Progesterone blues

 

Medical updates 

I had a few packs of Progesterone left, and figured I should give it another go. Partly because I was having sleep issues, and it did seem to knock me out a bit the last time i used, but also some boob envy of one of my friends !!

 Unfortunately they were of no help with my sleep, i have been told that the blocker i am on acts as a stimulant and could possibly be affecting me.  But I don't want to stop those.

 Anyway, i went back on the P for a while, a few weeks - boob sensation did increase, which was nice, but I had digestive issues.  They seemed to resolve themself when I stopped taking it, so I am pretty confident that it was the cause.  So I have stopped taking again.  Convinced my nipples are a bit bigger in recent months. My boobs certainly seem to be.

I haven't made any more progress with pride in health, they wanted a full blood test, but I haven't made an appointment to see my doctor to ask for those yet. I am in no rush I have supplies to last me till the end of the year currently.

I have also started to split my E dose, doing 2 pumps in the morning, 2 at night - i might revert this see if it helps with sleep.

 

Exercise  

I'm trying to get back into running, i've only been out twice in the last month, but so far seems to be going well. I had stopped as I had a recurring injury with my right foot.  I am trying to keep my distance low, and perhaps try and go out more often. Rather than stress my foot out too much with a long run.

The previously mentioned boob growth has led to issues with running, my sports bra is just not up to the task, and it now hurts.  So I have ordered a 2nd hand posh one off Vinted. If it works much better I will perhaps get a new one.   

Still doing the swimming, I managed 46 lengths last week - they are not letting us in early anymore, so it's a struggle to get to 50 and have enough time to change.

I have been horse riding again, I was on Bob this time - I seem to get a different one each time I go.   I had a proper work out on him, trying to trot, I did seem to make progress towards the end, but I was considering ending it and getting off at one point, it was soooo warm and it was getting tired and worried I might faint !

 

Adventures

21st of June - Blackpool :

Stayed with my fiend Bella, just for Saturday and the evening.  We went to Lytham St Ann's during the day for some charity shopping. It was incredibly hot and humid, and I really didn't feel that great at all.  We only had an hour and half on the parking so I didn't suffer too long.

She has a fab garden room with a projector and sound system and a nice sofa, so in the evening we just chilled and watched a film. Had a lovely pizza from Lidl. It was a relaxing night, neither of us fancied going out to the pub.  

 

26th of June - Hull  

I visited Charlotte in Hull, we watched some Murderbot on Thursday night - I loved the books, and got Apple TV just to watch this.   

Friday morning we did some Charity shops, had a drink in a coffee shop ( I had a very seedy berry thing !! ) then we headed in to the city center for lunch.   It was a bit smokey due to a ship fire in the harbor, but we thought nothing of it.  We went to a museum in the art gallery for lunch, but were evacuated before it arrived.  

I have the receipt, but there was only a number to call, and I just couldn't be bothered to try and get my money back - too stressful.   

In the afternoon we went riding - as per exercise section.  

Saturday we had a pleasant walk around a nature reserve, and popped into a farm shop. She cooked us a lovely fish pie which had with her middlemost, then I drove home in the evening. 

 

 

4th of July - Leeds First Friday

I enjoyed this one a lot more than the previous, I made sure I ate a decent sized lunch at home before heading into Leeds.

I met up with the lovely Ann, and we attempted to buy Pride VANS , but apparently they don't come out till this month - which seems a bit odd.  I ordered some off Vinted instead.  

She hadn't eaten so I took her to a nice place and she had a steak - but she didn't seem to like it that much.  Chips were overdone.

We headed to Friends of Ham which was the first bar on the Pints and Straws Itinerary, and met up with the usual suspects, Benni had brought a CIS male friend along for the experience ! 

The afternoon progressed as normal, beer and chatting, it was a good one.  I was having such a nice time i even managed to leave my mobile at one of the bars !

Got it back ok though :)

I checked into the Hyatt during the last hour at the North Taproom - it's very close.  Very impressed with the hotel, first time i had stayed. 

After the last PNS pub, I headed to Tapped to get a Pizza - I had been invited to go for a Thai but I was being careful with my digestive system.

I had a gluten free ham and mushroom which was lovely - coincidental two other friends had the same idea so I ended up sat with them, and another two people i knew turned up later on too.

Went back to my room to change after this, then headed to the Bridge End Social for the main event.  It was a fairly busy crowd which was nice. Played a game of pool with Ann and caught up with some others - Sally turned up there too which was nice.

After this we went to Northern Guitars for a bit, sat out the back which we took over. Then on-wards to Behind Closed Doors.

I feeling a bit gassy towards the end of the night, and Ann had given my hiccups with some jokes about farting in lifts, so I decided to call it a night after this one.  It was just after midnight before I got back to bed,

Saturday morning 

Didn't sleep too well unfortunately - but this did mean i was up early for breakfast - which was good, really liked the sausage and black pudding, they were not cheap ones.

