It's LGBT Pride Month!

With all the happenings around the world, it is easy to forget it is LGBT Pride month. Around Ohio at least, that means celebrations in cities of any size around Ohio.

It used to be Pride Parades seemingly were meant for gaudy drag queens melting in the sun. Now it seems the transgender "T" is becoming more visible. All of a sudden, trans people aren't afraid to come out of the closet and be seen.

Around Ohio at least, Columbus continues to lead the way with the most entertaining Pride week. For me, my new hometown of Cincinnati will be where I attend the Pride festivities. I plan on dressing comfortably because as of now the event is still several weeks away and hopefully the weather will be dry.

Ironically enough, I have the opportunity to connect with several interested parties at Pride.  Because of previous commitments, I will be helping our Ohio Witches Ball committee. We will be passing out brochures promoting the Halloween event.

I look at it this way, what is better than having a real transgender woman helping to promote their event :)

Tankin' It

Summer has arrived and it is time to access my number of tank tops for the season.

Fortunately, HRT has continued to reduce my male muscle masses and even made my body hair even finer and less noticeable. Nearly perfect for a tank top.

Being an old hippie at heart, I have a couple pairs of well worn "boyfriend" jeans to go with them.

Thursday when I go to my latest round of doctors visits at the VA hospital I plan on wearing a simple black tank, jeans and tennis shoes for what normally always promises to be a long walk. Plus, this visit could be one where I have to give blood for my iron problem. Which is caused mostly by the UV rays of the sun for me. So, easy arm access is helpful for the process.

Speaking of the VA and doctors, my bone density tests came back normal, which obviously was great.

Summer time is also melting time for most of us and the perfect makeup job can "glisten" away before we know it. Again the effects of transgender HRT helped with the softening of my facial features. I never had a huge beard to start with, so I survive the heat a little better. I usually can make it with minimal foundation and blush to contour  my face. Finally, I try to bring my eyes out more.

Which leads me to one of the most asked questions I receive, "What is going 24/7 as a woman like?"

First and foremost, when you throw out all your old male clothes, you have committed yourself to more of an effort to embrace and accept the seasons. I always need to plan ahead on purchases and outfits even though I am more of a "casual" style woman. Your woman of course, will be always evolving with the seasons and age.

Good fortune with your transition, you will find luck has little to do with it. Destiny does.

Congratulations!

I know that many of you follow the Femulate Blog and probably know that the blog's creator, Stana is about to retire from her full time job and resume life.

May I be one of the minions to wish Stana all the best! And, if you haven't read, she is strongly considering taking a part time job as a woman at Dress Barn!  How exciting would that be for her!! A wise hire for Dress Barn!

Best of good fortune in your new life Stana, on whatever transgender path you choose!

Memorial Day

Too many of us get involved in the excitement of a three day weekend to forget what the holiday is all about.

Memorial Day of course salutes all of our troops who gave the ultimate sacrifice (death) and to all who still serve selflessly.

Even though the public refuses on so many levels to acknowledge it, we transgender veterans (alive or deceased) have made so much of an invisible impact.

Let me be one who does.

Thanks!

I Will Take a Compliment When I Can Get It!

A couple days ago, it was time to visit my Endo Doc again and get my estrogen patches re-upped again. I don't see him thankfully about every six months, so he notices breast size changes etc.

As he looked me over, he said "Well, you are certainly starting to feminize more." I told him that was music to any transgender woman's ears and thanks!

Even though I know I will never get totally to where I want to be, I was able to hold my head up a little higher on the way out of the hospital.

How Thick is What?

Well, my first transgender bone denisty scan has come and gone. It in fact was very easy and only took about 20 minutes. I decided on an even slightly different "metal-less" outfit when I found my Jeggings. If you are not familiar, they are leggings designed to look like jeans and worked well with a loose gray tunic top I have. The top fits well enough so I can get away with not wearing a bra, along as Liz doesn't catch me. So I felt comfortable and at least a little sexy at the same time. Who knows, some of the old guys at the VA Hospital may have enjoyed it too.

Jeni wrote in with another take on the situation: "I've had a number of bone mineral density tests over the years. They're easy. 

The thing with calcium uptake is, it's not how much calcium you are consuming, but how well it is able to get into your bones. 
That is my big hassle. 
The key there is vitamin D3. Because of the pre-existing problems with my bones, I have to take a moderate dose of that daily to aid calcium uptake.

Crop-top bras are great for these tests. No metal at all to worry about.

As for pants that depends on the temperature. 
Colder days, elastic waist jeans. No metal zips, clips, buttons or rivets.
Summer, three-quarter length, elastic waist, cream linen pants.

As for tops, whatever co-ordinates well, that has no metal.
I tend to wear my blue or green t-shirts, as that allows me to also wear my blue, green, and white bead necklace which has no metal at all.

