Last week of school, so I'm sitting in class taking a picture of myself and that's
the abstract pattern blouse I normally wear with my jean skirt and black boots.
That's also the new wig -and everybody seems to like it, it's pretty close to my
natural hair color so maybe as my hair grows out I can style it close to this.

For makeup I've kind of settled on foundation, a black eye liner, mascara,
and a shade of lip stick pretty close to the natural color of my lips -it's not
great or anything but for a 52 year old man who's been on hormones for a
month and a half - I'm pretty lucky to look at least a little feminine, and I
like the changes even if they are small and slow and taking for ever.

Class was a review for the boiler test that everyone is taking tomorrow -I all
ready have my boiler license so I get to sleep in and show up at 1pm to school,
but I'll probably go to a clothes closet and see if I can find some nice skirts
and blouses I could wear to an interview

I'm really pretty comfortable now with the idea of going to an interview dressed
as a woman and in my mind it really doesn't matter what I wear as far as doing
the job, but as far as standing up for myself and creating a future for myself,
I really have no choice but to do this - I can't seriously imagine going to an
interview as a guy.

It occurred to me that by the spring if I want to go out and lay in the sun,
I better have a bikini top on or I could get arrested -heheheheh, I've never
worn a woman's one piece bathing suit but I've always been dying to do it,
by next spring, if I want to go to the beach and go swimming the only choice
I'll have is to wear one or get arrested -it's really strange thinking that I'll
have to wear woman's clothing in this one situation  - I wonder if
there are other situations where I'd legally have to wear woman's clothing
(as a trans person) - any comments?

it's late and I have a gig in the morning -so really quickly
I went to the Townhouse to see a friend who's entered in the
talent contest - I got there at 9 in my light tan skirt tan open
toed booties with the 4"heels and the gold lame sweater with
a very tight black boned corset -I haven't been wearing corsets
lately but I went with a corset and hip pads  -and it was pretty dang
uncomfortable honestly -I talked to a trans woman who'd been on
hormones for about a year and a half and considering I'd been on
hormones a month and a half that was productive, and I drank a couple
beers and talked to my friend a bit and her friend and waited and
while I waited for the talent contest to start, I sat and listened to
Lori Dokken play piano in the back room, and she is extremely
good, anyways she let me sit in on a Bonnie Rait song in G,
and we got a very good reaction from the crowd -so that was fun,
then I went back to the main room and waited and talked and finally
about 11:30 my friend got to do her first number, but it was so late
I couldn't stay any longer so I watched her number and left as
soon as it was done, now I have to get some sleep

Update: the Farmers Market gig went well -its a paying gig but they
pay by check so I don't have the money yet, I also have a check for the OJT
at school for, that I get on Monday (because I left early on Friday) plus I still
have only a portion of the first check so all told it's something over a hundred
dollars -which will be nice, afterwards I went to the coffee shop and met
one of my classmates there and helped him review for the test another student
joined in later and we were there for about 4 hours preparing him for the test
he's a good guy and I'd like to see him pass the test -but if you can imagine me
talking for three or four hours - oh my voice is sore -in the end I decided to
not dress up in my girl clothes for this test prep (that why I'm updating the last post,
not adding a new post -typically I do a new post every time I dress up and
go out in public, which is almost every day, but not quite, but I didn't dress up, so
no new post) -one more week of classes then I'm done (yeah!!!!!!)

the top picture is my new wig, the bottom picture is my very light weight -very
slow flying  RC plane - the one that the hawk swooped over and the same
one I was landing in my hand yesterday - I didn't get to fly it today even though
the winds were calm because I took too long to get ready for school today -

