: Year-end recap :
As is my custom on this blog, it's New Year's Eve, and time for a recap of 2006. While this year was only slightly less dramatic than 2005, it was even more eventful. While 2005 was the year that I came out publicly, quit my job and went full time, 2006 was the year that set the stage for being able to secure my future as Michelle by moving away, getting a job and living stealth as a woman.
From January to April there was a series of monthly trips from Houston to New York. I had pretty much finished recovering from cosmetic surgery in December 2005 and I was ready to take on the Big Apple. I thought things were going to be easy when I lined up five interviews over two days on my first trip, and got a job offer on my first time out. Upon hearing that happy news, I started packing, gave move-out notice to my Houston apartment and put a deposit down on a new apartment in New Jersey. Days later, the unlikely news came that the offer had to be rescinded due to the loss of a major client, and it was back to square one.
Undeterred, I pushed myself even harder the next trip up in February, scheduling 10 interviews in two days, intending to take a third day off to rest. But due to missed interviews, call-backs and finding new interviews through referrals, I ended up going to 14 interviews in three days without a break at all. In March, I scheduled another two days of interviews, and on March 27, all my concurrent efforts on the legal front were finally rewarded with my legal divorce and name change.
Unfortunately, this action also included the termination of my parental rights to my six-year-old son, a decision that will probably cloud my happiness for years to come. But it also meant a fair division of our assets from the sale of our property (although my ex got to keep most of the money she stole from our joint account prior to the divorce filing, which gave her the leverage in the first place that forced me to give up my parental rights). But being able to obtain a fair split of the funds from the property sale at least allowed me to survive my job search and also schedule my SRS procedure for January 8, 2007.
In April, the highlight was flying up to Indianapolis to meet my friend Colleen, then drove with her to Chillicothe to pick up our friend Mandy and spending a couple days hanging out in Columbus, Ohio. We stayed in our usual SpringHill Suites, and this time another t-girl, Tabitha, drove up from Tennessee to join us. April was also a very busy month because I decided to move to New Jersey in May, despite not yet securing a job. So there was a lot of running around, getting letters for SRS from my therapists, replacing my broken car stereo, updating my legal records and getting rid of my excess stuff I didn't want to move. In late April, I took my last "trip" to New Jersey for a family trip to Mystic Seaport in Connecticut, then flew back to Houston, only to drive up with my stuff a few days later.
On May 1, I arrived at a Residence Inn and settled in for the long haul. My belongings came a few days later and I put them in a storage facility. For the next two months, I went on job interviews and spent time with my new family in New Jersey, plus did all the things necessary to settle in as a resident (car registration and inspection, postal box, learning streets and highways, etc.). I also got a freelance assignment from one of the companies that rejected me for full-time employment, which gave me something to do while earning a little money to defray my hotel costs.
On June 13, I finally landed a job at a large, well-known PR firm. They offered me the same position as I had at my old job in Houston, so I considered it a very successful job search in that I made a lateral move and didn't have to suffer professionally due to my transition (although at nine months, it took a lot longer than I had anticipated). After securing my new apartment and moving out of the hotel in late June, I drove from New Jersey to Springfield, Ohio to meet up with my Midwest friends Colleen and Mandy, plus introduce myself to new friends Joanna and Anna for the first time.
I started my new job on July 5, and there were a few rough spots at first. There was a VP that verbally abused me a couple times that I felt I was not going to be able to get along with, but fortunately for me, she resigned less than a month after I started. Everybody else has been wonderful, and I've met some very nice people there. The hardest part has been the commute to and from New York, which takes nearly two hours out of my morning and evening each day. Weekends are a blessing!
On July 15, I passed my two-year anniversary of starting HRT, which I will celebrate as my "birthday" starting in 2007. That same day, I got my new passport, the first legal documentation with the long-sought "F" marker on it. That was quickly followed by my NJ driver's license, which I never tire of looking at as a symbol of all my efforts in my legal transition.
From August to now, things have finally started to wind down for me and settle into a groove. I rebuilt my home theater around a 50-inch plasma TV and started collecting books and DVDs again. I've been to a couple Broadway shows and the Metropolitan Opera, a long-standing dream of mine. I hang out with my family as much as I can, I work hard in the office, and I generally do my best to enjoy life. The most significant change of all is yet to come - Sex Reassignment Surgery is only eight days away now in Montreal.
I look back on 2006 with some pride and relief. Getting a job and getting settled into a permanent apartment was the major highlight of the year. Continuing to grow my relationship with my family here has also been extremely important and satisfying. Exploring New York and learning my way around has been challenging at times, but gets easier as time goes by. I've also enjoyed my time and conversations with friends who have stuck with me - Colleen, Mandy, Nexy and Alessandra, to name a few. This year I met for the first time Joanna, Tabitha and Anna, along with all my new co-workers, of course. But most of all, this is the year that I've finally been able to find myself at peace - with my life, with my past, and with myself. I feel like the war that is transition is now over, and it's time to start life anew.
