You’re a woman, I’m a machine

So in my last post, I talked about how I’m not out at work.

I would prefer that everyone know. I understand, that it’s not possible, not always safe, ideal, or whatever other reason there may be at the time.

I always get a little nervous though when there is a possibility that someone knows and just doesn’t say anything, has an idea but isn’t sure, or has the possibility of finding out. The last thing that I want is for someone to feel that I have lied to them.

Not for their benefit by any means. I could give a good shit how they feel about it. My biggest concern is the safety of my wife and I. The last thing that I want is for someone to feel like I have lied to them, or tried to pull the wool over their eyes, or something stupid, and get hostile.

When I speak to people that may or may not know, that I have not confirmed with them, I make sure that I never say things like “when I was a little boy” or even use male pronouns for myself. That way, no one can ever come back at me and say, you lied to me! or you ‘re being deceptive! I can simply say, “nope, I never said anything to you. You assumed by looking at me that I was male, and hence you used the pronouns that you felt were appropriate. That’s all on you. I just never correct you.” This may not make someone who is unreasonable like this feel any better, but it feels better to me. And I can stand by the fact that I never lied to them, or mislead them about anything.

Also, it feels more comfortable to me. I don’t like feeling like I am abandoning the female part of myself. That was a big issue that I was having with my transition. Aside from time, another reason I was having an issue keeping up with the blog for a while. I felt like my transition was meant to erase my past as a female. And though I don’t feel like a female I didn’t want that part of me erased. Becuase I also don’t feel male. I am happy being this in between person. I wish I could come out as in between in the general world, but I do not have the energy or strength to have that conversation with everyone I meet, every. single. day.

I have however been able to embrace this in-between-queer-person. With this, I have also embraced my given name. I still go by Wes in general, but at doctors and such I have started not correcting people when my legal name is used. I have even at times introduced myself as my given name. It feels empowering.

When I was a kid I hated my name, I’ve never really been fond of it. To make me feel better my mom used to tell me that it used to be a “southern gentleman’s” name. My middle name is from a Harlequin romance novel my grandma was reading while my mom was in labor. Both of my names are very girly. But my middle name is French, so Kass and I came up with a good cover story. My family is Cajun-French from Louisiana (I lived in Louisiana for a while, so no questions there), and it was my great-grandfather’s name. My dad was close to him and wanted to honor him. Simple and reasonable. But no one has ever even asked for an explanation. And when we say my name, we just say it matter-of-fact and no one questions it. And sometimes when people call for me, or say something to Kass about me and allude to me being female she will say something about oh, you mean my husband? They aways look or sound real confused and like they feel stupid. Which is always fun.

I wish that transitioning was easier. Like any rebirth it is a process, with many more nuances that you could ever prepare yourself for.

 

I said I want a full house…

…they said you got it dude.

So about 3 years ago I posted about not being out at work and how hard that was for me. No one knew I was trans and still called me by my given name and still referred to me by female pronouns. I was really struggling.

It’s crazy how different things are now. I’ve been at my current job for nearly 2 years and I’ve only come out to HR, and one person that doesn’t work there anymore. While I think there are some people that know or are suspicious, no one has said anything. And since I’ve been there, two transwoman have come out. One in my department, and one that used to work in my department. Makes me feel good because when they both came out I really kept my ears open and no one said anything. At all. It was really reassuring.

I have decided though that I am not going to come out. I just feel more comfortable if it is not an open topic. Also, it’s no one’s business but my own.

But now I’m applying for a promotion and I’m really glad that I haven’t come out. Or made it official for anyone. I don’t want anything to undermine my skills, qualifications, or anything else. I desperately want this promotion. Right now I do technical support over the phone. Which is a great job; it pays good, most of the people I talk to are decent, it’s way better than Comcast, I like most of my co-workers, and my supervisor is freaking awesome. I’m just so tired of being on the phones. Also, I am really ready to advance my career. Even if this isn’t in my field. I’ve been doing a lot of research on resumes, objectives, and cover letters and how to sell your experience for a job that you have no experience in when you’re making a career change. I think I did a really good job with that. Now I’m just waiting, anxiously, to find out if they will interview me.