after school I was going to the Naked I performance at William Mitchell
college of law (it was a free performance of an amazing trans-themed play -but I
confess I have a few friends in the performance, and don't pretend to be unbiased
about how superb they all are)  - anyways I was supposed to meet a friend who
is a guy on a "datish" outing -not really a date, but sort of "datish" -and then afterwards
there was a possibility I would perform a gig with my 2 piece group (me and
a guitar player/singer) -well the potential gig never materialized but I had to bring
my amp and mic's and clothing to dress like a guy after the play -so that took
a while,  then there was the skirt and sweater and shoes I was going to change into
after class and that was all loaded up into my tuck then there was the corset and
hip pads and makeup I was thinking of wearing - then as I got ready for classes I
decided to wear a skirt and blouse and heels and that took a while (I wore a black
pencil skirt, black sandals with 3" heels, a deep purple velvet blouse -it's a very
cute outfit and in the end that's what I wore to the performance). then I went off to
school and was almost running late by this time -but I did have
time to stop at the coffee shop and buy a cup and still make it on time.  School was
OK and I signed out early at 3:30 to make the 6pm play on-time -now by this time
I found out that the potential gig never materialized, and when I got to the law school
I got a message that the guy I was going to meet there couldn't be there -so I sent him
that picture of me -but I met a trans-woman friend of mine and her date (she is competing
tomorrow in a talent contest in St Paul and Im going out Saturday to cheer her on) -so
I didn't have to sit alone (yeah!) and at one point I was getting pretty emotional and she
ran her hand along my arm to comfort me and that was nice - but it wasn't like I was
crying or anything -I'm not that far gone -I was just a little moved by the acting
But the play was really good and afterwards there was a question and answer session
and my friend left with her date and I was walking down the hallway to my truck and in a
stairwell and I get to talking to this guy and he says I look nice and stuff and we're
talking for a bit and he's an alumni and I went to William Mitchell
for a year (which I describe as the worst year in my life -of course I was working 50 hrs+
per week as a Project Engineer and going to law school at night and living in a houseboat
on the Mississippi in S. St Paul in the middle of winter -so it wasn't easy)
anyways I'm sure you see where this is going it was a very long day and I was too tired
to go out for coffee with him, so I gave him my number, and we'll see if he ever calls
and then I drove home and I really am pretty tired now.

these are from Oskosh a couple years ago, I didn't get to go this year or last
year -it's one of the sacrifices -before that I went every year for about 12 years
in a row - anyways the bottom picture is a Ryan PT-22 and it has always been
my dream to fly in one and there is a flying PT-22 at Fleming field and it'll cost
about $130 and if I can get a job soon enough before it gets cold, I'm going to
fly again, this time as a passenger, but as a woman passenger -so that'll be an
amazing flight OK here's a mile high gag:

but in the meantime I flew my RC plane this morning and managed to land it
in my hand several times which is pretty cool -controlling a little light RC plane
as it flies toward you and having it land in your hand, and I only crashed one,
so that was fun -then I went in to class for 8 hours of school.  I wore size 16 blue
jeans, black flats and a pretty silvery blouse -class was OK and I did
vacuuming again -so that's OK.

I decided that since I know the Boiler material so much better then some
other people (I have my special boilers license) I 'm going to meet with
a couple students on Sunday and help them study for their test

I have a gig sunday morning (yeah!!!) so I'll miss church and I may go to
this study session as a guy - I haven't decided yet -it's right after my gig
and it's a royal pain to dress up on the road over (ie in some gas station
bathroom) but Im not comfortable letting them see me as a guy either, so
I don't know - obviously I didn't think this one thru - but maybe I should go
ahead and dress up even though it's just for a couple hours -I'll let you
know what I decide in a couple days -but tomorrow, hopefully will be
a super fun day.

that's not the skirt I wore today or the wig, but it is the skirt I may wear
Saturday when I go out to support a friend in a drag talent contest.
But before that comes Friday and I will be in a skirt when I go to the play,
tomorrow I'm going to wear girls pants, but today I wore my jeans skirt,
and like I've said before, for whatever reason, my days seem to go better
when I wear a skirt.  Today is a good example of that -it was just a good day.

I started the day flying my light weight RC model airplane and I was flying it
in a tennis court and it's very light weight and flies very slow and as I'm flying
it a hawk swoops down and flies just over it.  I land the plane take off again and
again the hawk swoops down just a half foot or so over the plane, now at this
point I start thinking it would be pretty cool to watch if the hawk swooped down
ad grabbed the plane with its talons - it would destroy the plane, but it would
be pretty cool to watch - so I flew it around a bit more but the battery power
was drained so I wound up landing the plane and going to class.

