Thursday 20 August 2009

BNO - wooo!

Chloe and I hadn't seen each other for a while so we decided to set a date to catch up and go out, after bouncing ideas around the country of where to go out we decided to head over to the good ol' BNO in Milton Keynes. Leading up to BNO I'd met Aimee, a girl from Exeter who's a few months ahead of me on the NHS conveyor belt so I invited her to join me.

I managed to get off work early so I could get up to Exeter to pick up Aimee and get on our way up to Milton Keynes, the pick up was swift and we were on our way through hideous Friday traffic, well I say through I really mean spluttering along with everyone else wanting to get up to MK. We finally arrived at the Windmill where Aimee was staying, Chloe and I were booked in there too but a room had become available at the Campanile and Chloe couldn't get hold of me (while I was at work) so a brash decision was made, not the end of the world but a bit annoying for Aimee - Sorry.

I got to the Campanile a little frazzled, it was great to see Chloe, I nipped in the shower and proceeded to get ready... about an hour later after being told I had to wear a skirt I was ready and on my way to pick up Aimee from the Windmill hoping my space would still be there when I returned, alas it wasn't and after shaking my fist which I was told wasn't very lady like I managed some precarious parking leaving my car flirting with the tranny-trench.

We joined everyone in the Hotel bar for a drink before heading over to the Pink Punters Night Club, it was great to see so many familiar faces, Stacey, Claire, Nesssie, Stella, Laura and Amy who I'd briefly met at Sparkle. Chloe and I had a good ol' catch up telling her about everything that's been going on with me, she's so lovely and wise - she gives the best advice.

Deciding it was time to head over to PP we made our way across the car park to the tranny-trench which almost got the better of Chloe, luckily she regained her composure and managed to get to the road unscathed. On our way over we bumped in to Danny who said "Have you seen my girlfriend?" which made me chuckle.

The rest of the night went in a flash, chatting to old and new faces, there was quite a good turn out which is nice to see. I spent some time chatting to Amy (GG), we got on really well and talked about everything and anything. I'd noticed a TS I had met up in Birmingham a while back who looked fabulous, not that she didn't before, Chloe said I should go and say hi which to be fair I didn't need too much pushing as I had Dutch courage by my side so I made my way over to her and said "Hi, do you remember me?" to which she said "No". Oh dear, I tried to explain where she knew me from but no bells were ringing in her head so I left saying that I thought she looked great and she was inspiring. It was quite funny but a little embarrassing at the same time.

Aimee decided to call it a night leaving Chloe, Amy and I to have a dance to some techno-dance-something-or-other which I couldn't really dance to, Chloe on the other hand is an awesome dancer - need to get some tips from there. We headed back for a night-cap as we'd still got some wine left in the room. On the way back I checked my precarious parking, Amy who hadn't been drinking for most of the night offered to move it in to a now vacant space, after trying to find reverse she did a beautiful job and parked it perfectly - who says women can't reverse park?

We got to the room and had some wine but most importantly FLAPJACKS! Mmmmm, yummy... they weren't just any flapjacks though, they were M&S Flapjacks.

Got up, had a shower, shave etc and got ready, minimal make-up despite the need for heavy foundation (grrh). It seemed everyone was heading over to the Little Chef for breakfast, collected Aimee and met everyone there. The staff didn't blink an eye and were really friendly, the best Little Chef in the world. We had a good breakfast, said good bye to everyone we were on our way, well almost, my car needed breakfast too.

The drive back was quite frustrating with traffic but totally worth it for the great night out with friends.

Jenny xx

Tuesday 18 August 2009

Those that matter...

A month or so back I had a dilemma about whether to tell girl I'd met about me, in the end I thought it was best to bring everything out in the open with her. This was a good idea and we've become good friends but for various reasons (not solely due to me being TG) that's where we'll remain, she's been really supportive and has provided some great words of advice. I'm sure some may be disappointed but don't be as I've gained a lovely understanding friend.

On another tack now, I recently went to see a very good friend of mine who has been so since my first week at university. I went with it in the back of my mind that I would like to tell him about Gender Dysphoria and me, I had no idea when would be the best time to broach the subject or how. He's a little bit of a Monty Python fan and I was semi-tempted to come out with "I want to be a woman Stan!" but I wasn't sure how I would follow it, luckily the day before he and his wife had been joking that I looked like a Lady (cue Little Briton voices) because I was spinning a parasol belonging to their daughter. I said "Remember you said I was a Lady yesterday, well it's not too far from the truth - I've something called gender dysphoria which is when someone isn't happy with the gender they are." and after a brief pause he said "Really? Are you joking" (or something along those lines) so I went on to explain that it wasn't something I'd just decided but something that had been with me for many years. He was absolutely lovely about it all, gave me a hug (awww) and said that I'm still the same person inside with the same interests etc. We had a good conversation about it and I explained that the term Transgender is an umbrella term that covers a wide spectrum and that sexuality and gender are two separate things. He's been really supportive since telling him and asked for any web resources that might help his understanding on the subject, I passed the links I went to see my GP with plus a couple of videos I've linked to previously in my posts.

I felt like I could trust this person with this and hoped they would be understanding although I had to prepare myself for loosing a friend as you've got to do with anyone you tell, even family. I tried to tell my parents recently and couldn't bring myself to broach the subject with them, I'm obviously not ready for that one just yet. I'm so glad that I didn't loose a friend, I'm sure everyone won't be as understanding or supportive... those that matter don't care and those that care don't matter.

Jenny xx