Chelsea's Transition Adventure

[Chelsea]

Thank you Donna, Kelly and Christine! I had so much fun.
I could not have done this without everyone's support.

Hugs,
       Chelsea

[Laurie]

Thank you Laurie, It was really hard to for me to get out of the car. I had so much fun. I have purchased women items before but as my old self. Also I have a fake shopping list most of the time, so It looks like I'm buying it for someone else.  I thought about your challenge but I'm not that far just yet. The thought of shopping as Chelsea is scary.

Thank you for the nice comments hun.

Hugs,
       Chelsea

Hi Girlfriend. Listen you do not have to tell me that getting out of the car is hard, I know. And yes I am talking about you going shopping AS Chelsea. I also know you are not ready to do that yet but the day will and is coming. you will do it. The first time I bought something ( a women's wallet and a cuticle tool ) it took me 15 minutes! to get out of my pickup and go into Target at 9 pm. I seemed there was a steady stream in and out of the store. What the heck were all those people doing shopping at that hour?? Don't they have home and families? lol
  You did good Chelsea and you will become more comfortable at being out the more you do it.

Hugs,
  Laurie

[JudiBlueEyes]

You look so happy!  See, the sky didn't fall and you survived.  Now get out there and be you!!

Judi

[Donna]

Chelsea girl you are doing fabulous. Congrats on getting out and about and discovering the joy and pleasure of being ones true self. Keep it up and there will be no holding you back

[Chelsea]

Well I have hit my first bump in the road on the Transition Adventure of mine. My bushiness has not done really well in the last few days. I make parts that are seasonal I guess you could say. I have a very large machine payment that I make parts on and without bushiness I cant pay for the machine. No machine, no money, without money there will never be a Chelsea. I have no insurance and my work is paying for every penny of my transition. I am stressed to the max today.

On top of that my sister told me that mom said that she is worried about me because my face looks different. Now I know that I am going to have to tell her soon. I have never felt stress like this. Sorry everyone I just needed to vent and get all this out. I've sit here all day trying to figure a way out of this mess.

Hugs,
        Chelsea

[Jayne01]

Well I have hit my first bump in the road on the Transition Adventure of mine. My bushiness has not done really well in the last few days. I make parts that are seasonal I guess you could say. I have a very large machine payment that I make parts on and without bushiness I cant pay for the machine. No machine, no money, without money there will never be a Chelsea. I have no insurance and my work is paying for every penny of my transition. I am stressed to the max today.

On top of that my sister told me that mom said that she is worried about me because my face looks different. Now I know that I am going to have to tell her soon. I have never felt stress like this. Sorry everyone I just needed to vent and get all this out. I've sit here all day trying to figure a way out of this mess.

Hugs,
        Chelsea

Chelsea, I'm sorry your business has slowed down. I hope things pick up again soon. This is an added stress in your life you could do without.  (((hugs)))

I'm sorry, I don't remember if you said that you have already come out to your sister. Maybe between your brother and sister, you can all come up with the most gentle way to come out to your mother. Have your brother and sister there with you when you tell her. If she can see that they already accept you and support you, it will be easier for your mother. She is probably more worried that you are unwell, not that you look unwell, but transgender is probably the last thing on her mind.

No need to apologise for venting. That's what we are here for.

(((HUG)))

Jayne

[Chelsea]

Chelsea, I'm sorry your business has slowed down. I hope things pick up again soon. This is an added stress in your life you could do without.  (((hugs)))

I'm sorry, I don't remember if you said that you have already come out to your sister. Maybe between your brother and sister, you can all come up with the most gentle way to come out to your mother. Have your brother and sister there with you when you tell her. If she can see that they already accept you and support you, it will be easier for your mother. She is probably more worried that you are unwell, not that you look unwell, but transgender is probably the last thing on her mind.

No need to apologise for venting. That's what we are here for.

(((HUG)))

Jayne

Hi Jayne. Yes my brother and sister both know about my transition and I have their full support. Mom is getting up there in age and I'm fine with letting her know, its I'm trying to figure out how to do it without any stress to her. There is no way. She just had a mini stroke a few months ago and the doctor said she cant be under any stress. I have been around my mother almost every single day of my life and cant figure out best way to let her know. She is very "old school" and will never understand. Her comments she has made about the transgender bathroom thing on tv recently lets me know I'm doomed.

[Jayne01]

Hi Jayne. Yes my brother and sister both know about my transition and I have their full support. Mom is getting up there in age and I'm fine with letting her know, its I'm trying to figure out how to do it without any stress to her. There is no way. She just had a mini stroke a few months ago and the doctor said she cant be under any stress. I have been around my mother almost every single day of my life and cant figure out best way to let her know. She is very "old school" and will never understand. Her comments she has made about the transgender bathroom thing on tv recently lets me know I'm doomed.

