I do think hoping for rapid, dramatic physical changes from feminising hormones can be unrealistic. I’m 50, so I don’t know if really big physical changes are likely without surgeries. For me, the biggest changes have stemmed from the way I present in public and the way I feel on the inside, which is helped by my presentation in public. I have been on HRT for two years.

You look wonderful, Mae! I learned most of my make-up routine by watching YouTube videos and thru experimentation. Generally, less is the way to go, especially with foundation. I keep mine pretty simple.   Have fun with it! One of my looks I jokingly refer to as my raccoon look. 🤣

Thank you for sharing your story Kay and for sharing yourself with us. You are very courageous! Many blessings to you and your family as you take steps to being your more authentic self... 

I've always had a bit of a temper, and sometimes things will build until I punch a wall or pound my fist. It seems more acute now. I seem to go 0 to 100 more quickly, but also I am having a rough go it with life in general. A lot of stressors and frustrating things all around me, and feeling like my life is stuck with no end in sight.    Is the E contributing to my reactions or would I have reacting like this no matter what? I don't know.   I, too, have hoped for a "dynamic change to femininity" and that hasn't really materialized after a few months ... sometimes I feel I am chasing something I am not meant to have or that will always be beyond my reach...

It does,I had to do other jobs outside that did not require the hoist.I have a clutch job to do on next week Monday,Customer of this one is a hothead and has been told it will be finished Tuesday.Hurting my paycheck this week

I think it’s only realistic to be concerned about passing, and I do mean passing in the original sense of the word (ie, to the point at which strangers can’t tell we are trans), but mainly because of safety concerns. It’s funny, for years I didn’t dare go out in daylight dressed femme but would risk my life at night, because what I feared most was humiliation, not violent assault. Now I’m pretty much unafraid in daylight but wary at night, because what I fear most is assault. I find attempts to humiliate me are very few and happen almost exclusively at night anyway. During the day, either people react indifferently or else they are complimentary. Sure, sometimes folks side-eye me, but who knows what that means? It could be positive or negative. And yes, I get the very occasional “sir”, which does hurt, but i chalk that up to ignorance. I wrote my first complaint letter to a business recently when someone “sir”ed me, and I plan to keep writing such letters of it continues. As April and Sally suggest, with enough self-love I think we just stop caring so much what others may or may not think of us. 

You look gorgeous!

That really stinks!

Ashley is no longer available! I’m happily TAKEN! Finally after all heartbreaking I finally can say I’m in a relationship! She is wonderful to me! 

PS, having said that, I certainly will be referring to these organisations as designated hate groups going forward.

Thanks @Davie, I skim-read that this morning. We didn’t go deep into the politics this time around because my podcast partner was a little unprepared. There will be a Part II in a couple of weeks. Very glad to see the SPLC taking this stance but let’s face it, they have been calling out SEGM and Genspect for years. 

This is what took me so long to figure out April.  I had to learn to love myself, first.  When that happened though, "the world became my oyster."  

Welcome to the forums and thank you for sharing your story. We are each unique yet share many similarities, too. I'm sure you will find assistance, support and even friendship here. Jump in where you feel comfortable!!

Well, that's just awesome!

I think you are right, Sally, that we often set the bar way too high for ourselves. I've learned to be comfortable with how I look. Not beautiful, but happy and confident with my looks. I also don't assume that I've been clocked - more that people are checking out something I'm wearing.    When you begin to love yourself for ho you are, it turns a huge corner in your ability to be out in public and confident in how you look.

The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) Now Designates Genspect, and the Society for Evidence-Based Gender Medicine, SEGM As Anti-LGBTQ Hate Groups. Thne SEGM members and associates were part of a secret advisory group for the Cass Review in England. Genspect and SEGM pushed anti-trans policies in the United States. Now, they are listed as hate groups. Members of these and other anti-LGBTQ+ organizations listed have played significant roles in the passage of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation and policy by concealing and underplaying their ties to anti-LGBTQ+ extremism. Most recently, members of the newly designated hate group, Society for Evidence-Based Gender Medicine, helped advise the Cass Review in the United Kingdom, which has led to the criminalization of possession of some forms of transgender care there and is currently being used to argue for heavy restrictions in the United States. The designation is significant, placing these organizations alongside other extremist groups like the Alliance Defending Freedom and the Family Research Council—Christian fundamentalist organizations pushing anti-LGBTQ+ policies in the United States and internationally. Justifying the new designations, the report points to conferences held by these organizations that featured “expert witnesses” employed by the Alliance Defending Freedom to target LGBTQ+ people in the United States. It also highlights an investigative analysis that discovered the organizations were at the center of a massive “anti-LGBTQ pseudoscience network.” The analysis further determined that in the case of SEGM, the organization’s funding stream included Koch Foundation money funneled through the Edward Charles Foundation. Notably, SEGM shared funding streams with right-wing Christian groups like the Alliance Defending Freedom and the Family Research Council. Such groups “frequently use pseudoscience to disguise their far-right ideologies, using the language of science in an attempt to make their extremism seem reasonable.” https://www.erininthemorning.com/p/splc-designates-genspect-segm-as?publication_id=994764&post_id=145346203&isFreemail=true&r=rebf4&triedRedirect=true  

Thank you for sharing, Kay! And I did make it to the end and it wasn't nonsense to me!   -Timi

My whole work week getting worse.Yard called and said Friday the replacement engine will come.Their truck is down with problems.Customer understands and said he has his other trucks in the fleet

I don't have all the context. Perhaps just sitting back for a while might be of benefit? Is this a paid job? If it's not, you'll have to balance the value of your effort vs. what you get out of it. If the juice is not worth the squeeze, then maybe quitting is the correct answer? Regardless, I'm sorry you're in that situation.

Sally, thank you for the information. I think i will try that.