Thanks, @Jayne01, @Alaskan Danielle -

well, I am sitting at the airport again waiting for my flight home to take off. No issues today going through security 

I am pretty exhausted and I am looking forward to being in my bed in about 4 hours or so. It may have been better to stay at home, but one of the VP's made positive remarks on my performance during the meeting... And I was texting with my BFF 💜👩‍❤️‍👩 most of the time 😂😂😂 - she tried to lure me into buying more shoes and it took some self-control to resist.


If the weather is ok, we will be going to a hot air balloon festival this weekend...

So much for now - time to board...

What are my reader's plans for the weekend?

Have a great weekend everyone!!

Hugs Sarah

@sarah1972    cc: @Jayne01
Dear Sarah: I am glad that your trip went well and you even got kudo from one of the bosses..... and heck, why not?... buy those new shoes.

I really hope that you are following the recovery advice of  Dr.Jayne and Dr.Danielle....

Hmmm, hot air balloon festival......... sounds like fun.  Your kiddo will enjoy the sights of all those colorful balloons too.

My plans..... nothing spectacular this weekend, I have worked hard and long this week and I am looking forward to reading a good book, or two.  Might be a meal out and/or game night with a friend, nothing firm yet.

Always nice to see your updates............. and Wow-Whee, your new picture.  You should consider, as @Jayne01 suggested, using it as your new Avatar/profile photo.  You are definitely looking good!!!

Hugs and well wishes and continue to get well soon.
Danielle

Nice photos Sarah!  I love Montreal!  Its only a 5 hours drive for me.  We were there at the end of last summer for a weekend get away.  There are a lot of nice restaurants to choose from and funky shops to peruse.

Rest well tonight!  Its always good to be in your own bed.
Judi

Hi Sarah,

Love your new profile pic! You are looking really great in both your airport pics.

Danielle, I tried very hard to get Sarah to buy new shoes. I am a bit of an enabler. 🤷‍♀️ She did stay strong and resist the temptations. We did somehow manage to make a deal involving a dress and shoes, but I cannot divulge anymore information than that. [emoji23]

Sarah, good work with getting positive attention on your performance from one of the VPs. I'm glad the BFF [emoji171][emoji1299] texting wasn't too much of a distraction. I hope the plane trips did not adversely affect your recovery from pneumonia.

Have fun at the hot air balloon festival. I hope the weather behaves itself for you. I'm sure kiddo will love it. Post a couple photos if you get the chance. It will be an impressive sight to see a whole bunch of hot air balloons all gathered in one area.

My weekend is work Saturday night and then Sunday is the first day of my four day break. My wife and I might go try a local German restaurant that has had some good reviews. We have been talking about going there for quite a while and never made it yet.

Thanks for the update.

Hugs,
Jayne

Quote from: sarah1972 on August 17, 2018, 05:17:44 PM
Thanks, @Jayne01, @Alaskan Danielle -

well, I am sitting at the airport again waiting for my flight home to take off. No issues today going through security 

I am pretty exhausted and I am looking forward to being in my bed in about 4 hours or so. It may have been better to stay at home, but one of the VP's made positive remarks on my performance during the meeting... And I was texting with my BFF [emoji171][emoji1299] most of the time [emoji23][emoji23][emoji23] - she tried to lure me into buying more shoes and it took some self-control to resist.


If the weather is ok, we will be going to a hot air balloon festival this weekend...

So much for now - time to board...

What are my reader's plans for the weekend?

Have a great weekend everyone!!

Hugs Sarah

Quote from: sarah1972 on August 17, 2018, 05:17:44 PM
Thanks, @Jayne01, @Alaskan Danielle -

well, I am sitting at the airport again waiting for my flight home to take off. No issues today going through security 

I am pretty exhausted and I am looking forward to being in my bed in about 4 hours or so. It may have been better to stay at home, but one of the VP's made positive remarks on my performance during the meeting... And I was texting with my BFF 💜👩‍❤️‍👩 most of the time 😂😂😂 - she tried to lure me into buying more shoes and it took some self-control to resist.