I understand not wanting to stress her. This is a very difficult situation for you. (hug) I don't want to persuade you into doing something you cannot do, but I would like to remind you that you had similar feelings about coming out to your brother because he was old school. Look how well that turned out. Her recent mini stroke is something that needs serious consideration also. You will figure out the best way to approach this. Enlist the help of your brother and sister.

Would it be easier for your mother if either your brother or sister (or both) somehow brought up the subject of transgender with her, without you present, and show her how accepting they are. Her views on the subject may not be as old school as you may think. People react differently when it is someone close rather than some "generic nameless trans person" in the media.

Another thing to consider is that your appearance is changing with the hormones. Your mother has already noticed something different about you. She may already be feeling stressed wondering what is going on with you. It may reduce her stress by you coming out to her and she sees how much happier you are now.

My thoughts and best wishes are with you.

Hugs,
Jayne

[Donna]

Sorry to hear your business has slowed down. That really bites, I rebuilt and redid my company a year ago and have only now started to pick back up. I wish you the best and hope your cash flow improves for you. It's way to stressful with everything else going on.

[Alyssa Bree]

Hi Chelsea!

I love love love that name btw! I have gotten quite a bit out of reading your thread. We all really do seem to go through the same things more or less. It's comforting, in a way, to know it isn't only you dealing with these emotions and situations. I hope things go well between you and your mother. Best wishes on that. I look forward to reading more as you continue to progress!


xoxoxo
Alyssa

[Northern Star Girl]

Well I have hit my first bump in the road on the Transition Adventure of mine. My bushiness has not done really well in the last few days. I make parts that are seasonal I guess you could say. I have a very large machine payment that I make parts on and without bushiness I cant pay for the machine. No machine, no money, without money there will never be a Chelsea. I have no insurance and my work is paying for every penny of my transition. I am stressed to the max today.

On top of that my sister told me that mom said that she is worried about me because my face looks different. Now I know that I am going to have to tell her soon. I have never felt stress like this. Sorry everyone I just needed to vent and get all this out. I've sit here all day trying to figure a way out of this mess.

Hugs,
        Chelsea

Chelsea, take a deep breath, perhaps take drive or a long walk and carefully think things through.  I have been in and around business issues for a long time so I fully understand your frustrations.

I am not certain what to say to you that will make things better or even to make you feel better.   I do however understand a lot about business and finance... it always has ups and downs, even in good times. 
You know your own business better than anyone else so you will have to ponder and think of solutions... or you may even have to wait out the famine in your business cash flow until your target market rebounds.

Just some ideas here: You can make a concerted effort to contact, visit, phone or write to your past customer base and let then know that you appreciated their past business with your company and that you are looking forward to continuing doing business with them... perhaps some kind of incentive for them... and, of course you know what you make and what customers usually need so you could tailor incentives for different customer's needs.  You can use the same approach for finding new customers.   

So, the bottom line, if your machine is not running then you have time to put your feet to the pavement and beat the drum to increase your sales.  It is so easy to get depressed about all of this but you have to take action to get action, and you know that you are the one to do this.

Hang in there and try very hard to be positive.
You may have heard me say this on some of my past posts on various threads.
 
This is a quote by Winston Churchill as he was leading England through the trials of World War 2.
        "A Pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity,
        An Optimist sees opportunity in every difficulty."

Moral of the story here is to have a "glass half full" mindset.
People, your customers too, are drawn to an optimistic and positive person... on the other hand very few people, and certainly your prospective customers don't really want to deal with a pessimistic and negative personality.

Obviously your business right now is your source of income and is of prime importance to you.   Also, of course, your transition journey and you transition goals are also very important to you...  you need both things to finally be able to reach your goals. 
Yes, I know what it is like to come-out to family members, it can be very difficult for both you and your mother... timing is everything but my feeling is that because you are into your journey as far as you are now, that sooner is better particularly since your body is starting to significantly change.    Oh, and don't forget Mother's Day on Sunday... you only have one mom so make certain that you honor her and let her know that you love her and appreciate her.

Wishing you well and lots of Hugs,
Danielle

[christinej78]

Well I have hit my first bump in the road on the Transition Adventure of mine. My bushiness has not done really well in the last few days. I make parts that are seasonal I guess you could say. I have a very large machine payment that I make parts on and without bushiness I cant pay for the machine. No machine, no money, without money there will never be a Chelsea. I have no insurance and my work is paying for every penny of my transition. I am stressed to the max today.