White sandals completes the outfit for hot days, while black shoes are the go for cooler days."

And, Connie added: " 

I've had to undergo a couple of MRIs and a CT scan, and they've always made me change into a hospital gown. The problem I have with metal, though, is that all of my wigs have a small piece of metal at the temples. You don't have that problem, of course, but I have had to bring a turban to avoid the embarrassment of going into the machine with a bald head. I'm overdue for a lobotomy, though, so I don't know what I'll do after I get that metal plate on my skull. :-)"

Thanks Ladies!

A Girl Has to Have Choices...Right?

Wednesday is my first bone density test as ordered by one of my doctors. Seeing as how I am 67 and on estrogen, I need to see if I am getting enough calcium in my diet so my bones don't become brittle.

For the test, I have been directed to wear nothing with metal, including buttons and zippers. What came to mind was a couple different outfits I have with longer tops (to cover private bulges) and leggings. One is a gray and black theme, the other, a pastel top with bright clored leggings. Both of which would work well with my black flats.

I am even going to wear one of my sports bras who don't have any metal hooks either.

So I beleive I will cover all the rules and have some fun doing it.

So, another milestone in being a "more mature" transgender woman, will have been reached along with my mammograms.

She's Baaack...Kind Of

The laptop is back but as of yet, I have not got any internet connectivity yet. As it turns out, it has turned out to be the least of my problems.

So, in the meantime, I am sneaking a post in from Liz's computer.

During the course of the breakdown, Liz's 91 year old Dad, had a major set back or two and into an assisted care nursing home.  That in itself made our toilet debacle seem small in comparison.
Plus Liz's Dad has recovered a bit.

Now, during the middle of all of this, one of our toilets basically seemed to find time to self destruct beginning with a feed tube problem which has caused us to turn the water off for a couple days until a plumber can get a new toilet installed. As it turned out, repairs alone would have cost nearly what a new one cost.

Back in the day, I could have done it myself but found out the hard way, those days were long gone when I slipped on the wet bathroom floor and nearly hit my noggin (head) on the bathtub.  So, this afternoon, I will get to spend a fun filled afternoon with a plumber.

Perhaps by the time the day is up, we will be back to some sort of normalcy here in the house and I can be back on a more regular basis with all of you.

I can only say, attempting plumbling again wreaked havoc with my nail polish!

Cyrsti's Condo Archive Post: It's Never Too Late

(Warning, these links may not still be current.)

Friday, January 3, 2014

It's Never Too Late

I happened upon a post by another transgender woman who is transitioning later in life and living to write about it! (Just kidding!)
It's called "When to say Yes to the Dress" by Courtney Bedell on the Baltimore Gay Life site.

Courtney's story is similar to many of us.  She met the same resistance, harbored the same inner turmoil and ultimately reached the points we are now in life. Not so surprisingly in the transgender culture, we are called "pretenders" because we waited so long to transition.

Six year old Coy Mathis was used by Courtney as an example of a "no doubter" transgender child who just knew she wasn't a boy.  Coy of course also benefited immensely from a family who has battled for their daughter's right to be herself.  I'm guessing, immensely rare for anyone of my age.

Here's an excerpt from more of the post:

By 12 I felt strongly that I was a girl but unlike Coy, I couldn’t talk about it to my parents, or anyone else. I did what most TGs did 20 or 30 years ago: deny, deny, deny! At 12 I was wearing my older sister’s dresses and using her make-up, but not in public. Despite my having plenty of friends adolescence was a lonely and devastating time for me. I could only be myself when I was alone so I often hooked school to spend the day in a dress curling my hair and putting on make-up. 

 Nobody ever saw me looking pretty—ask any teenage girl if that isn’t a version of hell! I wanted to tell my mom but I just couldn’t find the words. Even when she might have picked up on the clues she didn’t open the subject. When I saw a psychiatrist at my parent’s behest it took me two years to tell him I was convinced that I was a girl and had XX female chromosomes. Naturally, he thought I was simply gay or a cross-dresser. I continued to live two separate lives for another 20 unhappy years.

Sounds familiar, right? Here's more:

 So, the answer to “when do you say yes to the dress?” is simply, as soon as possible! From my own experience, I say do yourself a huge favor and don’t waste half your life denying your true essence! Don’t endure decades of pain and loneliness waiting for the ideal time to change. We often wait until the situation becomes severe enough to outweigh our fear of the potential upheaval our transition will cause. It doesn’t have to be that way if we approach it preemptively before our lives become unbearable or unmanageable.

 See a gender therapist, go to a support group (Tranquility at GLCCB), search your feelings, explore your options, sort it all out and learn what action is best for you. You may decide it is time to transition or you may discover transition is not right for you­—the key word here is “discovery.”

Follow the link above for more!