Seems lately every blog post has been depressing. So, since I actually had a great day yesterday, and today was good too, I thought I’d write about that for a change.
Monday morning was kind of non-eventful as a co-worker came back from a week off (my first week as Jess). He didn’t seem to actually realize anything. And wound up not working with us that day anyway. So, I didn’t get any indication of how that went.
I did use the ladies room without incident. I walked in and there was one lady who looked directly at me (she was talking to another woman) and she didn’t burst into flames, flinch, scream, run away in panic or anything else. So, that was a thing. Also had a lot of very muscular football players walking around that didn’t give me any second looks. (maybe disappointing in a way *snicker*).
Anyway, Tuesday was the great day. Started off similar to Monday. Co-worker again didn’t really seem to notice me. We were going to be working at the same site, but doing different things, and he had to go get something first. We both stopped at McDonald’s though, to grab a coffee. As he was coming out, I was heading in, and he didn’t even glance at me. So, I thought, maybe I was making him uncomfortable (not a bad proposition to be honest).
On my way out of McDonald’s a gentleman made an effort to hold the door for me. I said, ‘thanks,’ in a soft voice. ‘You’re very welcome,’ came the reply. So, that made me smile for quite a while, and still does when I think about it.
At the job site, we were doing irrigation repairs, so that occupied me for a while. Managed to get my mp3 player on and listen to music. Still very helpful to do this. I had to go inside the building a few times to shut the water off, or adjust the irrigation controller. The warehouse is occupied solely by males. No one seemed to pay much attention to me. Which was good.
Co-worker showed up later and started bark mulching while we worked on irrigation. So, I didn’t have much interaction with him all day. My uncle (who was helping me with the irrigation) did wind up talking to him a few times throughout the day. I found out that he had asked whether I was wearing a wig (my hair is almost 2.5″ long now, and sticks out under my hat or head scarf). I took this to mean my own hair is getting helpful with my look. Can’t wait until it’s about 5″ long, or longer.
I had to go use a restroom again after lunch, so I went back up to the McDonald’s (it was close). There were 2 other women in there, and I even had to wait for the sink, with absolutely zero bad reactions. This was a huge concern of mine going in to transition. Having seen an episode of ‘Transparent’ where there was an issue with a restroom in a mall, it tends to spike my anxiety levels a bit.
I also had a driver stop and ask for directions – again with people just talking to me. 🙂
After work, I got home, showered, and got dressed and waited for Teresa to get back with Rain, so we could take her to dinner for her birthday. Dinner was good, then we went for dessert in Fort Langley, which was also good. Then the rest of the evening was awesome.
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Today was a day of deleting ‘James’, as Teresa put it.
Starting with my Driver License, I got everything squared away for that and new medical card. Suprisingly, I only got charged replacement fee ($17) and my card will still expire the same year/month as Teresa’s – Yay! Then we headed to the bank to change all that, so I can start cashing cheques that are made out to Jessica. Also started the process of changing name on my VISA. Then we hit the insurance place to renew car insurance and change name/title on that. While there, we also did house insurance. Next stop was Service Canada to do my SIN. There was NO lineup. How bizarre, so this didn’t take nearly as long as we thought it might. And was painless to change, and no fee.
Still a lot of things to do, but I got a big chunk done. Canada Revenue Agency is next, and my CIBC VISA, and all my utility accounts.
So, yeah, was a pretty good couple days. Tonight is 3 hours of electrolysis, and hopefully my chin will be completely clear after this.
Hugs,
Jess
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Addendum:
I finally broke through completely and am able to move as I should at work. I think the clunky workboots were inhibiting that a bit. But all is good and fluid now, no more stiff and rigid.