Now I’m just waiting, anxiously, to find out if they will interview me.

Til 3005 I’ll be right by your side

So we don’t really do resolutions. If we’re going to do it, we do it. If we don’t, we don’t. For us getting fit, exercising more, eating better, etc., starts Monday. Not next year.

But this year we thought that we would try something a little different. Basically, we’re going to stop spending money on anything that’s not a necessity or an experience. We like to buy things. A lot. So we’ve decided that a least for the next year, we’re just not going to buy that extra stuff we don’t need.

I’ve also been meaning to sell some extra stuff that we don’t use. It’ll just help free up some space in the apartment, and we can stick it in savings.

I’ve also been working some extra jobs delivering. I usually deliver though DoorDash. I get to spend time in my car driving around listening to music, sometimes Kass comes with and we spend time together. It’s super easy and I do it whenever I want, which I really like. I just can’t commit to a second job.

We’re trying to save some money to buy a house or move or something, or both.

Awaken, My Love!

So blogging has not been going like I’d like it. I either just don’t have the time or don’t feel like thinking enough when I do have the time.

This year has been super eventful, though. Kass and I took a road trip to Montreal in July to Osheaga. It’s a super big music festival. It was so awesome. We got to see Wolf Parade, Haim, Cypres Hill, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Lana Del Rey. We saw several others, but there were so many. We missed the whole day on Sunday (I wanted to see Leon Bridges so bad) because we both got food poisoning so something equally awful. We got up and went to breakfast at this cute little place called The Breakfast Club, and by the time we were done eating we couldn’t decide if we wanted to pass out or die. Since we were leaving on Monday we decided that we should just hang out in the hotel, so we slept all day.

Aside from that, we’ve decided that we’re not huge fans of Canada (sorry, Canada). We really wanted to be, honestly. We both thought that once we got there we would never want to leave. We were disappointed that didn’t happen. We just met so many rude people, both of our hotels charged us twice, we got food poisoning (which isn’t Canada’s fault, we get that, but it still taints your experience), we were almost killed by an insane cabbie, and my credit card info got stolen. Pretty sure it was when we were in the crowd at Osheaga since in Canada they hand the credit card scanner to you and never handle your card. We got back home on Wednesday and opened the bank account on Friday to go over bills and there was almost $1,200 missing. Someone went to some women’s boutiques and shoe stores, a jewelry store, McDonald’s, and a strip club. So we called and since I had been using my card at all my normal places at home, (coffee shops, grocery store, etc.) and she could tell a card was swiped, the bank had no problem reversing the charges, getting me a new card, and putting the money back in our account right away. But the lady we talked to said that was the fastest she had ever seen a fake card made and used. Great.

In November we went to Canun. We got a LivingSocial deal so we saved a ton at an all-inclusive, adults only resort. Literally never wanted to leave. Kass even looked for jobs in her field before we left. We had planned to do a ton of things, but when we got there we were so exhausted from work and politics (we left the day after the election) we just relaxed. We did get to drive a speed boat through the jungle and go snorkeling. That was amazing. We got to see two pieces of the underwater coral museum. Otherwise, we just swam in the ocean and the pools, drank, ate, and relaxed. We even had our own dip pool on the balcony of our room. We spent a ton of time naked in there. Totally could have moved into that room.

We spent Thanksgiving with some family. Kass’ cousin and wife and my cousin and her boyfriend live in Milwaukee, so we drove there and stayed in a hotel for the holiday. It was really nice to spend time with family. We haven’t done it in so long. Christmas and New Years we just spent at the house and relaxed.

Back in the saddle

So I have not been good at writing lately.

But I have good news because after a lot of tests, the doctors finally figured out what was wrong with me.

My gallbladder was only functioning at 13%. So December 17th they removed it. It’s been great. No more mystery side pain. No sickness after every time I eat. Almost no heartburn. And surprisingly, almost no more migraines. I’ve had maybe three or four since my surgery. I usually get that many (or more) in a week. It’s been almost life changing.

