Yes Stephanie! Tomorrow is another day!!! SQUEEE INDEED!

I used to tell my daughter that when she refused to go to bed. It worked well and she went to sleep with dreams of tomorrow.

They didn't ask me for the relationship when I took Ava in for her FFS. Hummm? Gosh! You think they just assumed we were.... nahhh! Well, next to Florida, California is the best state to be trans...

Hugs from a Cali beach girl!

aside from the SQUEEEE's ....

QuoteNext the nurse in the room we were assigned. No issue there either, though maybe I imagined it, but I think she got a little pink when she asked the "relationship" question.

she was probably hoping you were single and replied with friend rather than spouse .. you dream-dasher/hope-squasher you

Quote from: Faith on February 20, 2019, 11:02:02 AM
aside from the SQUEEEE's ....
she was probably hoping you were single and replied with friend rather than spouse .. you dream-dasher/hope-squasher you

Awww, thanks. Sorry to be a heart-breaker, but I'm already taken. [emoji6]


Stephanie

@Steph2.0
Dear Stephanie:
Wow-zers !!!    You are right, there was no need to be concerned about yesterday's situation... 
...as I kept reading your update report I was constantly saying "WOW" to myself regarding your yesterday's reports of unconditional acceptance as the woman you are. 

Certainly the loudest  SQUEEE that you can muster is quite appropriate!!!   
I will just use my term  WOW-WHEE !!!!

Hugs and continued well wishes... I will be eagerly continuing to follow your thread as your exciting life continues for you.
Danielle

Quote from: Alaskan Danielle on February 20, 2019, 01:28:48 PM
@Steph2.0
Dear Stephanie:
Wow-zers !!!    You are right, there was no need to be concerned about yesterday's situation... 
...as I kept reading your update report I was constantly saying "WOW" to myself regarding your yesterday's reports of unconditional acceptance as the woman you are. 

Certainly the loudest  SQUEEE that you can muster is quite appropriate!!!   
I will just use my term  WOW-WHEE !!!!

Hugs and continued well wishes... I will be eagerly continuing to follow your thread as your exciting life continues for you.
Danielle

Oh! Danielle! How about SQUEEEWOW-WHEE!!!?

Just thinking out loud.

A short entry tonight that I wanted to get down while I was thinking of it.

My four-session introductory Yoga class wrapped up a few weeks ago, and we students were offered a deal for more, so I signed up. I finally had a chance to go to one tonight, "Slow-flow Yoga." As usual, on my way to something meant to lower stress, I got stressed out by the 40 minute drive with the frustratingly slow traffic. When I got there I definitely needed some de-stressing.

As I walked in I saw two ladies I'd been in the other classes with, and they enthusiastically waved with big smiles. That was such a nice way to start. I set up my mat next to one of them and we rolled our eyes and giggled together as we tried to keep up with the instructor. After being pretzelated, then getting unwound with the final Savasana (everyone's favorite pose), we chatted a bit on the way out. We hope to meet up at other classes soon.

It just feels so good to be one of the girls. Life as it should be.

Stephanie

I had such fun at the fly-in last weekend ( https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php/topic,241033.msg2227819.html#msg2227819) that I wanted to post some more pictures.


@sassycassie, me, and new friend "N", who is also co-chair of the local chapter of the international women's pilot organization I was recently welcomed into.


Serving it up.


The two people on the left are old customers from the before-times who have become dear and wonderfully supportive friends. It was so nice to see them again.


L3: The Lovely Lunch Ladies


With "D", the owner of the airport, who was so appreciative of the help she got from us ladies.


Oh, there were airplanes there, too!


We fed a LOT of people!

That is all.

Stephanie

I loved reading about your yoga and fly-in experiences, Steph.  Life the way it should be!  (Well except for the freeway stress!)

Great update Stephanie. Wow! Deja vu! Some of your fly-in pictures look a lot like one of our NSRCA aerobatic contest gatherings.

It's great to hear of all the love and support you are getting from your yoga classes and fly-in's. So wonderfully affirming.

You got this girl! Big hugs!

Wow, it's been another seven days since I put anything in here.

I'll start with a silly little thing that may have been a little dishonest or mean, but made me feel better.