If the weather is ok, we will be going to a hot air balloon festival this weekend...

So much for now - time to board...

What are my reader's plans for the weekend?

Have a great weekend everyone!!

Hugs Sarah

Love the outfit

Hope the hot air ballooning went well. I have always wanted to try it...it is beyond me why you would resist the call of a nice pair of shoes...I mean, can a girl really have too many pairs of shoes? I mean really? LOL

Take care

Liz

Thank you so much for the compliments on my photos @LizK, @Jayne01, @JudiBlueEyes and @Alaskan Danielle.

We had a bit of a late start getting to the airshow. Me still not being fully recovered may have been part of this. We still arrived just in time for the flight show itself.
Unfortunately, the weather was not all that great and they kept delaying the balloon start since hot air balloons need fairly quiet conditions. They wanted to try again at 6:00 PM but our little one had clearly enough for the day, so we went for ice cream and then drove home.

It was still a lot of fun and we learned to be better prepared (bag of kids outdoor games and chairs for us).

Trans wise it was somewhat interesting - my first trip to the backwoods of Virginia and there you never know. Especially the dreaded bathroom topic. There are enough crazies who would beat, hang and shoot a trans person in the ladies room. I had to pull together all my female confidence to actually go. Since I followed Danielle's and Jayne's advice to get my hydration up the SPiro is in full effect again. No way I could have hold it. It all worked out fine, I did not get made and could safely go.

For those aviation interested ones, here are a few pictures: (left click to enlarge)


This was one of their younger pilots doing spirals and loopings



The lineup of all the planes they used during the show...



This is the plane they used to show someone climbing around on the wings and standing on top of the plane. If you left click and zoom in, you can see the guy hanging between the wings.
While he was hanging there and while he stood on top of the plane, they flew loopings and other fun things. He also decided to hang with his feet of the wing. Of course in air show height, it would not make much sense to even have a parachute, so he did it without. Pretty crazy.



Hope you all had a fun weekend - How was your book, Danielle???

Hugs,

Sarah

@sarah1972
Dear Sarah:
Great pictures and a wonderful summary of your day.
Perhaps it is good that your kiddo was done for the day early... just before you ran out of steam !!!!

ahhhh, it is good that you passed the bathroom test, yes, indeed, in very rural and back woods areas of the country we will find that trans acceptance is not very prevalent and we have to be very careful.  We never know what kind of reactions we would get if outed abruptly by local strangers.

A lot of what I stated on my thread right before I came out to my little town revolves around those thoughts.  I am still the only transgender that my town might have seen or met and certainly I am not aware of another in my town.

Continue to get well soon and keep the water flowing.....  LOL
Thanks for sharing your events of the day and your wonderful photos.

Hugs,
Danielle

Hi Sarah,

Too bad the weather didn't behave for the balloons. That would have been a cool sight. There is a small airport 10 minutes from my home where they launch balloons for joy flights. I often see them flying in the early dawn on a clear day when I'm driving home after a nightshift. They fly that early because of the calmer weather so early in the morning. I think they also need to be back on the ground by a certain time for regulatory reasons due to the close proximity to Sydney airport airspace. I once saw a balloon that couldn't get back to the airport in time because of non cooperating winds and was flying only a few metres above the roof tops in my neighbourhood attempting to land in a nearby clearing. That was an odd sight to see. [emoji3]

Wing walkers on planes that are in flight are a special kind of........crazy is a word that comes to mind. [emoji23] Did kiddo enjoy the flight show or was she more interested in looking at the planes themselves on the ground? She seems to have a fascination with fixing broken planes. Maybe I can take her on as my apprentice... [emoji3][emoji3]

Good girl!!! You have taken the advice to drink more water. The spiro had other ideas about what to do with all that water. The fun of being on this medication. Its side effects can sometimes be inconvenient. I'm sorry you have to be fearful and extra cautious to use the bathroom. That is not an issue in the city, where people are so absorbed in their own busy lives to even take notice of other bathroom users let alone make some kind of issue out of it.

