Thrilled

6:45am

It's 6:45am and I'm in the lobby of the Grand Hyatt in downtown Denver.  I strayed down here to get a cup of coffee - I'll admit I didn't sleep nearly as well as the night before so I'm dragging a little this morning.  I think the craziness of all the traveling help propel me to get a good night sleep on Friday.  This morning my body remembered that it's actually on the East Time Zone so it woke up at 5am and wasn't going back to sleep.  So here I am....

I enjoy Denver.  I've been here a number of times in recent years and I really do enjoy it here.  And I get the sense that Denver enjoys me too.  One thing I do know is that my hair loves it here - it has been the best couple of hair days I've had in a long time.

The weather in Denver has been perfect each time I've visited and yesterday was no different.  Someone told me that Denver is second behind Phoenix in the country as days with the most sunshine (300+) and although I haven't verified it I do know that my own experiences here tend to support something like that.

Yesterday was a full day - breakfast with a good friend, an afternoon visit to the Gender Identity Center of Colorado, some time in the fitness center here, a bit of time polishing my remarks for the evening, primping and prepping for the event, and then off for showtime.  The day went at just the right pace, and I can honestly say I enjoyed every piece of it.

My hostess-with-the-mostest, Courtney, was honored with one of the awards last night and has been the perfect hostess.  Both she and her wife have wonderful positive energy about them and I can't thank both of them enough for their wonderful hospitality.  I hope we continue to have the opportunity to stay in contact after I leave...

The dinner was great.  The location was very pretty, it was sold out (450 people), the band was awesome, it was meticulously planned and run - all things considered I can't think of anything that didn't go well.  Thanks to everyone who attended - all I can say is that it was an honor to be part of the evening and I hope you had as much fun there as I did.

I brought two dresses in my luggage - one black and one red.  One was more elegant, and the other was more of a statement.  I wore the red statement dress and thought it looked nice.  Those shoes have been broken in over years of big dinners and are generally pretty and comfortable, an important combination when it comes to heels.

This is my new Facebook profile pic.  I like it....

Rachel, Courtney, and me

My feelings on the importance of LGBT Centers are no secret and this particular Center has a special place in my world.  I felt completely at home there last night and I'm thrilled that they chose to honor Courtney with the Volunteer of the Year award.  She was radiant, and did such a wonderful job....

Earlier in the day we stopped at the GIC to attend the annual cook-out for a while.  It was great to see some good friends there.

10pm
Well - I'm home now.  The flights were mercifully uneventful, and it was nice to get home to see Maggie.

As I mentioned in an earlier note, the new version of the Standards of Care are being released (ver 7) at the WPATH Conference in Atlanta.  If you're interested in reading them it's already online (see it here).  There are also already early critiques of the contents (here's a good one).  Those who support a surgery approach to our unique "situation" will most likely not like the revisions as they move away from the one-size-fits-all, transition, surgery-based model.  I expect there will be quite a bit more discussion of this in coming days....

Me?  The highlight of the day was the Bills last-second comeback win against the Patriots.  This team is really something.  Anyway, as a long-suffering Bills fan I have to admit that I was thrilled by it all.  They're replaying it on the NFL Network on Tuesday night....

Speaking of thrilled - my GF arrives on Wednesday for a week.  I am truly thrilled about that.

I was in Starbucks yesterday and noticed that their "Pick of the Week" is a song titled "Just a Kiss" by Lady Antebellum.  It's a free download from iTunes if you stop in and get a card for it at a Starbucks.  It has GREAT lyrics that remind me of her, and I sent her a text about it.  She already knew....  :)