I think I wrote in the past that my mailbox had been receiving steady snailmailings from an insurance agent in the area. All to some guy who doesn't live here any more. I finally got tired of it, and wrote an email to the agent, which went something like this:

Dear Mr. [Agent],

Today we received a mailing from your agency addressed to [deadname]. Please be aware that [deadname] is no longer with us, and it is quite painful to continue receiving mails in his name. If possible, we would appreciate it if you could remove that name from your mailing list.

Thank you so much,

Stephanie X
[Address]

I got no reply, but the mails seemed to stop.

Then I started getting similar snailmails from a different agent for the same insurance company. So I sent a similar email to her, too, this time noting that it seemed obvious that all agents were working from some master database that had that name on it.

This time I hit paydirt. She was so nice I felt a little guilty for deceiving her, but dang it, junk is junk and getting rid of that little annoyance was worth it. Here's her reply:

Hello Ms. X,

I'm so sorry to hear of your loss. I have removed the name, address and mailing from our system. You will not receive any more mailers. 

Thank you,

[Agent]

My loss? Good riddance to him!

Stephanie

@Steph2.0
Dear Stephanie:
Thanks for coming back to you thread to post more about your life goings-on....  there are some threads here on the Forums that I look for every time I login... and YOURS IS ONE OF THEM. 

I so very much enjoyed reading about how you handled the mail coming to you in your dead-name.  I did some similar things with some of the businesses that kept dead-naming me with unwanted solicitations email and snail mail offerings but I didn't hit "pay-dirt" like you did... I loved reading about the letter of apology that you received, but of course with companies and business that we are continuing to deal with...  a slightly different approach is required.

I imagine that as with me, many of us are still getting dead-name mail in one form or another and occasionally something important pops up that we neglected to do a name and gender change with.  This seems to go on for years!!!

Thanks for treating us to your update and great report.
Hugs and best wishes as always,
Danielle

In other news:

More HNT and Tarpon Springs
After another three hour HNT session last Friday, I went back to Hellas for another wonderful gyro. This time I finally had a chance to say hello to the wonderful waiter who had been serving me every week before I took 12 weeks off for FFS. He was all smiley when I said hello, and I chatted completely unselfconsciously about my European vacation, leaving out the reason I was there, of course. It was just another affirming moment, followed by another one as I once again stood in line for the busy ladies room and chatted with the other women in line. Squeee.

Visiting With My Lovely Cousins
That evening we went to a little dinner party at my cousin's house. K, her visiting twin sister P, and their husbands were so awesomely accepting and loving, and welcomed Cassie and me as family, with only two accidental misgenderings. K and P had stayed with my family for a few weeks in the summer back when I was about 10 years old, and I remember how devastated I'd been, when after splashing around in our little pool, they would go off with my sister to do girl things, while I had to search out a friend so I could do the boy things I was allowed to do. But now I can visit and enjoy their company as women, and it feels so right.

P is an accomplished guitar player, and I took along my Jamstik and played along. I haven't jammed like that in so long, and I had a wonderful time, even if everyone else eventually got bored with us and wandered away or took a nap.

The Grasshoppers
The next morning I blasted home to go to a little fly-in at my neighbor's house. That wouldn't have been a big deal, but in this case my neighbor had gone out of her way to invite me, since she had invited the "Grasshoppers" to lunch at her place. The Grasshoppers are a club of women pilots here in Florida. My neighbor, B, thought I would enjoy the lunch and would like to join the club. Note that this neighbor is the wife of the guy who had given me such a hard time over pronouns. I was blown away that she would go to the trouble of inviting me multiple times to join the club, and there was no way I could refuse. The tricky thing? Some of the members, including one of the high muckamucks, "J," knew me in the before-times. I had no idea how I'd be received, but I went anyway.

I sat nervously at the table as J came in. She chatted with some of the other ladies, and finally looked up and saw me. With a big smile asked me how I was doing. We chatted with absolutely no awkwardness, and it got to the point where I started to wonder if she even remembered "him."

