Good morning All. Coffees on.

[Willow]

Liz, positive thoughts not negative will get you through this 

 

Willow

[Emily michelle]

Hopefully she will see and realize how much better the real you is. Then you won’t have to worry about the other shoe falling off. Trust me I know it’s hard to see the positive at times but try to stay positive 

[Heather Shay]

Just hearing her say you were her wife is very positive -  she is going through her own acceptance journey and even her sub-conscious is telling the truth out loud and that is worth embracing. I know I have not received acceptance from my wife as she was acceptable to HRT and GT but isn't sure how she will react to seeing me growing more feminine over time. I have decided I want surgery to confirm my gender and am researching doctors and making plans as I am closing in on one month HRT so I can streamline my path to surgery. 

 

You already are gorgeous and there is no mistaking your true gender. I would be extremely happy to look half as good as you do already.

 

Count this as a triumph and another building block to full acceptance by the one you love.

 

Shay

[Jani]

Hey @Bri2020 great news.  I don't know how much you had done so prepare for some tough sessions (upper lip I'm talking about you!)  That would be good to have it covered by your insurance.  I started out using an OTC cream but once I acclimated I just took an Acetaminophen tablet a half hour prior to the appointment.  

[Emily michelle]

I haven’t had any electrolysis done but I’m getting ready to go for my second laser treatment Thursday. But they put some type of numbing cream on my face and then wrapped my face in Saran Wrap. They let it sit For 45 minutes and it worked great until the upper lip lol.

[KathyLauren]

An interesting day.  I had to get up at 4:45 so I could drive a friend into the city for her chemotherapy appointment.  It's an hour and a half each way, and her appointment was at 7:30.  I sure needed my coffee, but for something like that, you help if you can.  Saw a nice sunrise on the way in, and we got caught up on her stuff and mine.

 

Then, this evening, I did my annual astronomy talk, via Zoom.  Usually, it is in front of a live audience, but this was the Covid edition.  They had 68 people logged in from all across the country, and most stayed until the end.  I have gotten used to public speaking since my transition, mostly to this group.  This is the fourth year I have done it, a different talk each time.  I seem to have a knack for figuring out what beginners need to know and delivering it in a way they can understand.  I'm going to keep doing these talks as long as they keep asking me.  It has given me tons of confidence, and has given me motivation to work on my voice.

[Jani]

@KathyLauren That is so nice that you can effectively communicate about what you love and that people respond.   Keep going!

 

With the storm running up the East coast we had a period of high winds and rain in the early evening.  Lights in the house flickered a few times but it seemed we were safe.  But at 8pm the winds kicked up again and power went out!  I decided against lighting candles and went to bed at 9pm.  At 11:30 it was still dark, although the moon was full and it was very bright outside.  As it had been close to 4 hours I was concerned about my refrigerator.  

 

I got dressed and went out to the garage to connect and fire up the generator.  I pulled it out and connected the underground cable to the house.  Thankfully it still had some gas in the tank.  I went out to buy more fuel, but it was already 12:30am and I didn't know how extensive the outage was.  Thankfully I saw the streetlight was on about a quarter mile from the house and I was able to find fuel at a local station that is 24hour.   

 

After topping off the tank I sat in my car to cool off and listen to the radio.  About 1:30 I saw a power company truck pass by looking at the overhead cables.  I went to bed and awoke at 5am to see the power had been restored.  Great!  I went out to the garage in my night shirt to turn off the generator.  We don't generally loss power in the summer but the winds were really strong.  Thank goodness for the power crews!!

 

[KathyLauren]

@Jani, I am glad you were well-prepared for the power outage.  Out on the west coast, a few years ago, we endured an eight-day outage caused by a major storm.  That motivated me to get a generator. 

 

I made sure both that house and our current house are wired so that the generator can power anything on the premises.  Not all at the same time, of course, but fridge, freezer, well pump and the controls for the oil-fired furnace can all run off it, as well as the computer and the TV. 

 

I don't consider myself a "prepper", but I do believe in being prepared for some of the more likely events, like storms.

[Jani]

Yes we endured an eleven day ice storm and the resulting outages years ago.  Furnace, water pump, water heater and refrigerator are all critical!  I have a transfer switch that allows me to swap over to the generator safely.  I'm not a prepper either but some things are a given when you live where I do.  

[Cyndee]

I saw some of the damage from the eastern seaboard yesterday, wow.

 

Glad you two are OK,

 

Sunny and mild here in PNW today, expecting a little rain tomorrow even.

