Well, today is the 25th anniversary of the Edmonton Tornado, pretty much the worst natural disaster to hit this city at least in my lifetime. I managed to be out of town the day it happened, but the stories from family and friends about that day continue to move me all these years later.

Here's hoping there isnt another event like that in my lifetime here. Once was lots.

The above is based on an old song by a group called Garbage, and its about my general attitude in life. I was mentioning the other day to a friend about how ... easy my transition is going, and she said "What? Did you want it to be harder?"

Then in a conversation with my mom, I mentioned about passing, and she said, "maybe you want more attention, and are sorry people arent noticing you, even if that meant they were mean."

Well, I took my bottles in for the refund, and as I often do, I use that as "mad money" to do something nice for myself. Today, I made enough to go get a mani-pedi done, and it was a wonderful experience. Instead of the place in the mall I had tried before, I went to a little place in a strip-mall, and they treated me like a princess from start to finish, including the girl telling me that she almost missed me because she was looking for someone transitioning, and I obviously was a regular girl. (Okay, so it was probably for the tip, but what the heck.)

took my daughter to the fair today, and she had an awesome time. She tried some rides, played some games, got a couple of goofy prizes, and ate really bad-for-you food. It was awesome for her, but I got a little extra gift for me - a caricature of me as a girl fairy.

Its an awesome pic, and if I ever can, I take a photo of it and upload it so you all can see.

Its moments like this that remind me just how blessed I am.

Well, last night was a rough one for me. It started with an uncomfortable feeling in my genital area, which by lunch had progressed to actual pain.

The pain of course caused me a lot of psychological distress to the point that I was hyperventilating, but thank God one of my co-workers seemed to understand why this was so much WORSE for me than for a non trans guy - every painful feeling was a reminder of the part of me I would give anything not to possess at all, and I actually had to repress an urge to take the box-cutting knife I carry and perform some impromptu surgery with it.

When I heard the awful news about a shooting at a midnight premier of "The Dark Knight Rises", I was filled with grief for the victims. Then I found out it had taken place in Aurora, a town I know well, because I lived there for a year. Somehow that made it worse, and I wept openly as the news trickled in about the horrible day.

My prayers are for the victims, their families, and the first responders who managed to bring the shooter in alive to face trial.

Now dont mind me, I think I still have a few tears left to shed.

Well, my vacation is over, and tonight I go back to work. It will probably be a tough week as we will no doubt be short staffed from vacations, and I wont be used to that level of exercise, but I'll just have to do my best and get back in work shape as fast as I can.

well, I spent yesterday with my daughter, taking her to see the new "Ice Age" movie, and then we spent some time playing badminton together. All in all, very nice day, but it had a couple of stressful moments. The biggest came when Sam suggested we do a picnic with her and the two boys who are the children of my ex's best friend. It was only after she made the suggestion that she realized my trans status might cause a difficulty for them, and so withdrew the suggestion.

Well, over the last two days I've had two very different conversations with two very different men, and I thought I would share them with you.

First, I had a conversation with one of my neighbors, that started with him asking me how I was doing, and when I said I was hanging in there, he said "not for much longer, right?"

Turns out he was talking about my SRS.

So we had a laugh, and a good conversation on the whole subject and I felt very relieved, because I didnt know how he'd react.

Well, today I two moments that felt like feminine milestones, but I reacted quite differently to each of them. First, when I was eating supper, I brushed my arm against my breasts and suddenly felt all sorts of confusing feelings as my body reacted to the contact. I liked it, I was scared of it, and it took my friend Jaci several minutes of talking to me on the phone to restore some semblance of balance.

My mom found out last night that our little group of rental houses (condos?, not sure, they are connected one to the other, is that a condo?) are going to be sold off. Nobody know for sure what that means, but its possible they want to turn these from rental properties to ownership ones, in which case we wouldnt be able to stay here. My poor mom is panicking, and between that and the big storm we had last night that hailed out her flowers, she's having a rough day.

Well, I had my last session at the rape center. We reminisced about the first time I went to her office in female clothes, and how far I've come since then. She also told me to try not to worry about times like I had the other day, its actually a good sign that I was able to get some of that stuff out of me, but maybe I should switch to adult mode when they happen to access the skills I've learned in my sessions.

One day at a time, that's all I can do, right?

I went to Wal-Mart today in my nice new blouse and skirt, and got to chatting with the people on either side of the line up at the pharmacy counter. Then I strolled through a farmer's market, and then stopped on my way home to get a glass of lemonade from a kid's stand. At no point did anyone seem to give me so much as a double take, which once upon a time I would have said was simply impossible for me - there was simply no way I could pass.

Funny how wrong a person can be, isnt it?

Well, I just came back from my 2nd opinion. They called me in just as I was leaving to see the endo doc. He's recommending me for the SRS. So now I just wait until December when I see my regular gender specialist, and he will put me on the waiting list.

I think I'm in shock, it doesnt seem real yet...

I'm so happy I'm crying

I had a nasty flashback/nightmare today (I sleep days, because I work nights).

It was so bad I actually threw myself off my bed and woke up on the floor.

I'm so dam tired of this ....