There was a gothic market on at the markets, but nobody was up as early as me, so I had to wait for them to get a move on.

Met up with Benni and her friend Mike at the Corn Exchange -  we had a bit of a look around there, then headed to the market.  

I managed to get two pairs of my favorite cat/bat earrings that I have previously lost twice ! 

We spend a good hour looking around there I think, then went to Bridge End Social for a drink, as I needed to get back home. 

All in all, a very nice weekend !  

 

 

 

 

 

Burning for you

 

'Burning for you' - A favorite blue Oyster cult song, appropriate for a number of reasons concerning this weekends adventures 😊

But first i need to do a blog post about everything I have failed to blog about so far !! 

8th of May: Chameleons !  - I can't remember much about this, but i was there !

10th of May :  Church Fete, my friend Alice does a bit of a vintage vehicle display outside her local church every year. I had been once before and displayed Josephine, and did the same again this year.  However this time I got to drive one of her tractors !!! 

It was so much fun !!!   We went to a pub for tea afterwards, I had a very nice pork dish with crackling.  Was on the Guinness Zero so I could drive home afterwards.  It was a really fun day.  

11th of May: Trans Swimming !  

16th of May : Went to Hull on the Friday to visit my friend Charlotte, we had a lemon pasta linguine that she cooked which was lovely.  I think we watched one of the Star War films.

17th of May: Headed into Leeds, I was meeting old school friends in the afternoon for a mini pub crawl (loosely based on my Pints and Straws one) . I was a bit nervous about meeting them all, only one has seen me dressed before - but all had known for a while. It went well, and spent a lovely few hours catching up with them.  

 

 

In the evening, Charlotte re-joined, and we had a Not-Birthday meal for her at Cut and Craft.  The food was excellent, and the service was incredibly quick !  I had the cheapest steak on the menu - just labeled 'Flat Iron' , it was probably the 2nd best i've ever had - only marginally pipped by an expensive fillet at Goucho's.  But if you factor in the price it was the best by a mile. We did some cocktails, and I had a few more beers in the evening, it was a really nice day.

 

 

On the Sunday we sought a place for breakfast and ended up a fab cafe / cheese monger
combo in the Corn Exchange. We both enjoyed our sandwiches, then spent a load of money on cheese and their fine selection of canned fish !

 

 

22nd of May :  Chameleons , the lovely Wig ladies were in, as was Sally and Ann. Was a fab night, I did go a bit early as I didn't want to be tired for the morning as has blood tests.

 

 

 

 

23rd of May :  Had my NHS blood tests in Barsley, grabbed a pork pie from the market for lunch.

26th of May :  Went to Lotherton with Charlotte, we did a tour of the deer park on a
tractor ! You got to see them really up close as they threw food next to the trailer. 

The weather wasn't the best, we had showers and was a bit under dressed, but still had a nice time. I had gone in Josephine too, I don't like getting her damp, but the it was sunny when I set off.

 

 

30th of May :  My 2nd riding lesson, it went well !  I had Nero this time, he was lovely very similar in size look, and temperament to Gordon.   

It was very warm, and I got a bit more of a workout, as we were attempting to trot ! My timing is still atrocious, but I think I am getting better. I am not standing when the saddle is coming up, which isn't ideal for my undercarriage ! 

I am booked in again to ride later this month, hoping next time will be better.   

 

6th of June : Leeds First Friday - It was good to be back, I had missed the previous one due to being in Wales.   Grabbed a bagel at Flamingos with Benni for lunch, then did the Pints and Straws bar crawl. There we not that many there, but it was still good.  My friend Jess from Bristol was waiting for us outside the Travelodge as we made our way to pub 3 , I was sober enough to be looking out for her :) 

We ended in the Tetley, where a really weird (and likley on drugs) guy decided to gatecrash our group and start asking for relationship advice. It slowly got worse over the minutes, and he was soon on to telling us which ones of us he knew were blokes.  We were getting to the end of the event anyway, but we made a hasty retreat when he went to the loo. 

A number of us ate at the Adephi - I wasn't that enamored with my food, it was a belly pork dish, it was way too salty for my liking, and not what i needed after a load of beer. 

The others seemed to like theirs though. Not sure i will go there again for food.

We headed over to the Bridge End social after this - after being chased by a barmaid who thought we had one dish still to pay for - a straggler was finishing there's in a leisurely fashion and hadn't been to pay yet :)

I ended up on the pool table there, my friend Jess likes a game or too.  Ended up doing winner stays on, and I think I played 4 games, but only one 2.  One of the crown had challenged me, she was very unlucky. 