Thanks for the airshow photos. As they say, photos or it didn't happen! [emoji23] And rounding out the day with ice cream is always nice. You can't go wrong with ice cream, for kids or adults!

Hugs,
Jayne

Hi, Sarah.

I always love airshow and aircraft pictures.  Thanks for posting them.  I think it takes a special kind of nut to hang onto the outside of a plane doing aerobatics!  I am glad you and your kiddo had a good day.

I am sorry to hear that going to the bathroom was stressful, but glad that it turned out okay.

OMG... OMG... What did I do?

I just signed Sarah up for a 5k run. Given that right now, I can jog for about 2 minutes before everything hurts, this will be a real challenge. Yeah I know, I am so badly out of shape and was never a runner...

I have till mid November to figure this out 

I start thinking the transition was less of a challenge for me than the 5k run will be 

My only two sports medals so far are for watching sports TV 

I will master this too, the same way I mastered my transition.

Hugs and have a great week...

Sarah

A suggestion for the 5K is to lay out a practice track for the full distant. Start with walking the entire distance which should take you a little over an hour. Once your comfortable with that, walk until your near the end then jog the last little distance. If your able to handle that, start your jog a little earlier and hopefully by  the time of the run you will be ready to go the distance.

I'm staying away from anything other than a fast walk because my evening walk is completely paved and I don't want to beat up on my joints. So far I have no problems with my legs and I would prefer not to develop them.

Thanks, Dena! this is some great advice. The good thing is that the track is only one street over from my house, so I can actually practice on the real track without a problem...

During the 10K challenge I did occasionally walk almost the 5k course. I also tried jogging parts of this but after a very short time, my anterior muscles hurt so badly. I was able to extend the time and hopefully, by November I can do the entire track... It only seems to be a training issue.

I am mostly recovered from Pneumonia and I am planning to resume training this week.

Thanks again for the tip - oh, and Happy Birthday, @Dena !!!

Quote from: Dena on August 20, 2018, 03:33:40 PM
A suggestion for the 5K is to lay out a practice track for the full distant. Start with walking the entire distance which should take you a little over an hour. Once your comfortable with that, walk until your near the end then jog the last little distance. If your able to handle that, start your jog a little earlier and hopefully by  the time of the run you will be ready to go the distance.

I'm staying away from anything other than a fast walk because my evening walk is completely paved and I don't want to beat up on my joints. So far I have no problems with my legs and I would prefer not to develop them.

Quote from: sarah1972 on August 20, 2018, 09:49:52 AM
OMG... OMG... What did I do?

I just signed Sarah up for a 5k run. Given that right now, I can jog for about 2 minutes before everything hurts, this will be a real challenge. Yeah I know, I am so badly out of shape and was never a runner...

I have till mid November to figure this out 

I start thinking the transition was less of a challenge for me than the 5k run will be 

My only two sports medals so far are for watching sports TV 

I will master this too, the same way I mastered my transition.

Hugs and have a great week...

Sarah

Sarah! That's awesome! It will be a good challenge for you and something to work towards.

Poke! Poke! Poke! They are some training pokes for you. You can do this and it will also be a lot of fun on the day. I used to be like you, barely able to run 100m. It's a matter of finding your own comfortable pace and maintaining that pace. Go girl!!!

Hugs,
Jayne

Aug 23 - Bad Hair Day

the title says it all... too windy, too sunny, too tired 

I think you look great! I like that look.

@sarah1972
Dear Sarah,
PLEASE don't be so critical of yourself!!!  I think that you look terrific in that picture....  your hair looks fine, and your outfit looks great.   .....    but what is missing is a great big smile !!!!!

I have been missing your day to day, regular life events, updates.....
What are you up to these last few days....

A message from your update starved follower,
Danielle

Quote from: sarah1972 on August 23, 2018, 08:28:50 PM
Aug 23 - Bad Hair Day

the title says it all... too windy, too sunny, too tired 

Aug 30 - Misc

It has been a week since I last posted something on here, even more on a larger update. To be fair, not much exciting has happened. I am still trying to recover from Pneumonia and it has been a few weeks now. Everyone said it can take up to 6 weeks. I may have jumped back into work a bit too early but it was necessary. Work right now is a bit in a holding pattern while I am awaiting some larger organizational changes being announced. I am preparing for the (very busy) work after already. I can take the time to take it a bit slow and give my body added time to get back on track.