A Happy New Year to all, and best wishes for 2007!
From January to April there was a series of monthly trips from Houston to New York. I had pretty much finished recovering from cosmetic surgery in December 2005 and I was ready to take on the Big Apple. I thought things were going to be easy when I lined up five interviews over two days on my first trip, and got a job offer on my first time out. Upon hearing that happy news, I started packing, gave move-out notice to my Houston apartment and put a deposit down on a new apartment in New Jersey. Days later, the unlikely news came that the offer had to be rescinded due to the loss of a major client, and it was back to square one.
Undeterred, I pushed myself even harder the next trip up in February, scheduling 10 interviews in two days, intending to take a third day off to rest. But due to missed interviews, call-backs and finding new interviews through referrals, I ended up going to 14 interviews in three days without a break at all. In March, I scheduled another two days of interviews, and on March 27, all my concurrent efforts on the legal front were finally rewarded with my legal divorce and name change.
Unfortunately, this action also included the termination of my parental rights to my six-year-old son, a decision that will probably cloud my happiness for years to come. But it also meant a fair division of our assets from the sale of our property (although my ex got to keep most of the money she stole from our joint account prior to the divorce filing, which gave her the leverage in the first place that forced me to give up my parental rights). But being able to obtain a fair split of the funds from the property sale at least allowed me to survive my job search and also schedule my SRS procedure for January 8, 2007.
In April, the highlight was flying up to Indianapolis to meet my friend Colleen, then drove with her to Chillicothe to pick up our friend Mandy and spending a couple days hanging out in Columbus, Ohio. We stayed in our usual SpringHill Suites, and this time another t-girl, Tabitha, drove up from Tennessee to join us. April was also a very busy month because I decided to move to New Jersey in May, despite not yet securing a job. So there was a lot of running around, getting letters for SRS from my therapists, replacing my broken car stereo, updating my legal records and getting rid of my excess stuff I didn't want to move. In late April, I took my last "trip" to New Jersey for a family trip to Mystic Seaport in Connecticut, then flew back to Houston, only to drive up with my stuff a few days later.
On May 1, I arrived at a Residence Inn and settled in for the long haul. My belongings came a few days later and I put them in a storage facility. For the next two months, I went on job interviews and spent time with my new family in New Jersey, plus did all the things necessary to settle in as a resident (car registration and inspection, postal box, learning streets and highways, etc.). I also got a freelance assignment from one of the companies that rejected me for full-time employment, which gave me something to do while earning a little money to defray my hotel costs.
On June 13, I finally landed a job at a large, well-known PR firm. They offered me the same position as I had at my old job in Houston, so I considered it a very successful job search in that I made a lateral move and didn't have to suffer professionally due to my transition (although at nine months, it took a lot longer than I had anticipated). After securing my new apartment and moving out of the hotel in late June, I drove from New Jersey to Springfield, Ohio to meet up with my Midwest friends Colleen and Mandy, plus introduce myself to new friends Joanna and Anna for the first time.
I started my new job on July 5, and there were a few rough spots at first. There was a VP that verbally abused me a couple times that I felt I was not going to be able to get along with, but fortunately for me, she resigned less than a month after I started. Everybody else has been wonderful, and I've met some very nice people there. The hardest part has been the commute to and from New York, which takes nearly two hours out of my morning and evening each day. Weekends are a blessing!
On July 15, I passed my two-year anniversary of starting HRT, which I will celebrate as my "birthday" starting in 2007. That same day, I got my new passport, the first legal documentation with the long-sought "F" marker on it. That was quickly followed by my NJ driver's license, which I never tire of looking at as a symbol of all my efforts in my legal transition.
From August to now, things have finally started to wind down for me and settle into a groove. I rebuilt my home theater around a 50-inch plasma TV and started collecting books and DVDs again. I've been to a couple Broadway shows and the Metropolitan Opera, a long-standing dream of mine. I hang out with my family as much as I can, I work hard in the office, and I generally do my best to enjoy life. The most significant change of all is yet to come - Sex Reassignment Surgery is only eight days away now in Montreal.
I look back on 2006 with some pride and relief. Getting a job and getting settled into a permanent apartment was the major highlight of the year. Continuing to grow my relationship with my family here has also been extremely important and satisfying. Exploring New York and learning my way around has been challenging at times, but gets easier as time goes by. I've also enjoyed my time and conversations with friends who have stuck with me - Colleen, Mandy, Nexy and Alessandra, to name a few. This year I met for the first time Joanna, Tabitha and Anna, along with all my new co-workers, of course. But most of all, this is the year that I've finally been able to find myself at peace - with my life, with my past, and with myself. I feel like the war that is transition is now over, and it's time to start life anew.
A Happy New Year to all, and best wishes for 2007!