I still have days like yesterday where I wake up so nauseous I can hardly function for about two hours. Or like today where I have zero appetite and the thought of food makes me ill. But apparently those are because of the bile my liver is pumping directly into my stomach instead of the gallbladder holding onto it. I guess it makes you sick if theres too much of it.

So I didn’t really cook for a while. And then after my surgery I hardly ate and then it took me a while to really want to cook again. So we ate a lot of Boca and MorningStar stuff. Or pizza. There’s a FamilyVideo/pizza place like two blocks from us and they will deliver movies with your pizza. And return your movies when they go. So, sometimes we’re weak and do that…

But I am trying really hard to start a fitness routine. Currently I am embarking on the 30 Days: 5,000 Kettlebell Swings challenge. I just finished day 3 and boy can I feel it. But it’s awesome because Friday I felt like I was going to die doing 45 in a row. Yesterday I did 55 in a row and the about 20 minutes later did another 10 and then immediately did 70 in a row. Today I plowed through 80. I’m taking a rest because I am not feeling well, like I said, and then I’m going to try and do another set of about 40. Right now I’m using a 15 lb kettlebell, and when I finish this challenge I’m going to try the 30 Days: 10,000 Kettlebell Swings challenge. Then I think I’ll purchase a 35 lb kettlebell and start over. I’m really feeling it in my thighs, groin, and lower back. I’m excited to feel it in my lower back because I really need to build some strength there to help with old injuries. But once I get into training myself to workout every day I’m really wanting to build more muscle. My desire is to become like my fitness god, Joe Manganiello. I mean look at this man:

Are you kidding me right now, Joe? #LifeGoals

Next post I plan on posting updates on changes and what not and I’ll do a little update on my kettlebell routine and let you know if it’s killing me or not.

Until then!

-Wes

Doctor Doctor

Thursday I have to have a colonoscopy and another endoscopy.

I’m technically three years overdue for my colonoscopy. Three years ago my dad was having some issues, so he went to the doctor. They decided to do a colonoscopy and say some polyps. They took care of those and screened them and they were pre-cancerous. So they were going to go in and take out 2-inches of his colon. When they got in there it was worse than they thought, and they ended up taking out 22-inches. He was in the ICU for a month because his bowels ended up getting twisted and they didn’t realize for almost 3 weeks. He ended up having another surgery to resolve the issue.

His doctor told him that since he was so young (48 at the time) it was necessary that his siblings and his kid get a colonoscopy right away. I’ve put it off and put it off.

At first it was just because I was like hey, I’m 24. I’ll be totally fine. Then it became that I avoided it out of fear. I had an endoscopy around the time that he had his surgery for an ulcer and they didn’t put me under enough. Then instead of keeping me quite, they kept talking to me, much like a dentist does when they’re in your mouth. Except there was this tube down my throat. So I kept gagging and panicking. Then after coming out as trans, I really hate the idea of people being down there.

But then I started to have the same symptoms that he had. I’ve been really sick lately. Which is part of the reason I started a mainly vegan diet. Sometimes it seems like meat is the issue. Sometimes I seem lactose-intolerant. Sometimes I seem gluten-intolerant. Often after eating, no matter what it is, I am very ill for several hours.

But I found a really great lesbian doctor that knows the gastro doctor and says she trusts her 100%. She even said that she would talk to her for me before my appointment so I wouldn’t have to come out to her myself. Which makes me so very happy. And they are going to use MAC sedation so I will be out. Kass isn’t thrilled with this, and really wants to be in the room, but I really don’t want her to see me like that. I just keep assuring her (and myself) that everything will be fine, and there wont be any funny business. Or mocking.

So now I am preparing for about two and a half days of no eating, and lots of broth, jell-o, and Miralax-spiked-Gatorade.

Wish me luck.

-Wes

I never meant to be the greatest….

…I only ever wanted to be your baby.

I have been absent from my blog for far too long.