During recovery, I also skipped on the gym but finally went back this week to pick up my personal trainer sessions. Ouch, now I have all sore muscles. I did discuss my upcoming 5k and we added a good part to help with leg strength.

I think I had mentioned that I started electrolysis for my face. Laser did a great job on the dark hairs and now the white and light grey hairs are due. The non-shaving part hits me a lot harder than I had anticipated. I do work home office, so I have not too many interactions with coworkers or customers. But then there is normal life: daycare drop off and pickup, playground, every now and then shopping and of course the gym. The gym is particularly hard since I have managed to not out myself and I am accepted and seen as a woman. But with 5 days of not shaving? I may need to move my personal trainer sessions to another day until I am done.
On the bright side: I picked up my wife at a doctors appointment this week - not shaved for 4 days and I decided to wear ambiguous clothing: shorts, a t-shirt, and sneakers. I was still greeted as "ma'am", so even the somewhat beard did not trigger a misgendering.
I am still very anxious every time I have to set foot outside my house. At least I am making great progress and it should be over in no time. My electrologist also pointed out that my "bottom area is next" Good plan (see later).

On other trans-related topics: I am starting some serious planning for surgery, checking on things like legal implications, FMLA, Short Term Disability and scheduling a deep checkup to make sure I am in good shape for it. Of course, picking up the gym activity is also a big part of it. I'll also have to start reaching out to surgeons. My manager already knows that this is coming in the next 12 - 18 months.

Things at home have gotten a bit better too.

I hope all this will help me get out of the stuck feeling and the depressions I have battled recently.

Labor day is coming up in the US and I have two added days off. I will use the time to build a new closet in one of our rooms. It has been sealed off for a while since we repurpose the room it was originally assigned to and we always wanted to open it from the adjunct room. Will be a fun little project to get me back into "house fixing groove" and will also finally allow us to store some off-season clothing. If time permits, there will be a few more small repairs here and there I could tackle. While I have set up shop, they are usually easier to do. The weather here seems to be a bust with a lot of rain in the forecast.

If I get enough of all the construction, I can always take a break and go shopping for a nice evening outfit. I have an invite for some awards gala at the MGM, so I do need appropriate attire. I am almost wondering if I should splurge for a professional makeup that day. I certainly need to get my hair done too, the roots need a desperate touch-up. If I do I may see if I can find a professional photographer to take a few pictures.


What are my readers up to over Labor Day weekend?

@sarah1972
Dear Sarah:
Thank you for your latest long awaited update....   7 days without hearing from you can trigger my curiosity and concern for your health and your transition journey....   
I kinda figured that you were not being a good girl and laying low so you that you could recover quickly from your sickness.
Pneumonia is a very serious condition and requires a longer recovery time than one usually allows.

I trust that now you are getting near fully recovered and as you mentioned you will have to get yourself back in the groove at the gym and your walking... that is the hard part... getting your determination back and making yourself do workouts and your 5K training again.   It takes willpower for sure... especially since your body is not going to cooperate right away.

That is great news about your hair removal stuff that you are doing....   and wow, still passing even not after shaving for several days!!!    That should be a confidence booster for sure.

So, if you are willing to share regarding surgeries... what procedures will you be investigating for yourself???

So glad to hear that your home life is getting better.   Carpentry mode at your home... ?   It can be quite therapeutic to do the odd fix-up and minor remodeling jobs at your home....   takes your mind off of things that you don't want to necessarily ponder!!!
hmmm, a new closet... perhaps for your new expanding wardrobe??

Ahhhh, a new evening outfit for the Awards Gala.... at the MGM...  in Vegas???  or more local to you??
Oh, and professional makeup and primping at the salon, hair and nails,......   and Professional Pictures....
I can hardly wait to see your update when all of that happens.....    WHEN is all of this happening?

