I haven't been active on this site since late December, and enough has changed I figured I might as well just start my own thread to document things, rather than reviving dead threads.
I guess first and foremost, I believe I have officially entered the "transition" part of my life. Around the beginning of the year, I shaved off the beard for the first time in three and a half years. more than trying to get closer to femininity, it was a sort of declaration of intent to myself. I'd spent years hiding behind that beard, and now I was face to face with myself in the truest way possible. I'm in the process of building a new wardrobe, which has been a lot more fun than I ever anticipated. However I'm still cursed with a bad hairline and a face that's reminiscent of a foot, so I've got a lot of work to do before I'll be happy with my appearance.
Next big thing, I've started the drawn-out process of trying to get to HRT. Because of my insurance's regulations, I have to jump through and endless barrage of hoops to get anywhere. I've met with the primary care doc and did the first round of blood work. But she wouldn't let me advance toward hormones until I saw a urologist about a long existing kidney stone. Now that I've worked through that, I've finally been given the green light to meet with Behavioral Health to get a referral/approval for HRT. Still waiting on them to call me to schedule that meeting, though. Then once past that, I'll meet with an endocrinologist finally. So while it's still a long ways away, the pieces are at least in motion at last.
And the last big thing as of late. I came out to my mother last month. It was something I dreaded for weeks, and even in the moments leading up to it I was a trembling, anxious mess. But she was more accepting than I ever could've imagined. She didn't ask any weird questions, didn't seem shocked. She even asked me for some resources so she could educate herself. Being out to her has been one of the greatest things in my life; I can now have fully honest and candid discussions with her about it without fear.
So that's where I'm at now. I'm still stuck at a job I hate with several very vocally transphobic coworkers, so at the moment finding a new job is pretty much the top of the list. Which is difficult, being in SoCal with god awful rent prices and with my insurance's nonsense, I need a constant flow of income just to afford food. But it is what it is; just another piece of the ongoing battle.
I'll try not to be absent for another five month streak, but no promises. I'm about as antisocial online as I am in person.
