The timetable I've worked out with my therapist is to come out to everybody at work, do the official name change and change as many gender markers as possible (the ones that can be changed pre-op,) in about a year from now. Basically, the idea is that when I come out, we want the reaction to be, "Well, we were wonderin' when you'd get around to doin' it..." Funny, it's his experience that it makes for a smoother transition -- not for me so much, but for all the other stakeholders at work.
Right now, I'm enjoying the cognitive dissonance I'm seeing in the faces of our customers when I respond to the bell on the customer service counter, and that I'm hearing when I answer my phone in my best-at-this-moment female voice -- "Multimedia, ***** speaking, how may I help you?" [silence, 3 sec] "Uh, is Mr. Savage there?" Maybe I'll start replacing ***** with 'Karen', just to see what happens...
On how big my chest becomes -- I'm keeping in mind that breast development takes 3 to 5 years to complete. I got a 'signing bonus' of 2 inches of growth in the first month of HRT (38A), but nothing significant on the tape measure in the subsequent 5 months. I'm counting on growth being sporadic. After 5 years, there's always implants if I'm still not satisfied... I second Kim's wish, though, for remarkable assets >
Karen Savage (her real last name -- and it irks me no end when people don't believe my last name IS Savage.. )
