The Memorial Day Weekend is turning out to be busier than I expected. First of all, since I am a transgender veteran, I am very cognizant of the fact the weekend is much more than a three day holiday. I will have more on that in my Cyrsti's Condo Memorial day post.
In the meantime, Liz and I are joining friends tonight at the usual Italian restaurant we go to on a regular basis. Then, Sunday morning, we are joining my daughter's family for breakfast. It turns out my oldest Grandson is heading out to North Dakota to be a Boy Scout lifeguard for the summer. So it will be the last time we will see him for awhile.
He seems to break the mold of the usual teen aged boy who only wants to set around and play games.
The weather has all of the sudden caught up to the fact it is almost June and we are experiencing temperatures near 90 degrees (F). The weather will give me an excuse to wear my other sleeveless tank top. The ombre' top I wore to graduation can't be worn again in front of the same people, so I may wear it tonight with a pair of leggings. For a whole different group of people. Then I could wear the other top Sunday, which is a gray color with an geometric black pattern.
Monday we are saving to cookout here at the home front...just ourselves.
Saturday, May 25, 2019
Friday, May 24, 2019
Mirror, Mirror
Graduation
Graduation evening this week went very well.
The family started out with a BBQ tailgate in her honor in the parking lot outside Wright State's arena. Wright State is a medium sized state university in the suburban Dayton, Ohio area which has a pretty good sized arena. Much too big I thought for one high school's graduation. I was wrong though, because surprisingly, it was almost filled to capacity.
As I sat down to my BBQ, I felt overdressed in my long skirt and sleeveless "Ombre" top The top on the model to your right approximates the style, not the color.
I didn't have time to think much about it though because about the time we sat down to eat, a light rain began to fall. We were forced to head on into the arena to get our seats. The good news was we got good seats, the bad news was we had to sit in them for three hours.
To my surprise, my Grand-daughter immediately appeared on the "Jumbo Tron" big screen in the arena and presented a topic with another girl on how the graduates were like all the flavors of ice cream in the world. Of course i wondered to my self how many of the grads were LGBTQ!
All too soon though, the graduation was over and we made our way back out to see the new graduate and head home. There are some pictures floating around and if any of them find their way to Facebook, I will share them with you.
Throughout the evening I didn't notice any stares or glances, so that was good and my Grand-daughter seemed to really appreciate me being there. What really surprised me though was the lack of tears on my part.
For another completely different graduation experience, let's check in with Connie:
"When my grandson graduated a couple years ago, I would have cried, except he was such as goofball about it, going for the big laugh on stage. I do get a bit sentimental when I look at the picture of the two of us afterward, though. It was the first time, after a few years of him getting used to the "new me," that we hugged and he put his arm around me for the pic. It's a reminder that our own transitions are so dependent on the transitions of those close to us."
Well put!
The family started out with a BBQ tailgate in her honor in the parking lot outside Wright State's arena. Wright State is a medium sized state university in the suburban Dayton, Ohio area which has a pretty good sized arena. Much too big I thought for one high school's graduation. I was wrong though, because surprisingly, it was almost filled to capacity.
As I sat down to my BBQ, I felt overdressed in my long skirt and sleeveless "Ombre" top The top on the model to your right approximates the style, not the color.I didn't have time to think much about it though because about the time we sat down to eat, a light rain began to fall. We were forced to head on into the arena to get our seats. The good news was we got good seats, the bad news was we had to sit in them for three hours.
To my surprise, my Grand-daughter immediately appeared on the "Jumbo Tron" big screen in the arena and presented a topic with another girl on how the graduates were like all the flavors of ice cream in the world. Of course i wondered to my self how many of the grads were LGBTQ!
All too soon though, the graduation was over and we made our way back out to see the new graduate and head home. There are some pictures floating around and if any of them find their way to Facebook, I will share them with you.
Throughout the evening I didn't notice any stares or glances, so that was good and my Grand-daughter seemed to really appreciate me being there. What really surprised me though was the lack of tears on my part.
