BB

At the beginning, just before I started transition, my ex-wife did everything she could to try to dissuade me from the path that was becoming clear and imminent to both of us.  She told me that I should enjoy what I had as a guy - that the day-in-and-day-out life that women face gets tiresome and I'd hate it after a while.  She was wrong.

She told me putting make-up on every morning is drudgery.  No....it's not.  At least, for me it's not.  It's a hard-earned right that I still enjoy.  In fact, I enjoy putting it on far more than cleaning it off.  My son used to watch me as I got ready for work while we lived in Austin.....10 plus years ago.  He asked me why I did all that.  I told him it was easy....simply, because I could.

It's interesting to see how a person's make-up "style" changes over the years.  I suppose I've got a "style" now that this has been my life for 15 years.  Early on I discovered that I didn't like or want thick foundations.  Yuck.  For years and years I'd use a tinted moisturizer under a powder...it was light enough and provided enough coverage to do what I needed it to do without feeling like a mask.

Over the years my skin has developed more spots, blotches, and colors than it used to have.  Tinted moisturizers aren't enough to even it all out anymore.  Thankfully, Beauty Balms (BB) have stepped into the middle-ground and provide enough coverage to even it all out  (more about BB Creams here).  I still start with my trusty Oil of Olay as the first ingredient.  Then - I BB.

And bras.  She said I'd get sick and tired of them.  Not so much.  In fact, I don't even think about it.  I remember back to the days before I imagined ever having anything to fill one with and stuffing a bra with whatever I could find.  I love my "girls" and wouldn't complain for a minute about taking care of them.  In case anyone faces making a decision between silicone or saline, I can't recommend silicone highly enough.  I've had both.  One never felt like it was part of me.  The other, well, now I don't even notice they're there.

For a long time I'vs said that I have one more "procedure" left in me.  I'd like to tighten up some of the skin that's left after all that bone was removed during FFS.  But the reality is that I'll probably never do anything about it.  Life has moved on.  More importantly, I've moved on too.  If I get some extra $$$ I'd far rather put it towards retirement, or towards a boat, or on good camera gear, or on a trip to Europe....my bucket list is still as long as it ever was.

I had lunch today with the President of the PRIDE Employee Resource Group for one of the local large companies (I'd rather not give the name...just know it's a BIG company).  They've made Trans issues a main focus this year and we discussed some opportunities they're working on.  I can't help but think how different things are in our world than even a few years ago when trans anything was actively NOT discussed in the workplace.  This person was at the VP level so it's got a high level of executive support.  Anyway, it was a wonderful discussion.

Pride month is a great anchor for people to provide visibility/education on LGBT issues.  When I worked for Dell one of the big events of our PRIDE calendar years was bringing in a big-name speaker.  We brought in Ellen DeGeneres's mom Betty...she was great.  If anyone has influence on these kinds of things - there are a number of excellent experienced, visible speakers that could probably be persuaded to come and talk about the "T".  Just sayin'....

March Madness is ramping up.  Fingers are crossed that 'Cuse makes it deep into the tourney.  I guess we'll see.  :)