After this we did Northern Guitar, The Viaduct, and the End Bar.  I don't think I had eaten enough so I wasn't feeling that great. I wanted to try and stay out till midnight for the sake of  Jess who had come all the way from Bristol - but I gave up at about 11:20pm. My digestive system was making bad noises.

Walked back to Vicar lane travelodge, and proceeded to have no sleep whatsoever overnight and spend a lot of time going to the loo.

I gave up at 6am ish, and decided just to drive home. Not the best ending to an LFF i've had, but I had enjoyed most of the day. 

8th of June : Trans swimming, 50 lengths again !  and this was in about 50 minutes, so I
am possibly getting faster.  I will need to do more lengths per minute if I have any hope of getting to the 1 mile figure of 74 lengths ! 

It doesn't seem that achievable at the moment !  

 

 

12th of June : Chameleons again !  - It was one of the ladies birthdays and they had
brought cake - I didn't actually eat and I had stuffed myself on chocolate fingers before they arrived 😂 

Sally was there, but no Ann this time as she was away with work.  Not many youngsters attended, but was a decent turnout.  

 

 

 

Anyway here endeth the catch up, I intend to do a detailed write up of this weekends adventures later in the week - totally not going to forget to do it , honest  

 

Diagnosis

 

Diagnosis :

Well I've finally got myself a formal diagnosis - It was part of the signup process for Pride in Health  a new service I have signed up for : 

As per today’s assessment, Miss Isobel <Redacted> fulfils the criteria and holds a diagnosis of gender incongruence according to the ICD-11 classification HA60 ‘Gender incongruence of adolescence or adulthood':

“Gender incongruence in adolescence or adulthood is characterised by a marked and persistent incongruence between an individual's experienced gender and the assigned sex, which often leads to a desire to 'transition' to live and be accepted as a person of the experienced gender through hormonal treatment, surgery or other health care services to make the individual's body align, as much as desired and to the extent possible, with the experienced gender”.

Gender incongruence is associated with clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning, as highlighted in Miss Isobel <Redacted>’s gender history. She wishes to affirm her gender identity through hormone replacement therapy.

I had previously been 'assessed' by GenderGP, but I didn't get a four page PDF signed by a Psychologist at the end of it.

So there you go, I wasn't just going through a phase for the past few years 😂 

Other medical matters : 

The blockers seem to be doing something, I won't go into detail but I definitely am less testosterone driven. This is good !

I am not taking the dose I am meant to be on, as it seemed excessive compared to my friends. So I am mirroring them. I will be reviewing my dosages with Pride in Health when I am fully onboard - one more interview to go with that.

In preparation for the possibility of  surgeries downstairs, I have been consulting with those that have already been there and had that done.  I have concluded that Tina Rashid seems to be my preferred option. She is UK based, and in the London area. I have not approached them for anything yet.

I have also started hair removal down there - which I have not been looking forward to, but it seems is recommended before you get assessed.  Had my first session last week, it was a bit awkward, but the lady is very professional and my dignity was mostly maintained. I didn't realise but the package also included rear removal !  I am sort of glad as I would have worried more.

Anyway there was very little pain, compared to the top lip anything else you get done is a walk in the park really. I got 6 sessions for the price of 5,  £550 in total - https://www.laserluxxe.co.uk/ 

I went to the doctors to ask for blood tests at the start of the month, he was super friendly which was nice - he wasn't my usual doctor and i am sure he was a bit grumpy with me the last time i saw him maybe 7 years ago.  But anyway he was fine to give me the tests.

Not sure if he will be forced to stop doing them in the though, I hear that dear old Wes Streeting has been telling the NHS not to do them for kids, and he's likely angling for the adults too. What a lovely chap.

 

Social life 

I've been to LFF of course, Indian Street food was had at Bundobust followed by an afternoon of drinking in the bars.  In the evening we ended up at Behind Closed Doors again, an underground bar with a seedy theme, but not a place where seedy things happen.  

They did a cocktail where they clip a condom to your glass, we had a few of them - which reminds me I really ought to throw them away, my wife might get the wrong idea if she looked in my handbag right now 😂 - I think it was called Kitten Mittens. 

We finished the night sharing cheesy chips with sauce on, which was nice.

The next day myself Sally and Benni were out in Wakefield. Unfortunately I wasn't feeling up to another heavy night, but we had a nice time. I left about 10 ish - was meant to be staying over in Wakefield but just needed my own bed.

I've made it to the last two Chameleons which is good. I did leave a bit early last Thursday, as I had the day off the next day and I needed to get my car finished. So it gave me an earlier night to get a good sleep.

Met a newbie last time who seemed lovely, hoping they will come again although it seems their work might get in the way.

I am going to Hull for a disco night next Friday, and I have swimming again today - went last weekend too.  So I am doing well with the mingling (as normal I guess).

