going back for a masters or anything at this point in my life.

 

Nice jam sessions @Linda Marie. Good luck with the screening. I agree with @Jani I love the wood grain on the sides, is that cocobolo wood?

@Elizabeth StarI'm happy your test came back negative.  I'm really surprised I never had that scare since I am in the public with my business.

 

That's awesome! I'm just starting on the name change journey. Going to take papers to county clerk today hopefully. I also filled out the form to waive having to post in newspaper. Hopefully it gets approved. My town isn't real friendly towards transgender people. There will be an awful lot of places to notify when I get it done, like Social Security, pension, bank, and about 15 more. Then all over again when I get my gender marker changed. Wow, I cringe just thinking about it.

[Jamie68]

11 hours ago, Elizabeth Star said:

I had a bit of a trying day. I went to file the petition for my name change only to find out there is some local voting going on and they were closed. Their sign said they were closed today to support the voters. There was no mention of this on their website this morning. What the?? I'm a voter, they're not supporting me by being closed. As I walked back to my car I started to get overwhelmed by so many negative thoughts. I was feeling everything but happy. This makes the fourth time something has happened. By the time I got to work I was 2 hours late. They knew so it wasn't a problem but still 2 hours of lost pay. I spent most of the day with my emotions precariously perched and did my best to keep them in check as I didn't have any idea when I could miss a morning to try again. Turns out the people I work with are better than I thought. My supervisor spent a good chunk of his day rearranging schedules, then tells me at the end of the day he freed me up to go try again this Thursday. I've got my fingers crossed.

Nice. It's good to have support at work. Hope you can get it done this time. 

[Jamie68]

17 hours ago, Jackie C. said:

 

In all fairness, the state of you average men's room can be legitimately terrifying,

 

Hugs!

I agree. I can't even get the guys in my house to pee in the toilet, not on or around it ?

[Elizabeth Star]

1 hour ago, Jamie68 said:

I can't even get the guys in my house to pee in the toilet, not on or around it

My friends often complain about this. I would tell them to tell the guys to sit and pee if they thought they were going to make a mess. At the time I didn't realize how emasculating my statement was and it should have told me something about myself.

[Jani]

Great news on your test results @Linda Marie.  

[Bri2020]

2 hours ago, Jamie68 said:

That's awesome! I'm just starting on the name change journey. Going to take papers to county clerk today hopefully. I also filled out the form to waive having to post in newspaper. Hopefully it gets approved. My town isn't real friendly towards transgender people. There will be an awful lot of places to notify when I get it done, like Social Security, pension, bank, and about 15 more. Then all over again when I get my gender marker changed. Wow, I cringe just thinking about it.

I'm lucky living in VA and born in NY (OMG did I say that out loud). I didn't need anything from doctors or anything to change my gender marker so I was able to do that on my drivers license and birth certificate as soon as the name change was approved by the court. Social security I just did the name change for now. Your gender isn't marked on it so I wasn't in a hurry.  My passport is being worked on by them now but you only get a 2 year passport until you have fully medically transitioned. I need that short term one because I'm traveling out of country and look quite different from before and have the new name.  After GRS I will apply for the 10 year one. For gender marker they need normal PP documents and either a birth cert with new gender or a letter from someone treating you during your transition saying you are transitioning.  

[Ivy]

3 hours ago, Elizabeth Star said:

it should have told me something about myself.

Funny how that works.