 

I have a generator and supplies here, I should go run the generator now that I am thinking about it, just to keep to gas moving through the carb once and while. I try and run mine at least every few months....

 

C

[Jani]

Make sure you run stabilizer in the tank.  The Blue label Sta-Bil brand is what I use.  Its the marine grade and works good with ethanol.  

 

As typical after a storm its nice and sunny here today!  Got to get the blower out to clear the driveway. 

 

Jani

[Cyndee]

@Jani - that's good advice, over the years I do use enough gas here to keep some fresh on hand, but I could fall behind given I am not driving nearly as much these days, thanks to covid. Each year I try and put what's left into the tank of a car, and go buy new in the containers. I think I will go buy some stabilizer, good to have on hand....

 

Hope your day is going well

 

C

[Heather Shay]

Glad you all are safe and sound. I found it interesting that as a few of my comics were ending their 7 day listing someone from Philly emailled me saying he wanted a book and they were being pounded there and lost power - I was not only able to sell the book he wanted but 3 others to boot at a discount to help him think someone actually does care and then bundled to charge one shipping fee.

 

We can do our little parts to put a ray of sunshine in the middle of a deluge and that is as it should be.

 

Holding you all tight in my heart.

 

Heather Shay

[Willow]

Hi, I live just about 40 miles south of where it came ashore in North Carolina.  I have friends on Oak Island that got hit pretty hard.  Fortunately she wasn’t damaged but did say that it felt worse than storms the were a higher category.  
 

we had some small limbs fall and lots and lots of pine needles but nothing serious.

 

I bought a generator the first year I moved here so I could keep the refrigerator and freezer running, and a few lights.  I agree whole heartedly with using marine fuel stabilizer.. it is designed to prevent water separating in the fuel tank which is a huge problem with ethanol gas if it sits.

 

hope everyone was safe.

 

Willow

 

[Elizabeth Star]

I am happy to hear it sounds like everyone is doing pretty good through the storms. I probably should look at my generator one of these days. All the fuel leaked out last summer and I haven't started it since. I have checked the battery a few times so that's still good. I'm just not excited about working on a diesel engine. Now that I hear it, it's funny. I spent 3 years wrenching, welding, and rewiring an old Jeep but I can't bring myself to fix a fuel line on a generator.

 

My wife had her wrist worked on this morning. Apparently it was still a little off so they put it in traction for a couple hours and worked it straighter. There is a chance surgery may not be needed but now it's the waiting game. We go back next week for a final decision. We're being optimistic and I'm a lot less stressed-out.

 

?Liz

 

 

[Emily michelle]

That’s good news about your wife it will be even better if she doesn’t need surgery. 
 

if it makes you feel better about the generator I work on diesels for a living and I can’t stand it anymore. I have my pickup sitting in the garage since January and I don’t have the motivation to fix it lol

[Willow]

Good mornng

 

Liz, I am happy to hear potentially good news about your wife’s wrist surgery.  I’ll pray that this works.

 

Liz an Emily I have a diesel boat engine sitting in my garage waiting on me to take the lower end off and access the viability of rebuilding it or parting it out.  I’m not real excited about doing that.  I thought I was going to get an engine that work for next to nothing but that didn’t work out.  Just as well I suppose it was only 13 hp and the one that was in it was 18.

 

my biggest issue is the mess.

 

Willow

[Bri2020]

Ever since I started presenting as a female I can't get motivated to fix anything. lol. My wife says that would be the deal breaker. I can transition all I want, but I still need to be the fix it person in her life. LMAO. 

 

Liz, I'm happy for you that things are looking better on the surgery front!

 

I just got my first feminine pair of glasses. Now I HAVE to learn eye makeup. They're so much bigger you can really see my eyes now. lol

 

[Heather Shay]

Love your hair wish I had as much on top - but I've had the curse of T thin it out although there is some and it is growing. 

[Bri2020]

28 minutes ago, Shay said:

Love your hair wish I had as much on top - but I've had the curse of T thin it out although there is some and it is growing. 

Aww, thanks Shay. I am blessed there although I am getting a receding hairline but the curls cover it for now. I'm hoping to start a T blocker soon to stop that from progressing among other benefits. 

[Jani]

1 hour ago, Bri2020 said:

Ever since I started presenting as a female I can't get motivated to fix anything. lol. My wife says that would be the deal breaker. I can transition all I want, but I still need to be the fix it person in her life. LMAO.

