: Out and about :
It was a pretty interesting day today, exactly two weeks since my surgery, and coincidentally, my one year, five month anniversary of starting hormone therapy (July 15, 2004). And it's a full moon tonight - wacky.
I started this afternoon taking my friend Kyla to see some apartments. She wants to move out of the apartment she's sharing with two of her friends into her own place. She's looking at a place right next to the Galleria that is owned by the same company that owns my apartment, so if she gets it, I get a referral fee. We looked at the place and took an application, but the one she wants isn't available yet. She might get on the waiting list tomorrow.
Then we went to Loehmann's and Target for me to return some stuff I'd bought, and while we were at Target I ran into one of my former co-workers previously mentioned ("Lunch picture" - Oct. 28, 2005). She was shopping for her secret Santa present, a time-honored tradition at my former place of employment. Tonight she was going to the Christmas party thrown by one of my former clients, one of the world's largest oil companies. I remember going to this party last year, and it is always quite the extravaganza - lavish decorations, costumed entertainers, a live band, sumptuous buffet tables everywhere, complimentary palm readers and tarot card readers - you get the idea.
I remember attending this party last year, when I was just starting my transition. I'd been on HRT for only five months, and I hadn't done anything with makeup or my voice, and I was just starting to build my wardrobe. My hair was not even long enough to tie into a ponytail, and my appearance was much different than it is now. And I just remember walking around the room among what I'm sure were some of the wealthiest and most powerful people in the oil industry, and feeling so out of place. I felt my "different-ness" so palpably that night that I remember like it was yesterday. I remember feeling like I had this secret identity, and it comforted me like a warm cloak on a cold winter's night.
Later in the evening, Kyla and I went to a weekly gathering of trans-people organized by the Houston Transgender Life Connection (HTLC). Kyla had invited a friend she met at work, and it was nice seeing Zoe and all my friends again after a two-week absence. Of course I got a lot of compliments and questions about my cosmetic surgery. I wore my new embroidered top, which is very low-cut (I wore a white camisole underneath for a little extra coverage) and one girl told me how natural my breasts look. I guess all those breast exercises I've been doing are paying off.
The thing about me now is that my new body does help me pass, of course, but I didn't have too much trouble passing before surgery. But it's not enough for me just to pass - I also want to look good. Paradoxically, I'm not particularly interested in attracting a date right now. In fact, one thing I'm unsure about is my ability to fend off advances from men, having never been in such a position before. But for now, I'm just enjoying appearing on the outside like the woman I feel like on the inside.
I started this afternoon taking my friend Kyla to see some apartments. She wants to move out of the apartment she's sharing with two of her friends into her own place. She's looking at a place right next to the Galleria that is owned by the same company that owns my apartment, so if she gets it, I get a referral fee. We looked at the place and took an application, but the one she wants isn't available yet. She might get on the waiting list tomorrow.
Then we went to Loehmann's and Target for me to return some stuff I'd bought, and while we were at Target I ran into one of my former co-workers previously mentioned ("Lunch picture" - Oct. 28, 2005). She was shopping for her secret Santa present, a time-honored tradition at my former place of employment. Tonight she was going to the Christmas party thrown by one of my former clients, one of the world's largest oil companies. I remember going to this party last year, and it is always quite the extravaganza - lavish decorations, costumed entertainers, a live band, sumptuous buffet tables everywhere, complimentary palm readers and tarot card readers - you get the idea.
I remember attending this party last year, when I was just starting my transition. I'd been on HRT for only five months, and I hadn't done anything with makeup or my voice, and I was just starting to build my wardrobe. My hair was not even long enough to tie into a ponytail, and my appearance was much different than it is now. And I just remember walking around the room among what I'm sure were some of the wealthiest and most powerful people in the oil industry, and feeling so out of place. I felt my "different-ness" so palpably that night that I remember like it was yesterday. I remember feeling like I had this secret identity, and it comforted me like a warm cloak on a cold winter's night.
Later in the evening, Kyla and I went to a weekly gathering of trans-people organized by the Houston Transgender Life Connection (HTLC). Kyla had invited a friend she met at work, and it was nice seeing Zoe and all my friends again after a two-week absence. Of course I got a lot of compliments and questions about my cosmetic surgery. I wore my new embroidered top, which is very low-cut (I wore a white camisole underneath for a little extra coverage) and one girl told me how natural my breasts look. I guess all those breast exercises I've been doing are paying off.
The thing about me now is that my new body does help me pass, of course, but I didn't have too much trouble passing before surgery. But it's not enough for me just to pass - I also want to look good. Paradoxically, I'm not particularly interested in attracting a date right now. In fact, one thing I'm unsure about is my ability to fend off advances from men, having never been in such a position before. But for now, I'm just enjoying appearing on the outside like the woman I feel like on the inside.