Class today was actually kind of fun and I was joking around a lot with one of
the guys and some of the jokes weren't all together clean, so I wont repeat
them, but it was kind of fun.  I did vacuuming for the on-the-job training, and
I like vacuuming, and in a skirt it's an OK job.

After that I walked around a local lake and a couple people smiled at me and
said hi and stuff  -it was a nice night for a walk but I was killing time before
the bluegrass event  at my church -which is a fund raiser for the defeat the marriage
amendment in MN.  I snuck into this (suggested donation $10.00, but I did sign up
to do the phone bank one day a week when I get out of classes - so I didn't
exactly get out for free)

so the first group for the Vote no event was the "Prairie Fire Ladies Choir"
which was an all female acapella group who made the point of accepting
anyone who identified as a lady who could sing - I thought that was a pretty
cool concept and if my singing voice I might even try out in the Spring

The next group was Pocahontas Country which was pretty traditional
Bluegrass group -they were pretty good, but they were followed by
The Roe Family Singers who really opened very strongly -
the full line up was bass, mandolin, autoharp/female lead guitar/banjo/male lead,
fiddle, guitar, saw, jug and clogger - the clogger was excellent of a couple
of the songs -the lead of with Jackson (I'm going to Jackson.....) and old
Johnny Cash song I believe and did several really good songs, but as it
got to 9:30 I acted like any good Minnesotan and said well I better get
home before 10 so I can be in bed by 11, so with two minutes remaining,
before 11pm, goodnight John Boy.......

very long day today, but I'm nearing the end of my training and started to get worried
about finding a job when I'm done, and especially finding a job that's going
to allow me to continue living as a woman during the day, and hey if I actually
had some money, going out as a woman at night too.

Anyways we're studying boilers for the MN Special Boilers license and I all
ready have one, and I have some volunteer time as a boiler operator with my
church, so it's a little boring -OK I'm a liar -it's really boring -it's just way too
long to be studying at a pace that is way too slow for me -but the rest of the class
takes the boiler test next Tuesday, and the school paid to renew my license, and
I get next Tuesday morning off, while they're taking the test, so that's cool.

Sept 21st is the last day, classes started My 29th so that's almost 4 months of going
to school dressing up every day for class as a woman -it really is an amazing
accomplishment, and next week is the last week - next Friday is the last day,
so I'll be celebrating next Friday, but it's not as big a deal as it could be because
I decided to go on hormones on August 1st, so that looking down the road I finish
classes next week (as a woman) look for a job and find a job ( as a man transitioning
to be a woman) change my gender marker to a woman and live the rest of my life
as a woman - putting it in that perspective, going to class for another week and a
half wearing some skirts to class just really isn't a big deal,

but it is fun to wear a skirt to class -I wore capris today, but I'm wearing my
jean skirt and black boots Wednesday and right after school at 6:30 my church
is holding a bluegrass concert  (31st and Park in Mpls) so I'll just drive over and
listen to some good music (I love bluegrass even though I play the blues)
$10 is the suggested donation to support defeating the marriage amendment.

That is not what I wore today to class - I wore a blue t-shirt with a Channel Paris
logo and blue slacks -size 16 with black flats - I thought I would be doing some
painting in class and I wanted to wear something I could ruin if it came to it.
But instead I wound up vacuuming, which is fine, I really don't mind vacuuming
for an hour, but it would be more fun in a French Maid's outfit - I'd do it, if someone
bought the outfit for me....hint, hint.....

Actually those pictures are the last pictures I have of me as a guy ( the day before I
started on hormones) now I have pictures where I look more like a guy, but in
terms of actually, medically speaking still being a guy - those are some of my last
pictures of me as a guy -

I got my test results back and the doctor says I seem to being doing well with
the hormones and I feel pretty good actually, but it's strange when one finds
oneself almost a month and a half into it - partly because you have to look really
hard for any physical changes - and that's after a month and a half (on the 15th) which
is a long time to me but a very, very short time to have any changes occur, so
patience is the key -I do look a little better, and makeup is starting to look better
on my skin as it softens and , well they're growing a little -it's really hard to tell what
is a real change from what is the placebo effect of just taking something that's
going to make me a woman (ie legally change my gender marker to Female)