Lately I have thought a lot about blogging but have just not gotten around/taken the time to do it.

I always find something more important/less important to do.

Kass and I are celebrating our two year wedding anniversary at the end of the month. Last month we celebrated six years together. We’re doing really good. We, of course, have our ups and downs, but things are good. We just moved into a new place in July that we both really like. We turned the dining room into office space for the both of us, so we each have a nice deck and fancy matching chairs. We’re slowly decorating the place.

I’ve been cooking more, which I really enjoy. Most of the time.

Sometimes I just hate cooking.

But our new kitchen has so much more space its amazing.

We even started a little garden on our balcony. Mostly herbs this year, because we weren’t sure how it would go. And all the Bonnie’s tomato plants we bought, or attempted to buy, had blight. We talked to someone at Lowe’s and she said that pretty much every plant she saw from them had blight this year. So that was a no go. But I planted basil, oregano, sweet mint, peppermint, dill, thyme. And some roses. And then just some pretty wild flowers. It made the balcony so beautiful.

So I’ve been doing a lot of cooking in the new space, and using a lot of the herbs. Everything has been so fresh and tasty. And I’ve been doing mostly vegan cooking with has been really nice. Really adds to the freshness. I’ve been experimenting more and I think that I’m getting much better at cooking. It really awesome to spend time working on something and then have it come out to look and taste so amazing.

I’ve actually been thinking about creating a (mostly)vegan/diet/trans blog. Probably joined with this one. Maybe not. I’m thinking that maybe if I get a blog going maybe it will help me a little on days that I just want to cook shite. And also maybe it will keep me on track because I’m really trying to lose weight. And I would really like a trans fitness buddy, so I’m thinking maybe it will connect me with other trans folks who are also looking for the same thing. I really need the motivation. I’m not expecting them to push me, but I’m hoping that if I have someone relying on me, and I’m relying on them we can give each other props and maybe I’ll make a good friend at the same time.

I’m almost at a year a 11 months on T. It feels weird to think about.

I just feel like I’m in this weird mismatched gender limbo.

Sometimes I just wish that people inherently knew that I was trans, and wasn’t a boy or a girl. I just am.

2+ years in I’m still having a hard time getting used to everything. It catches me off guard when people call me ‘he’ or ‘sir.’ Sometimes I still get a little offended, and then I’m like, Oh right. I have a (one notch above shabby) beard. Of course you think I’m a ‘sir.’ Based on the signals I’m sending you, that’s what you’re supposed to think.

I don’t know. It’s still just very hard for me. I don’t know why. Kass has adjusted very well. She is having a much easier time with it than I am. I guess I maybe have this internalized transphobia. It wouldn’t hurt to know more people like myself. To have people that I can talk to. But I have a hard time liking and trusting people. The ones that I do end up liking and trusting end up being assholes. Trans, and cis alike.

And I’m lost like all of my guy friends from before. I mean, I had like three. Not a ton. Then I had like one. And he’s just kind of fallen off the face of the earth. I feel so alone. Sometimes I wish that I had someone to talk to. Aside from Kass. I tell her most everything. But sometimes I just wish I had a guy I could talk to. Or another trans guy that knew what I felt. In my head it feels like it would make things feel a little better.

On the plus side, my beard is filling in. Sadly though, I’m already getting grey whiskers. It’s so sad. I just get it and it’s already turning grey. But I’m not quite 28, and am already seriously considering getting some Just for Me. So I guess it would make sense that my beard is just following suite.

I also get a lot of whiskers that fall out. I always get several on my desk throughout the day, and they look like little wiry pubes. It always freaks me out for a second,

Who rubbed their ball sack on my desk?!

Oh, wait. That’s just from my beard.

So there’s that.

-Wes

First week at work. Success.