On top of that my sister told me that mom said that she is worried about me because my face looks different. Now I know that I am going to have to tell her soon. I have never felt stress like this. Sorry everyone I just needed to vent and get all this out. I've sit here all day trying to figure a way out of this mess.

Hugs,
        Chelsea

Good morning Chelsea,                13 May 2018

Today being Mother's Day, Happy Mother's Day to your Mom; I wish her all the best, and you and your family as well.

Do not respond to this post with answers to anything I say.

I had my orchi last month, it cost $3250.00; I boarded my three Dogs for four days, That cost $550.00. By the time everything orchi / transition related was completed in April, my total out lay was about $4K, give or take $100.00. I put it all on my Credit Card as I went. My payment due is a pittance of the total amount. If I had a temporary cash crunch, I would pay as much as I could and let the remainder ride. Yes, the interest rate is high, but one or two months wouldn't be back breaking unless I had an extremely high interest credit card. Ask yourself if this is a viable option.

Pare down your discretionary spending: dining out at expensive restaurants like Mickey D's, Wendy's, Olive Garden (one of my favorites), etc., race car expenses (temporarily), and anything else you can think of that is unnecessary.

Do you have big ticket items you never use that are saleable. I'm not suggesting you sell things at fire sale prices. You may have something someone you know has been bugging you to sell to them. I've done this before, which worked out well. I gained space (for more stuff), and my friends got what they wanted; we were all happy.

Who do you make your machine payments to, a bank, company you bought it from, Credit Card, etc. Will they accept anything less than the payment amount due this month; talk to them. If it's a Credit Card there is a balance and payment amount due; pay the smaller of the two.

DOT NOT DO anything that endangers your health; eat healthy, not extravagantly.

Are there any outside sources of income available, painting cars, fixing them, second job, etc. NO ROBBING BANKS,  that will get you free room and board in a S****y Gray Bar Hotel, whose residents will make sitting difficult. Part of that is a paraphrase of my "Words of Wisdom" to young folks when I detained them for doing something stupid.

The world will not end, the sun comes up every morning; it's always shining, we just may not see it for the momentary cloud cover. This is a temporary obstacle. You can make it a stumbling block or a stepping stone; it's your call.

The way I read you is that you love your Mom very much, which I'm glad you do. I have a feeling she will surprise you like your brother did; you just have to find the right time. You, your brother and sister should be involved in this; don't do it alone.

The above is not advice, it is stuff to think about. You will come up with the answer. Just don't let the stress overwhelm you.

I've changed my mind about going to the resort toady, it's Mother's Day and the sky is overcast. There won't be many folks there so I'll wait for another day that's sunny. Still have tree work that needs attention.

This may sound selfish: Take care of yourself first, if you don't, you may not be able to take care of those that you love. Stay healthy young lady; you are gorgeous. I enjoyed your photos and adventure out.

Best Always, Love to you, your girlfriend, your Family and especially your Mom,
Christine

[Chelsea]

Thank all of you for the comments and encouragement. I might see a light at the end of the tunnel. Earlier my brother messaged me and said that he will pay my machine payment this month, if I finish buff the paint on his car. He is sick right now from treatments and this will help the both of us. One month might be enough to design new products for my store and get out of this mess. 

Hugs,
        Chelsea

[Jayne01]

Thank all of you for the comments and encouragement. I might see a light at the end of the tunnel. Late last night my brother messaged me and said that he will pay my machine payment this month, if I finish buff the paint on his car. He is sick right now from treatments and this will help the both of us. One month might be enough to design new products for my store and get out of this mess. 

Hugs,
        Chelsea

That's a great brother you have. Make sure you do an extra good buffing job on his car. I hope he doesn't feel sick too long from the treatments. I know that kind of treatment really knocks people around.

Jayne

[Chelsea]

Chelsea, take a deep breath, perhaps take drive or a long walk and carefully think things through.  I have been in and around business issues for a long time so I fully understand your frustrations.

I am not certain what to say to you that will make things better or even to make you feel better.   I do however understand a lot about business and finance... it always has ups and downs, even in good times. 
You know your own business better than anyone else so you will have to ponder and think of solutions... or you may even have to wait out the famine in your business cash flow until your target market rebounds.

Just some ideas here: You can make a concerted effort to contact, visit, phone or write to your past customer base and let then know that you appreciated their past business with your company and that you are looking forward to continuing doing business with them... perhaps some kind of incentive for them... and, of course you know what you make and what customers usually need so you could tailor incentives for different customer's needs.  You can use the same approach for finding new customers.   

