Well, in
@sarah1972 's tradition, here's my weekend update.
After
@Dani left Saturday morning after occupying our guest room, I headed out for a series of appointments.
First up, meet up with
@SassyCassie , then head out to get my brows waxed and tinted. With my forehead looking spiffy, next up was a meeting with a new therapist.
Cassie had recommended him, and I immediately trusted him. After a year of appointments with another therapist (who quit unexpectedly due to family issues) I knew what was expected of me, and I opened up and told him all about me and what I was feeling. I felt he was always going to tell me the un-sugar-coated truth, so I was surprised when after I told him about my fears of being misgendered, he stopped and stared, and then asked, "Why would anyone misgender you?" I showed him the raw headshots I'd sent to FacialTeam and he kept looking back and forth from the pics to me and trying to reconcile them. "This is really you? Is it different makeup? Is it the light?" He finally just gave up and took my word for it.
I know you all keep telling me that I'm doing fine, but I can't help thinking that you're just being nice. But I came out of the meeting knowing that he wasn't going to lie to me (he was brutally honest about some other things we'd talked about) and it was a huge boost to my confidence to hear his positive assessment.
We talked about plenty of other things, too, then the hour was up and it was off to get my phone fixed at the Fruit Store. Unfortunately I'd screwed up when I made the appointment, and I couldn't fix the problem that day, so we went to lunch. The cool thing? Both Cassie and I were correctly gendered over and over again. Not a single mistake by anyone.
A stop to pick up some snacks, then off to a pool party being hosted by an ally of many of the trans groups around Orlando. She opened her house to all trans members and their guests, and it was a wonderfully fun and safe space, where nobody had to worry about being judged. With that in mind I gathered my courage and wore my two-piece swimsuit, but this time I wore the bikini top instead of the long one. I covered up with a towel for a while, but when it came time to have some fun in the pool, after a little hesitation I took off the towel and went in. Hopefully someone will post pics on Facebook, because I don't have any where I'm not covered with the towel. A bunch of us were lined up in this photo, all striking poses with matching white sunglasses. Everyone was glamorous, but I don't have permission to post their picture, so I cropped them out.
The next day, Sunday, was scheduled for a bike ride. I haven't ridden more than a couple of miles since I started transitioning, so I didn't know what to expect. We loaded our bikes on the Collossus and headed for a bike trail.
It was at least 90F and at the 7.5 mile mark we were glistening heavily, and decided that was far enough out for the first day.
While we were cooling off, Cassie told me that a rider who had just gone by was checking out my butt. Oh my! I guess that counts for affirmation!
We turned around and headed back, stopping at a Starbucks for air conditioning, iced tea, and some fruit, before we finished the ride back to the Colossus.
When we got to the trailhead, another couple asked us whether our vehicle had been broken into, too. Uh oh. But no, we were okay. Someone had broken their window and stolen their wallets. Our purses were in the back seat, but no problem. Before we drove out I decided to practice my voice, and I found the driver and asked if he needed anything, or a ride somewhere. He didn't, but we had a short conversation and apparently my voice and presentation worked okay. Admittedly there was no problem at Starbucks, the grocery store, or anywhere else either. I'm still trying to get my head around the idea that people are actually seeing what I want them to. It's something to talk to the therapist about.
Dinner, then back home, shower, jammies, and write this report for all y'all. Now bedtime. It was a pretty cool weekend.
Stephanie