Then things took an interesting turn. Most of the women are good at piloting, but not so much at technology. They still print and snail-mail monthly newsletters. I was sitting next to J when B walked up and started talking with J about getting a Facebook page going for the group. Then she pointed at me and told J, "You know, Steph could probably put together a website for the group. She did the one for our club." J lit up and was thrilled when I said I'd be happy to build one. We talked about layouts and domain names, and before the meeting was over I'd bought a domain for the group. J made me a full member of the Grasshoppers and waived my membership fee.

We went around the circle and introduced ourselves, and I told them that I lived just down the street, was one of thee newest members, and had agreed to build a website for the group. I got a round of applause and many welcomes from all the other ladies. Good food, more good conversation with the ladies, some pictures, and the meeting broke up. I didn't walk home. I flew. And I didn't even have an airplane. Squeee.



Yoga
I realized that I had time to go to a yoga class. I had kept running into a few ladies at previous classes who had started waving and smiling when I walked into classes, and we had chatted a little afterward. In my quest to find more ciswomen to hang around with, I had hoped that maybe I could invite a few of them out for a snack or a coke after the class. And sure enough, they were there, and welcomed me in as always. After class we talked a little, but before I had a chance to make any invitations, they told me they had to get home to feed their dogs, and they headed out the door. Darn.

An Evening With My Special One, and Another Milestone
But yay! That meant I could leave earlier to get back to my sweetie. She had spent the day at the salon getting her beautiful hair coloring redone - dark with shades of blue and purple. So she was heading west as I was heading east, and we met up for dinner. I was still wearing my yoga togs, but didn't feel the slightest bit uncomfortable going to a casual restaurant, and nobody looked twice. Squeee.

After dinner we went to my love's house, where we changed clothes and went downtown for their yearly "GeorgeFest" celebration (George Washington). And I passed another milestone. I had decided long ago that with my shoulders, there was no way I'd ever be able to wear anything with spaghetti straps. After 20 months of HRT, and 17 months of living full-time, I went to GeorgeFest wearing shorts, sandals, and a cami top. Not only did I think I looked cute, but it was soo cool compared with even a T-shirt. I loved it, and we wandered around and ate a funnel cake (yes, we're bad girls) with no drama from anyone. Just a few more women enjoying the evening. Squeee.



A British and Scottish Breakfast
Next morning we went to breakfast at a UK-themed restaurant. While we waited for our food, we spent a little time texting with @Kendra, and ordered an Edible Arrangement in a "Hello Kitty" pot with a balloon that said, "It's a Girl!" to have delivered to @Jessica_Rose. The food was wonderful, and the proprietor stopped by many times to ask, "Are you lydies enjoying your meal?" Squeee.



Wandering Mount Dora
From there we wandered around the neat little town. It's the same place we'd walked around after I'd gotten my hair styled for the first time, when I  had gotten one of my first tastes of being completely open, comfortable, and at ease with my new presentation. Now we were shopping in little boutiques and chatting with the ladies working there, just part of life as it had become. We ended up in a cute little coffee and pastry shop, sitting touching in a love seat, sipping coffee and paging through wedding magazines while we thought about the future. It was quite an emotional moment.

A Relaxing Evening
We went home and just relaxed for the afternoon, cooking a simple dinner and sharing a couch while we watched some shows, simply enjoying the warmth and comfort of each other's company.

Marketing Fleas
Next day I did something I'd never done before. Well, sorta. It was something I used to do often in the before-times, but hadn't as "me." There is a huge flea market near my home town which is only open on Mondays. I used to go there often to buy the week's fruits and vegetables, but social anxiety had kept me away for the last two years. It was time.

The Spanish gentleman who sold me some vegetables told me, "Four dollars, señorita." I was called ma'am and miss the rest of the morning. And I texted my bestie with this observation: "I just got smacked with a realization. All of the dresses or hats or tops or purses I used to glance at longingly, then look away before anyone noticed, are mine for the asking now. It's been so long since I was here, and things have changed so profoundly." Squeee

Being Trivial
My team took first place! As always, I was just another member of the team, but this time we missed only one question, and not only earned a $40 gift card, but got bragging rights, and won a spot in the "Trivia Super Bowl" coming up in a few weeks.

Grasshoppers Website
Version 1.0 is finished and published. If you'd like to take a look, it's here: http://grasshoppersflyers.org. J is overwhelming happy with it and me. I think I made a bit of a splash among the other ladies.