Again Sarah.... thanks for keeping us all up to date with your life....
HUGS and well wishes,
Danielle

Hiya Sarah,

I was about to start poking you to see what is happening with your thread. Too much time has passed since your last update. As our lovely Alaskan Danielle would say "your followers are a curious bunch and want to know how you are going". It's great to see an update from you.

I'm sorry you are still fighting the remnants of pneumonia. Perhaps now that you are back at they gym your health will improve so you can get rid of the pneumonia once and for all. Well done for getting yourself back to the gym. Having access to the personal trainer has come in handy for your upcoming run.

Hang in there with the non shaving for the electrolysis. Soon, the reason you won't be shaving is because there will no longer be a need for it. That is something positive to look forward to. And you are still getting called ma'am with not shaving for 4 days. You do pass very well however I do understand your personal struggle with having to let the hair grow long enough for the electrologist to work with. Good luck with the "bottom area"!

Your serious planning for surgery should be keeping your mind busy. I hope I his helps with keeping you out of depression. We are all here to support you if you need it. You also know I am available 24/7 if you need to talk.

When you finish with your home construction jobs, you can come and paint my place. My wife has been wanting the walls painted a different colour for years. I always seem to find a good reason not to paint. My latest reason is "I've just discovered I am transgender and need to deal with that first". Amazing what lengths I will go to avoid painting. [emoji23][emoji23][emoji23]

Now the last part of your email sounds like lots of fun. Wearing a nice evening outfit for the gala event sounds awesome! I'd love to help you shop for that outfit. We need to establish a video link so I can be your remote shopping buddy. Be warned, I might be a bad influence and make you spend more than you plan to! [emoji56][emoji56][emoji56]

Let me help you answer these 3 questions in your mind:

QuoteI am almost wondering if I should splurge for a professional makeup that day.

YES

QuoteI certainly need to get my hair done too, the roots need a desperate touch-up.

YES, spoil yourself![/b]

QuoteIf I do I may see if I can find a professional photographer to take a few pictures.

YES[/b]

Big, humongous hugs!!!
Jayne [emoji1299]

Quote from: sarah1972 on August 30, 2018, 09:37:38 AM
Aug 30 - Misc

It has been a week since I last posted something on here, even more on a larger update. To be fair, not much exciting has happened. I am still trying to recover from Pneumonia and it has been a few weeks now. Everyone said it can take up to 6 weeks. I may have jumped back into work a bit too early but it was necessary. Work right now is a bit in a holding pattern while I am awaiting some larger organizational changes being announced. I am preparing for the (very busy) work after already. I can take the time to take it a bit slow and give my body added time to get back on track.

During recovery, I also skipped on the gym but finally went back this week to pick up my personal trainer sessions. Ouch, now I have all sore muscles. I did discuss my upcoming 5k and we added a good part to help with leg strength.

I think I had mentioned that I started electrolysis for my face. Laser did a great job on the dark hairs and now the white and light grey hairs are due. The non-shaving part hits me a lot harder than I had anticipated. I do work home office, so I have not too many interactions with coworkers or customers. But then there is normal life: daycare drop off and pickup, playground, every now and then shopping and of course the gym. The gym is particularly hard since I have managed to not out myself and I am accepted and seen as a woman. But with 5 days of not shaving? I may need to move my personal trainer sessions to another day until I am done.
On the bright side: I picked up my wife at a doctors appointment this week - not shaved for 4 days and I decided to wear ambiguous clothing: shorts, a t-shirt, and sneakers. I was still greeted as "ma'am", so even the somewhat beard did not trigger a misgendering.
I am still very anxious every time I have to set foot outside my house. At least I am making great progress and it should be over in no time. My electrologist also pointed out that my "bottom area is next" Good plan (see later).

On other trans-related topics: I am starting some serious planning for surgery, checking on things like legal implications, FMLA, Short Term Disability and scheduling a deep checkup to make sure I am in good shape for it. Of course, picking up the gym activity is also a big part of it. I'll also have to start reaching out to surgeons. My manager already knows that this is coming in the next 12 - 18 months.