That will pass.  You'll get back into the things you've done, like I did.  Its a change and our motivation can wane but you'll soon realize you don't have to or need to give up any parts of your life that you enjoy or bring value.  Women can do it all too!  

 

@Bri2020 your hair looks good.  And I like your glasses too! 

 

@ElizabethStar good news about your wife.  I hope it works out well.  When I broke my wrist I opted to just have it manipulated into place rather than surgery.  

[SaraAW]

Hi everyone! Been away for a bit, couldn't wear my glasses, so it made reading very challenging, so I just took a break from the internet for a few days. Happy to report that my recovery has improved a lot. The bleeding issue is over. Surgeon said it was likely due to the amount of bone and cartilage reconstruction they had to do.  My left side was apparently really bad. The surgeon asked why I waited so long to get this done.  Didn't have the heart to tell him it's all the doctor's I've seen over the years for my chronic sinus issues that just kept treating the symptoms and not the root cause. Thankfully my new GP is so awesome for really listening and not being afraid to send me for tests or referrals.

 

I got the stents removed yesterday and while I am still very stuffy and inflamed, I can already notice an improvement in my ability to breathe.  Once everything settles down, I really think there will be tremendous improvement. 

 

While the procedure and early recovery is extremely uncomfortable, there was little pain throughout. I highly recommend anyone with nose breathing or chronic sinus issues to go see an ENT and get things looked at.

 

Glad to hear that you all weathered the storm relatively unscathed.

 

Have a wonderful day and stay safe! Hugs!

[KymmieL]

Good to hear both Sara and Liz. I am wondering if I need to get my sinuses rotor rooter-ed.  My problem I can have completely clear sinuses when I go to bed. Maybe a half hour later I am stuffed to the gills and can barely breath through my nose. I told one of my Dr's about it. He just gave me some antibiotics. I'll make sure I mention it to my new DR. 

 

Well hopefully solved the battery drain in my wagon. After insulating the drivers door switch and installing a new one. Then a new headlight switch. still on. I pulled my passenger dome light switch. it was hot as hell. I insulated the wire too and ordered a new one.

 

Well two days off, my weekend then back to work one day then 4 days off. Doing our annual motorcycle trip. We have been doing a long ride on the bike for 10 yrs. Last year we rode to Santa Fe, NM. This year we are heading east. going riding around NE. Stopping in Lincoln to visit my oldest son and family.

 

This will be the first time I have seen him since I came out to him in Apr. And most of you know how that went. I have only talked to him once since then for about 3 min. With my grandson starting kindergarten next Wens. We will stay in a hotel. I am prepared to just walk out and leave. if any problems come up. Even leave my wife there. She can find her own way home.

 

I am getting to that point. that I need to get on with my life. I deserve to be happy. Right now I am just living my life. Work sucks it is still only 4 of us that work the counter. Now since our shipping and receiving person has been off since Monday last week. Our incoming freight is piling up, we do our best to get it worked but with usually only 2 people per shift. It is nearly impossible.

 

Everyone have a great rest of your day. Excuse my rant.

 

Kymmie

[SaraAW]

Thanks Kymmie! Definitely talk to your doc. There were times I could breathe not too badly through my nose, but way more times I could not.

 

47 minutes ago, KymmieL said:

Well hopefully solved the battery drain in my wagon.

I hate troubleshooting electrical issues in vehicles. I had a pickup that would all kinds of weird issues when it rained. Took forever to find out that is the poor job the previous owner did/had done when tying in the trailer harness into the trucks electrical system. If the water got in, it started shorting things at random.

 

47 minutes ago, KymmieL said:

I am getting to that point. that I need to get on with my life.

I fully get that. I am at that point my wife now, also in coming out to whole world. I have really started moving forward with things, without waiting for my wife's "approval". I've worn a couple of cute tops out in public, they were femme leaning andro, but way more colourful than most males would wear. I've come out to many more people and told my parents they could start telling any friends or other family as they wanted. Hugs!

[Elizabeth Star]

5 hours ago, SaraAW said:

I have really started moving forward with things, without waiting for my wife's "approval".

I am also guilty of this. Sorry, not sorry. If  I didn't  I would still be waiting.

 

I had a session with my regular therapist tonight. Turns out he can diagnose , perform evaluations and write referrals for the treatment of gender dysphoria. I've been seeing him for almost a year, it just never came up. I'm pretty excited we're going to start next week on changing my current diagnosis to GD. Now I just have to break up with the GT I started seeing last weekend.