So my first week at my new job has been super successful. I’m just in training now, but I think that I am going to like it so much better than my last job. Which, now that I don’t work there… was Comcast. It was a decent job, don’t get me wrong. Good pay, and free internet and cable. Which is awesome. But the work was so stressful. The stuff that always changed. And the customers. The customers are awful, horrible people. You wonder why Comcast employees suck so much? It’s because out of 60+ calls a day, more than 3/4 of them people are cussing us out, telling us how stupid and awful we are, calling us horrible names, etc. etc. etc. It starts to make you angry and hateful. I argue with everyone just because I can, because I (technically) can’t argue with my customers. I tried to be as nice and respectful as I could, because I needed that job. But after three years and a month, I just couldn’t take it anymore. I used my three weeks of vacation time up, then I called in for the last week and a half. So I had a ton of time of to just relax and destress and now I’ve started this new job doing tech support for the onboard computers for truckers. I feel like a whole new person. I feel nicer, and calmer, and like myself again. And though I haven’t taken any calls yet myself because there is a lot to learn, I’ve listened to a lot of calls in the last week and every single person has been decent or very nice. And the ones that are a little crabby are even decent. It’s so awesome to be respected.

This brings me to another point with my new job. As I stated in my last post I was going in as totally male. This has been a totally new experience. I’ve never been anywhere for a long period of time where everyone assumes, and accepts that I’m male. And now I have finished 7 actual working days and everyone just accepts that I am male. I even invited the only girl in the training class to sit with myself and the other guys during lunch and one of them joked about lunch being no girls allowed. I laughed and said I forgot the rules of the ‘He-Man, Woman-Haters’ club and everyone laughed. I also understand where Kass has said that my mannerisms are no very ‘manly’ or ‘bro’ like, which were both totally fine with, but I’ve noticed that some of the things I do seem to catch people off guard. I also wonder sometimes if I should ‘butch’ it up a little, but I just try to tell myself, this is who I am, why should I care if they think I’m a little femme? But for the most part everyone seems to just roll with it.

Using the restroom at work has been a unique experience as well. I never used the men’s restroom at Comcast, because I was basically told I couldn’t. HR never said it, and I was never officially told I couldn’t, otherwise I would have fought it, but a couple supervisors kind of told me I couldn’t and expressed concern about making people uncomfortable. I stopped using the women’s restroom because that made me uncomfortable. My saving grace was that they had three single stall unisex bathrooms in the building. I sometimes had to run around trying to find one that was open, which was extremely annoying, but I dealt with it because either of the other restrooms felt very unwelcoming. The women stared at me when I used theirs, and I never tried to use the men’s because most people still called me ‘she’ anyway, so it just felt very uncomfortable. At my new job, I still avoid letting people see me when I’m in the restroom. I will wait in the stall until they either leave or go into a stall, and then I wash my hands and get out as soon as I can. I just have so much fear around restrooms and I just can’t shake it.

I also have this feeling of unease at work. I can’t shake the feeling that I am being deceitful or like I am attempting to pull one over on everyone. I can’t help but feel some shame. I have tried to assess these feelings and figure out if it is a little bit of internal transphobia, or if it is just feelings that society has placed on me. I am thinking that it is a little bit of both. I also assessed these feelings when I buddied up with someone today to listen to their calls, and I wondered if he was trans. I found myself really assessing him and judging him. His face had possible original female characteristics, he had the kind of chin/under-chin/chop beard that most trans men (including myself currently) start to grow, and looking at a slightly older looking picture of him and a kid on his desk he looked kind of butch lesbianish. I started to feel really uncomfortable. Then, I realized I was doing all of this and was having these feelings and I really tried to assess my feelings and figure out where they were coming from. I’m not entirely sure. I do think this is something that I need to work at though. I also think it is a bit of internal hatred. Which is hard to handle, but I’m not allowing myself to be too hard on myself about, because I’ve had to deal with a lot as far as my sexuality and gender identity with society and my own family. I recently talked to my grandma, whom I haven’t spoken to in about a year and a half, and I told her I was trans, and I told her I really wanted to have an open dialogue with her about it and she agreed, but all she kept saying was “it’s wrong” and “you’re wrong” and “the bible says it’s not right.” Then she tried to Leviticus “a man shall not lie with a man as he lies with a woman” at me. So I quoted that she shouldn’t eat bacon or wear mixed fabrics. She told me that that was old testament and we don’t follow that anymore. So I told her she couldn’t quote Leviticus at me then. So then she had the gull to quote a piece of scripture at me about how it is against god to lie with your mother or sister. I lost it at this point and told her that she had better not be quoting anything at me about incest (because her first husband, my mom’s dad, used to molest my mom and one of her brothers, and apparently when he was young, his sister. And her second husband molested me as a child.) She told me it wasn’t about incest but dropped fighting about that one. I told her if she could find text in red that backed her up, I would consider believing her, but that I wanted it from the mouth of Jesus, because everyone else in the bible was of the flesh and I wasn’t going to live my life by someone who doesn’t live their life right telling me to live mine a certain way. And the church that she and my parents attend now Rockford Faith Center, one of their main pastors is being charged in federal court for 8 counts of fraud for manufacturing money orders. One of which he gave to the church. So sorry, I’m taking what you say with a grain of salt.