So, the bottom line, if your machine is not running then you have time to put your feet to the pavement and beat the drum to increase your sales.  It is so easy to get depressed about all of this but you have to take action to get action, and you know that you are the one to do this.

Hang in there and try very hard to be positive.
You may have heard me say this on some of my past posts on various threads.
 
This is a quote by Winston Churchill as he was leading England through the trials of World War 2.
        "A Pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity,
        An Optimist sees opportunity in every difficulty."

Moral of the story here is to have a "glass half full" mindset.
People, your customers too, are drawn to an optimistic and positive person... on the other hand very few people, and certainly your prospective customers don't really want to deal with a pessimistic and negative personality.

Obviously your business right now is your source of income and is of prime importance to you.   Also, of course, your transition journey and you transition goals are also very important to you...  you need both things to finally be able to reach your goals. 
Yes, I know what it is like to come-out to family members, it can be very difficult for both you and your mother... timing is everything but my feeling is that because you are into your journey as far as you are now, that sooner is better particularly since your body is starting to significantly change.    Oh, and don't forget Mother's Day on Sunday... you only have one mom so make certain that you honor her and let her know that you love her and appreciate her.

Wishing you well and lots of Hugs,
Danielle

Danielle Thank you once again for giving me the idea. I have a mass email option on my store that I just used for the first time. I really forgot about it. I typed a simple email with a discount code for my online store to give everyone a percentage off. Out of my 1600 plus customer list I'm hoping it will generate something.... O and I am a Optimist by the way.  Its very hard to get me down or depressed, its just sometimes its good for everyone to vent about their daily challenges.

Hugs

Chelsea

[Chelsea]

That's a great brother you have. Make sure you do an extra good buffing job on his car. I hope he doesn't feel sick too long from the treatments. I know that kind of treatment really knocks people around.

Jayne

Thank you Jayne, I do have a good brother. He's more like a dad to me sense we are so far apart in age.
He has 10 more treatments to go then the doctors are going to give him a break.

Hugs,
        Chelsea

[Chelsea]

Hi Chelsea!

I love love love that name btw! I have gotten quite a bit out of reading your thread. We all really do seem to go through the same things more or less. It's comforting, in a way, to know it isn't only you dealing with these emotions and situations. I hope things go well between you and your mother. Best wishes on that. I look forward to reading more as you continue to progress!


xoxoxo
Alyssa

Thank you Alyssa and welcome to my silly thread.
I came up with the name Chelsea with a friend that I used to work with. She was lesbian and it was very easy to talk to her about my feelings. She also knew about me three years before anyone else. I wanted a name to where I could keep my same initials and we came up with Chelsea. Most all my family calls me by my middle name "Dean" so I imagine that they will call me Deana and I always liked that name too. 

Hugs,
         Chelsea

[christinej78]

Hi Chelsea,                 13 May 2018

The sky is clearing; the sun is shining. You have a great brother, take care of him (I'm sure you already do). Wish your Mom a Happy Mother's Day from all of us.

Looking forward to seeing you at Bristol Dragway for the upcoming "Street Fights Saturday Night" in "Thunder Valley."

Best Always, Love,
Christine

[Dena]

The guy who is currently using our shop area decided to start a business. We have a fair amount of equipment for metal work but he made a major investment in a plasma table and a large hydraulic metal break. The bottom fell out of the job he was originally setting up for but with all his contacts he has managed to come up with enough odd jobs to keep him busy. Currently I have seen custom gates, truck modifications and repairs, store shelving and custom farm equipment come out of the shop. It's a little more work because much of it requires custom design but word of mouth has kept a steady flow of work moving through the shop and keeps the bills paid.

I'm not sure what you have in your shop but thinking out of the box will keep you less dependent on a single product and produce a more constant income stream.

[Chelsea]

The guy who is currently using our shop area decided to start a business. We have a fair amount of equipment for metal work but he made a major investment in a plasma table and a large hydraulic metal break. The bottom fell out of the job he was originally setting up for but with all his contacts he has managed to come up with enough odd jobs to keep him busy. Currently I have seen custom gates, truck modifications and repairs, store shelving and custom farm equipment come out of the shop. It's a little more work because much of it requires custom design but word of mouth has kept a steady flow of work moving through the shop and keeps the bills paid.

I'm not sure what you have in your shop but thinking out of the box will keep you less dependent on a single product and produce a more constant income stream.

Thank you Dena.
I have already started designing new parts for the "race guys" I know on the net. I simply ask them what the need for their cars that is either hard to find or impossible to find. I actually have 2 jobs already in the last few hours so this eases my mind a little, plus this will be new products for me.


Hugs,
        Chelsea