Month: September 2018

Admittedly there was some improvising but the first night in our new house in Nannup went very well. As there is no electricity and no plumbing yet going to the bathroom in the middle of the night (which I do several times!) meant a walk over to the shed but with the help of an extension cable or two we were able to have plenty of light. What did strike us both was the serene quietness inside the house and the fact that it retained some of the heat from the day even when the temperature outside dropped significantly. All that extra insulation and the double glazing has certainly made a difference. Pre-dinner drinks on the front verandah with our very good friend Bernie was special too. The barbie was then wheeled out and brought to life, I don’t think it has been used for over a year but it lit first go and worked a treat. Lamb chops, chicken and salad was the main course and it was thoroughly enjoyed by all.

Had things been different I’m sure the house would have been finished months ago but when we started clearing the building envelope just over two years ago my transitioning to Stephanie was not even on the horizon. As much as we have had some help with the heavy work and in particular the gyprock and flushing we have done the majority of the work and it was with an enormous amount of pride that we settled down to sleep last night. There is still much to do but we spent the weekend assembling the kitchen cabinets so as soon as the electrician has been they can be fixed in position. That in itself was an achievement, there were no bits missing, everything went together pretty easily and more importantly Denise and I are still friends!

On a progress note, earlier this month I traveled to Perth to see my gender specialist. Despite his total lack of a filter I like the guy a lot, he tells it like it is and has been very good to me. In fact if not for him I would probably still be doing my two years living in my preferred gender before being given my letters of recommendation to proceed to surgery so I have a lot to thank him for. He clearly couldn’t last the whole appointment without some sort of unfiltered comment and his latest was in relation to the swelling which is still very tender in my mons area, he told me that it was most likely a fat pocket and perhaps I should try loosing some weight! Now I know I have put on a couple of kilos over the winter as most of us do but I did think it a little harsh to say the least. However, not being one to pay for advice and ignor it I am doing as I was told, I had already made the decision to lose some before the summer and am happy to report that I have shed just over three kilos so far. I would like to get down to the early seventies as I did in 2012 but will see how it goes.

On Friday evening Denise and I attended a function for the managers and partners of the company that Denise works three days a week for. It was to be held at a venue quite close to us and as one of her colleagues lives in Margaret River Denise asked her and her husband to stay the night with us. Denise isn’t drinking at the moment so she volunteered to drive the four of us back to ours when the event had ended. The bosses wife had opted to go on to another venue to continue her evening so the boss ended up joining us as well. Denise had made a pavlova and her colleague had brought a cheese platter so desert was well catered for. Once home we chatted late into the night in fact into the early hours of the morning before going to bed and the evening had been an extremely enjoyable event with lots of good people.

We woke just after 7am as there were voices in the kitchen. As I was on scrambled egg duty we got up and set to work cooking a breakfast of bacon, mushrooms, toast and of course my legendary eggs, all washed down with coffee or tea and all was well with the world. The boss left first and others shortly after but before they left there was more chatting to be done. Denise was talking to the husband and me to her colleague when it happened, she turned to me and said her husband had told her that had he not had prior knowledge of the fact that I am transgender he wouldn’t have guessed! Honestly there is nothing better that anyone could say to me, I was thrilled to say the least. Coupled with the fact that another one of the managers at the event whom I have known for around seven years but have only recently reconnected with said both he and his wife thought I made a very elegant lady, I felt thoroughly humbled. I have known for years that I was on the wrong side but whenever I thought about transitioning one of the main things that stopped me was the belief that I would never be able to pass as a female, how wrong I was!