Anyways. That is what is going on with me.

Wes.

I want money, and all your power, and all your glory.

I wanna take you for all that you got.

Ok.

So keeping up with writing has not happened. But. I’m procrastinating with my homework, so this seems as a good a time as any.

Kass and I went to California last June/July. I think I may have written about it. But it was amazing. Probably one of the best experiences I have ever had. I want to move there so bad. The dreariness of winter is killing me. It hasn’t been a bad winter by any means, but I just hate winter so much. And I’m ready to be around sun. Always.

I’m starting a new job on Monday. I’ve been applying for new jobs for the last year or so, but I’ve been super picky because I make decent money, and I carry our insurance. And it is really good insurance. But I just can’t do it anymore. Every day I fantasize about screaming at my asshole customers, ripping my headset off, and bashing my keyboard on my desk. Then as the letters fly around the call center, I jump up on my desk and shout “Fuck all of you!” I then jump off my desk, grab my shit, and walk out in a blaze of glory, fist pumping like Judd Nelson at the end of Breakfast Club.

But really, that probably won’t happen.

My last day is Saturday. They don’t know I’m quitting. I have Sunday off and then I put in for vacation on Monday. Just in case I really hate the new job. But I doubt it. It’s just customer service/tech support for truckers. I’m bomb at that. Not sales. Especially when my job isn’t supposed to be sales. Retention is not supposed to be sales. I’m supposed to make customers happy and feel appreciated, not shove more services down their throats when their already pissed. But giant telecommunications/cable company doesn’t understand this concept. So they’re on my ass because I don’t push sales. But I hate sales. And people call in so pissed at us anyway. I just can’t take it. I know logically I shouldn’t take it personally, but it’s really hard when you take 50+ calls a day and 30 of them call you every name in the book. Day in and day out.

Also, since I started there as female and by my given name, even though I’ve changed it, my name tag is different and everyone knows I’m trans they still call me ‘she’ and by my given name. Which I haven’t gone by in a year and a half. I have a decent scrubby beard coming in, I have a flat blinded chest, and a relatively deep voice, and most people I’m on teams with now didn’t even know my when I went as female. I’m tired of being uncomfortable.

So, because of this I’ve been applying for jobs exclusively as male. I actually got one through a temp agency, which makes me a little uncomfortable. I never go through them because I don’t like the 3 month temporary thing. It makes me uneasy. I originally declined the job. But this lady wanted me so bad that she talked to her supervisor and called me back the next day and offered me $3 more an hour if I would just come interview. So I did. And apparently they loved me. And they called me Weston and ‘he/him’ through the whole interview and every time they introduced me to other people. It was great. My name isn’t legally changed yet because I just haven’t taken the time. And I haven’t decided on a first name. I really wanted to keep my initials LB so I’ve been trying to decide on a new first name. I’ve decided Weston will be my middle name now, and I’m thinking Leonard for my first name. Kass loves that name. I really wanted Lincoln, but every one that I’ve told that too acts like I just barfed on their shoes. I don’t get it. But with Leonard I can go by Leo. And I have this obsession with Leonardo DiCaprio. Sometimes I joke that instead of being transgender, can I be transleonardo? So, this will help that fantasy a smidgeon… without seeming too creepy. So, I’ve been using Leo a little bit to get used to it, and I’m really feeling it. So I think I’m going to be Leonard Weston Ezrah B. I really want to middle names. Don’t Judge me. I’ve always wanted be able to use my initials like W. E. B. Du Bois. But I digress, my new job only knows me as Weston and male. Which makes me happy because I will be able to just use the men’s restrooms, and I know that if anyone she’s me they are being a bigot and I will need to deal with that when that comes up. But it won’t be overtime someone addresses me, which makes me really happy.