Bike Ride
Today I had arranged to have the owner of the plane project I'm working on come by and see the progress, and go for a bicycle ride. There's a "Rails to Trails" bike trail not far from home, so we got on the trail, pedaled about 7 miles, had lunch, and pedaled back. He had known me in the before-times, but is totally cool with it all, and we had a nice ride on a beautiful day, and good conversations.



I changed clothes and drove over to my doc's office to get a nurse to stab me with my E injection. Everyone called me "Miss Stephanie." Stopped in for a pizza and got the same friendly smile from Doctor Crystal who fills my Vitamin P presecription. She'd known me from the before-times, too, but has always been totally cool.

Took my dog for walks, worked a little on the plane, videochatted with my #1, and sat down to write this here story.

And that's all I got to say about that!


Stephanie

What a lovely catch-up on your week, Stephanie!  How affirming to be invited to join the Grasshoppers!

Your Grasshoppers website looks good.

Quote from: Steph2.0 on February 28, 2019, 11:55:25 PM
... paging through wedding magazines ...

   Oh, I think I recognize this symptom!  Life starts to become more complex and much more interesting with this sort of entanglement!

A wonderful update indeed Stephanie. Life is good!

Big warm affirming hugs girl!

@Steph2.0
Dear Stephanie:
We have previously exchanged comments about things like being involved in women's group and clubs and experiencing the joy of being overwhelmingly accepted.  In many of your older and previous comments you have always been involved with the aviation activities from being on the welcoming committee during fly-ins to now being involved in the Grasshoppers club and luncheon... and all kinds of other activities like women's Yoga classes and various other meetings and clubs.

I am not an aviator pilot but I am involved in lots of women's activities, events and clubs here where I am... as you know, it is so very affirming and confidence building to be accepted by ladies as one of the gals...   

I am very happy for you and thank you for sharing your life experiences with all of us...
... as we continue past the initial phases in our transitions, our posts are becoming more and more about our everyday life as women and less about how we got there....   
...we are now living and loving life as we have been desiring for a long time.... a terrific feeling for sure.

Again, thank you for sharing.
Hugs and well wishes,
Danielle

Hi Stephanie,

You know, I just realized that as I read your wonderful stories about your life, I don't see anything remarkable there.  To me, you are a woman and so your acceptance and experiences as such just seem normal in a positive sort of way.  It's very affirming for many of the rest of us, to see how you (and some others) are successfully navigating your new lives as you want to be.  Keep up the great work, and continue to post your stories (even if the occasional negative one has to come along).

Quote from: Michelle_P on March 01, 2019, 02:51:59 PM
   Oh, I think I recognize this symptom!  Life starts to become more complex and much more interesting with this sort of entanglement!

Yes, I'll bet you recognize it, Michelle! It brings to mind the old curse: "May you live in interesting times." Complex describes it well, though it's all so worth it.

As for entanglement, I experienced something the other day I've never felt before, that made me think of quantum entanglement. I felt my special one's mood without being told. I started worrying about her for no known reason, and when she reported her bad day it was a bit spooky. I've never believed in such things, but whether it's a developing women's intuition or some other connection, it seems quite real to me.

Is this the definition of soulmates?

Stephanie

Hi Donica and Danielle,

I've been pretty "up" lately. The kind of acceptance and affirmation I've run into lately can't help but be mood enhancers. It's less than two years since I started my journey, and to say I'm amazed by the way it's working out would be an understatement!

Stephanie

Quote from: RandyL on March 01, 2019, 09:03:52 PM
Hi Stephanie,

You know, I just realized that as I read your wonderful stories about your life, I don't see anything remarkable there.  To me, you are a woman and so your acceptance and experiences as such just seem normal in a positive sort of way.  It's very affirming for many of the rest of us, to see how you (and some others) are successfully navigating your new lives as you want to be.  Keep up the great work, and continue to post your stories (even if the occasional negative one has to come along).

Thank you, Randy. It's so good to know that you and possibly others are finding my ramblings of interest. It was reading the threads of others like @Rachel and @Michelle_P, who had gone through so much that helped give me the courage to keep going. It's hard to believe that I'm now where they were when I started reading their entries. It's proof that it can be done. Pay it forward!

Stephanie