Things at home have gotten a bit better too.

I hope all this will help me get out of the stuck feeling and the depressions I have battled recently.

Labor day is coming up in the US and I have two added days off. I will use the time to build a new closet in one of our rooms. It has been sealed off for a while since we repurpose the room it was originally assigned to and we always wanted to open it from the adjunct room. Will be a fun little project to get me back into "house fixing groove" and will also finally allow us to store some off-season clothing. If time permits, there will be a few more small repairs here and there I could tackle. While I have set up shop, they are usually easier to do. The weather here seems to be a bust with a lot of rain in the forecast.

If I get enough of all the construction, I can always take a break and go shopping for a nice evening outfit. I have an invite for some awards gala at the MGM, so I do need appropriate attire. I am almost wondering if I should splurge for a professional makeup that day. I certainly need to get my hair done too, the roots need a desperate touch-up. If I do I may see if I can find a professional photographer to take a few pictures.


What are my readers up to over Labor Day weekend?

Aug 31st - Surgery Plans

Sorry for springing the surgery topic on everyone without providing more detail.

Before I go there a few random updates:

Squee... My GP doctor's office called for a follow-up appointment... asked for "Mrs. Sarah <last name>" So nice.

And... today I can finally shave. One more zapping session. But I ran out of shaving cream. Too bad, now I have to buy a new bottle even though the end is near.

Would be nice if the gala would be at MGM Las Vegas - it is not. It is MGM National Harbour, less than an hour drive away (depending on traffic).


So - now for surgery.

I have been thinking a lot about the four different options I have: Face, Voice, BA, and GRS. With every choice, I do have to consider my small family. Our closest relatives are on another continent and it is pretty much the three of us. Our kid is 30 months old and of course in a stage of her life, where I really do not want to miss out on a lot. The 6 weeks I missed due to a work assignment was something which took months to repair. I also know that she is usually scared of big changes, like even the wig I had in the beginning, freaked her out.

My face is one of those things I am not sure about. Sure my nose and eyebrows could use some work but it is also not yet bothering me too much. It is also one of the most visible options.

Voice - I have put off until I have tried voice training. This may be one of the things once I am done with all the zapping.

BA - This is a lot higher on my list. After 20 months on HRT I am still a "38 barely", not even filling an A cup. I know my E levels are still on the lower end even tough I am maxed out on dosage. So there may be some hope for growth if I could eliminate the source of all evil.

Which of course leaves the one I am currently starting to plan:

GRS - I have been tossing around the three options (Orchi, cosmetic and full depth) - I know I would only have one surgery if possible, so Orchi was pretty much out. I also knew my preference was full depth vaginoplasty.

I ended up discussing the options with y wife and she understood Orchi not being what I need and she even said, cosmetic may not be what I need/want. We also discussed that I need to check on a few things to make sure this does not have any impact financially and on our lives. She was under the impression I could not work for 2 years. I assured her, that under normal circumstances I can be back after a few weeks. I still have to check on FMLA and Short Term Disability.

My preference would be a surgeon close by, to make things easier for her and our kid to visit and to avoid lengthy travel.

The closest being Karen M Boyle in Baltimore. While she has worked with Dr. Blubond-Langer in the past, I did not find anything about her in this forum and some other places I looked.

Of course, there is NYU and Dr. Blubond Langer as an option

and then Dr. Keelee MacPhee in Raleigh. I know a few girls here had their surgery with her, so there is information around.

Baltimore is easy for me to get to and initial visits to NYU could be combined with work trips. NYU has the longest wait list, which may be another thing to consider: timing. I know the next of my regular huge work assignments is coming too.

So, this is where I am Lots of added research to do for me. I have the appointment at my GP where I will bring up the surgery and then also an appointment with my therapist to discuss this and see if she is willing to write a letter. We have talked about it before. I also want to ask her about the Psychiatrist I need in addition, maybe she has a good referral.

Wow, this became a longer post than I thought. But now you know where I am :-)

Hugs,

Sarah