I’ve also been passing a lot lately. Which is really surprising to me. Because I do see any difference than two months ago when people kept sheing me. I have to stop for a second. Which some people seem to notice and it’s a little weird. But I have to take a second and make sure they’re talking to me. Or wait for them to think they’ve made a mistake and correct themselves. Which is so awkward. And humiliating.

I’ve been obsessively looking up beards on Pinterest. I just can’t wait until I have something full and awesome. I’ve also been preparing and learning how to properly maintain it and keep it clean, neat, and well shaped. I’m all ready. Kass signed me up for the Dollar Shave Club for Christmas. Their shave butter is amazing and I love their razors. I’m on the bimonthly plan, because I mostly just keep up my neck and cheeks to let it do it’s thing. I have let it go for two weeks though and it’s creeping down my neck pretty good. I think it’ll eventually meet my chest hair. You know, one day when that’s full as well. But that’s really coming in too. And I have a nice line of hair coming in down my belly. And my legs. Don’t even get my started on my leg hair. It’s amazing. My legs have always grown pretty dark and thick hair, but it had probably tripped and my thighs are pretty much covered and it just keeps getting thicker. Sometimes I pull my shorts up and just stare at my thighs. It’s glorious.

I also think my voice has dropped some. I’m not a singer or anything, but there’s a lot of ranges I can’t reach anymore. Just talking or calling my cat or trying to shout, I get this weird cracky, deep, screechy mess that comes out. I’ve always head really weak vocal cords anyway, sometimes just talking at work for 10 hours I start to lose my voice. I have to drink a lot of water, tea, and coffee. But now that my voice is deeper, my vocal cords seem to be able to handle even less.

I’ve also seen a little more growth below the belt. I pump a little. Nothing regularly. But I modified a syringe. I had to get a bigger one because I grew out of the smaller one I had. Which made me happy. I want to purchase one, but I just haven’t yet. It’s probably around 2-2.5 inches at its… fullest.

Kass and I have also gone predominately vegan. I’ve been feeling really good about it. It started because she got me a cookbook, Thug Kitchen (check that shit out), for Christmas that she didn’t realize was vegan. We were both a little apprehensive about it, but the recipes looked so damn good that we were like, ok, let’s give this a shot. It has worked out really well. She has always struggled with eating meat anyway. She has such a moral dilemma over it because of how so many animals are treated. Also, she once dissected a human cadaver in a friends medical class once, and now associates that with the meat she eats. And she sees their fuzzy little faces when she eats meat. I don’t. I’m like ‘hey, it’s a burger. Mmm… burger. This didn’t come from that cute fuzzy cow sitting across the table from me. Here cow, want a bite of my awesome burger? No? Okay, your loss.’ But I’ve noticed that since we have been eating vegan, I’m also become lactose intolerant. Which is odd, because I’ve always eaten a lot of dairy (this originally autocorrected to ‘hair products’. had to leave that in there) products. Now I drink milk or eat cheese and I’m sick for several hours later. It’s kind of a bummer, but I’m realizing that I’m feeling so much better when I’m eating straight vegan. I’ve even moved to getting soy or almond milk in my coffee and lattes. So. I think this is a really good change for me and us.

Whoa. That was long. Thanks if you made it to the bottom!

-Wes.