For another completely different graduation experience, let's check in with Connie:
"When my grandson graduated a couple years ago, I would have cried, except he was such as goofball about it, going for the big laugh on stage. I do get a bit sentimental when I look at the picture of the two of us afterward, though. It was the first time, after a few years of him getting used to the "new me," that we hugged and he put his arm around me for the pic. It's a reminder that our own transitions are so dependent on the transitions of those close to us."
Well put!
Thursday, May 23, 2019
Transgender Veteran!
Avalisa Gallo served four years in the Air Force before leaving the military to complete her MtF gender transition.
Now, she is the first transgender Nebraskan to compete for a national pageant crown. The pageant she is competing in is called the All-American Goddess. It's the first pageant system to allow all types of transgender men and women to compete nationally.
Now, she is the first transgender Nebraskan to compete for a national pageant crown. The pageant she is competing in is called the All-American Goddess. It's the first pageant system to allow all types of transgender men and women to compete nationally.
"People don't see me as a woman, that's the issue," said Gallo. "In Omaha, there's not a lot of trans women of color that are out and being visible and that's because its not safe."
She's since been advocating for transgender rights. She reads to children in the community focusing on the book, 'I am Jazz,' a story about a transgender girl. She also has a video blog where she opens up about her journey.
Good luck Avalisa!
Good luck Avalisa!
Wednesday, May 22, 2019
In Between Post
As I wrote about previously here in Cyrsti's Condo, I am right in the middle of a very busy week. Yesterday, I had a therapist appointment, one Doctor's appointment and a support group meeting.
All went well and I even was able to negotiate the eighty mile return rush hour trip through two cities which included being stopped for at least ten miles in more stop than go traffic.
Other than that, the only perceived problem I had was my hair. I washed it the day before and didn't bother to brush it out enough before I left. Then, I forgot my brush and had no way to get my waves back under control. Needless to say, I survived.
My therapist appointment went as predicted. We always end up talking more about other things than about me. Which, I guess is a good thing. Fortunately, right now, my demons aren't chasing me as much as they did in the past. The Doctor's appointment had as much to do with it as anything. She prescribes the meds I take to control my bi-polar disorder.
The LGBT support group meeting was interesting as always. A very unique small group of people attended. Including a transgender woman formerly from Alabama who served on a submarine. One trans person of color, a retired ally cis man and a couple gender fluid folks. Really different than the cross dresser - transgender support group meetings I attend here in Cincinnati.
The in between part of this post comes with the fact I am attending my Grand-daughters graduation tonight again up in the Dayton, Ohio area. In order to pull this off with only one car, we had to rent one (car) for the trip.
I think I have a pretty nice outfit picked out with my long black embroidered skirt paired with an embroidered boho style sleeveless top and my fancy black flats. Due to a total lack of decision making with the family groups involved, we are all supposed to meet a couple hours early for tailgate eats before the actual graduation.
Due to my excessive HRT hormones, I probably will do my share of crying :).
All went well and I even was able to negotiate the eighty mile return rush hour trip through two cities which included being stopped for at least ten miles in more stop than go traffic.
Other than that, the only perceived problem I had was my hair. I washed it the day before and didn't bother to brush it out enough before I left. Then, I forgot my brush and had no way to get my waves back under control. Needless to say, I survived.
My therapist appointment went as predicted. We always end up talking more about other things than about me. Which, I guess is a good thing. Fortunately, right now, my demons aren't chasing me as much as they did in the past. The Doctor's appointment had as much to do with it as anything. She prescribes the meds I take to control my bi-polar disorder.
The LGBT support group meeting was interesting as always. A very unique small group of people attended. Including a transgender woman formerly from Alabama who served on a submarine. One trans person of color, a retired ally cis man and a couple gender fluid folks. Really different than the cross dresser - transgender support group meetings I attend here in Cincinnati.
The in between part of this post comes with the fact I am attending my Grand-daughters graduation tonight again up in the Dayton, Ohio area. In order to pull this off with only one car, we had to rent one (car) for the trip.
I think I have a pretty nice outfit picked out with my long black embroidered skirt paired with an embroidered boho style sleeveless top and my fancy black flats. Due to a total lack of decision making with the family groups involved, we are all supposed to meet a couple hours early for tailgate eats before the actual graduation.
Due to my excessive HRT hormones, I probably will do my share of crying :).
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