A little more relaxed day today, but a few cool things still happened.
The trip I made yesterday to work on the plane was to fix a potentially dangerous fuel leak, so the owner could fly it safely up here for some other minor maintenance he wanted me to do on it. He brought it in and I worked through the squawk list (yes, that's really what it's called, you bird brains), and wrapped up right around lunch time. The owner has made it a tradition to always take me to lunch when I work on his plane. Today, though, would be the first time that I would be going as my new self. When we decided we were ready for lunch, he told me he would handle installing the engine cowls so I could go in and make myself ready for lunch. In essence, he told me it was OK to go get prettied up to go out. Wow, cool! I got out of my work clothes, fixed my makeup and hair, and off we went - back to the same place our group had ended up at after my court appointment. I was welcomed back by a few of the staff who remembered our celebration, and our waiter Jason gave me a big hug. But the really cool thing? My neighbor and a bunch of his visiting family were sitting two tables away. I saw my neighbor look up and around the restaurant, and he looked directly at me - and went right on by, not recognizing me. Apparently he just saw a woman he didn't know sitting there, and kept looking around. My friend and I both watched him do this, and we just grinned at each other. I count that as a total pass.
Later as my friend got ready to fly home, I asked him to thank his wife for the nice time she showed me yesterday. And he told me that she really enjoyed it, too, because she doesn't have many lady friends around her neighborhood that she can talk with any more. Wait... what!? I apparently qualify as a woman friend that she can confide in and share with. I can't describe how cool that feels! Just thinking about that makes me all shivery.
One final thing before I shut down for the night. Sue and I sat down to finalize our health care paperwork for 2018. As part of that I went back through the profile and updated my name and gender information. And occasionally as we worked through all the forms, that name would pop up front and center on my screen. Every time it did I got a little buzz of surprise and pleasure. I'm still not used to seeing it so blatantly and openly.
But I like it. A lot.
Stephanie