Down on the West Coast they got a sayin’

It’s been a while since I’ve taken the time to write. Kass is taking time off from the blog as well, so for now I’m taking it over as my own. Though I’m sure she will still pop on every now and then. She’s had a lot of her own stuff going on between work and school and such.

So much has been going on. We went to California for two weeks back in June/July. It was amazing. I seriously want to move there now. We spent a few days in San Francisco and then we flew down to LA and hung out there. We did all the touristy things which I loved and drove around a bunch, went to the beach. I saw the guy that plays Turk from Scrubs at a barbecue joint our first night in LA, but that was our only celebrity sighting that we were sure of.

Turned 27 on October 20th.

December 22nd was my 1 year and 2 month anniversary on T. I’m pretty pleased. My wife says she really hears changes in my voice. Sometimes I do and sometimes I don’t. She says I sound totally different. I have been trying to keep up with pictures and recordings of my voice, but I just don’t honestly remember. I was going to do a one year voice change video but I don’t have enough, so I’m thinking I’ll make a two year video.

I am now one of the operators for the new Trans LifeLine, a for Trans* folk, by Trans* for crisis line. I’ve logged in a couple times, but haven’t gotten a call yet. I’ve been really sick with a bad cold and my asthma the last few weeks, so I haven’t really logged on because I just don’t feel like I would be as good as I should be for someone calling in a potential crisis. I am super proud of being a part of it though. I think it’s an amazing service and I’m glad that something like this has been created. If you or anyone you know needs help, do not hesitate to call.

http://www.translifeline.org  (877) 565-8860 in the US and (877) 330-6366 in Canada.

Kass and I had a pretty good Christmas. We opened our presents on Christmas Eve. I was supposed to go to work but stayed home because I’m sick. Sadly, I won’t get my holiday pay, but that’s ok. Kass found us an immediate care and pharmacy that was open, because she is super sick, too. The experience was less than favorable. The guy at the registration counter understood immediately that I was trans and when I asked if he could put a different name of my forms and he was like oh yeah, no problem. I thought man, this is going to go so smooth. And then I got called into triage, and into administration, and to go back to my room. And every. single. time. they called my legal name. Even though he wrote my name in bold at the top of my sheet and underlined it a bunch. By the third time I was about ready to throw down. I thought I was going to lose it. Kass and I both said something to the woman taking us back and she was like oh yeah, I saw that. Seriously? You saw it, but what? Just ignored it? I was livid. Then we get back into our rooms and the nurse comes to mine first and calls me by my legal name. I corrected her and she just ignored me. Then she went to Kass’ room and she asked if she had been to my room yet, and the woman told her no, even though she already had been. Kass told her that my preferred name is Wes and my preferred pronouns are he/his/him and that I’ve had it up to here with everyone saying my legal name and female pronouns. So when she came back in she was extra nice and kept calling me Wes. We got the name of the person in charge though and are going to call, because it was just not a great experience, it was so uncomfortable and could have been dangerous. I’m always on the look out for stuff like that. I hate that I prepare myself to get my ass kicked. Do I think I will? Probably not. But I hate that I feel like I have to be ready, just in case.

When we got back home we opened our gifts. I got her an acoustic guitar and cell phone case, a “Notorious Ruth Bader Ginsburg” shirt, and some other stuff and she got me a P-Style and a case, a bread maker, ice cream machine and some awesome cookbooks, one for my bread machine and one called Thug Kitchen that’s like a super cool food truck cookbook with foul language, an Oyster subscription and some other stuff. We’ve been hanging out playing Sims and SimCity and watching Lock Up and Roseanne marathons. Tonight I made a small ham, green bean casserole, and cheesy hash browns.

Tomorrow we’re going out to do a little shopping and I’m going to get stuff to make a couple loaves of bread. I also need a haircut something fierce and there is a pretty cook barbershop that I have really been looking to try out. It’s this kind of rockabilly place called Floyd’s 99.

Well, that’s what I’ve been up too. I’m going to make a point to write more frequently again.

And here is my day 1 on October 22, 2013 vs. 1 year, 1 month, and 1 week one testosterone.