 

Josephine

Many many hours have been spent removing, rebuilding, re-installing the gearbox. Then it didn't sound good, so I had to do it all again 😢

Anyway attempt two seems to have gone well , fingers crossed.  She is back on the road, and seemingly ready for my camping adventure in Wales in May with the Women's Drivers Social Group !!

Proof of this is below, I drove my wife into Wakefield to pick up her car that was having an MOT :

I have since washed her 😊

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Deploy the emergency penguins

Trans Updates

I have a call booked with Pride In Health for next week, i think they are still lacking a doctor, but I will get a formal diagnosis I believe. With this I should be able to go to a 3rd party endocrinologist that i know of, so hopefully can bin off GenderGP and get some
proper care. 

I have started on blockers, I have had them for ages, but had not bothered. Only had two doses so too early to tell. My plan is to do another blood test in April, see how I am doing.

 

IT Changes

In light of the issues over the pond, I've been attempting to move as much of my IT from US hosted services to UK/European ones.  

I am Microsoft free for my laptop and PC now,  Linux Mint on the laptop, Manjaro on the PC. 

I found a cloud provider in Norway which I have used to replace OneDrive (https://jottacloud.com/en/ ) this has a CLI based client for Linux which does what I need.

I have a new email and domain hosting provider in the UK ( https://www.fasthosts.co.uk/ )  , but not changed my email address on a lot of things yet.

Coincidentally, Skype - who I have been using ever since they binned MSN Messenger, is due to be closed down in May. So my Uni friends and I have prepared a Discord server to use after it's demise.  

This blog may get moved at some point, I did a backup a while ago, I might do another soon just in case.

I've also binned off my Amazon Music and Audible accounts too. I had binned off Tw@tter a long time ago. 

Still got my Insta, Youtube and Facebook - I would be upset if they went, but they don't cost me anything, so no need to totally throw my toys out of the pram :)

I don't expect they will starve just because I reduced what I spend, but if enough of us do it then it will convey a message.

 

March Social Events:

Leeds First Friday - 7th 

Had a pizza at Rudys with Benni on arrival. We headed to Pints and Straws afterwards, it was a pretty good turnout. Fun times were had :)

Sally turned up towards the end, which was nice.

We ate  at Bundobust before the main event, it is an entirely vegetarian Indian streetfood restaurant with craft beer.  I really liked it, had a fab burger.

In the evening we met up with Gemma, who I don't get to see a lot of these days.  After the usual Bridge End Social visit, we did cocktails at the viaduct, then I think we went to Behind closed doors which is a fun place I think will try and add to the schedule next month.

We did 'The End' then 'Smokestack' after this. I was getting tired and Sally was done for the night too, so I walked her back to the Leanardo, then headed back the Travelodge.

Chameleons - 13th

I had missed the last two Chameleons, partly due to stress at work leading to a lack of
motivation, but I knew I wouldn't be missing this one, as it was an overnight stop on my way down to Milton Keynes the next day.

Ann was there which was nice,  it wasn't the busiest of nights, but not a bad turnout.

There was a talk planned by a guy who runs a dance company, who it seems grew up not far from where i live. 

It was a nice night, I enjoyed the talk and presentation, but he hadn't expected to be talking so long so he ended up rushing off :)

I stayed over at the Premier Inn near the tram station not far from the community center. It was undergoing some building work, but it didn't end up disrupting me too much.

Pink Punters -  14th

I couldn't decide on anywhere fun to go on the way to Milton Keynes, so decided to go
straight there. It was an uneventful drive, I had charged fully at the church next to the community center the night before, so got there fine.  

I pottered around the main shopping center for a bit , couldn't find anywhere I fancied to eat so ended up with a Greggs meal deal.  I was meeting Benni at the train station later in the day, so I could give her a lift to the hotel. I had hoped to go around the art gallery again, I liked that when I did it with Ann one time, but it was not open that day.

After picking up Benni and checking in, we met up with Sally in the bar and had an early meal there - nothing special, just to get us ready for the night!

Then we went to a local real ale pub for an hour which was nice, they had some good beers.   

We went back to the hotel - via an off-license where a local recommended a tonic wine for us to try ! we got a small bottle each, and tried them back in the room. It was drinkable, and fun to video our reactions, but I wouldn't want it again too soon :)

It did help fuel me for some Kareoke in the bar after we changed, I ruined 'Breaking the law' by Judas Priest. 

We went over to the night club later on, and mostly stayed in the cocktail bar. I didn't drink that much really. I went to bed a bit earlier than the others, had some tea and water and watched a bit of TV before going to sleep.

We all met up for breakfast in the morning, it was pretty good, but wasn't feeling 100% so ended up laying down for a bit afterwards.

I drove Benni to the station before heading home.  Was having difficulty finding a free
charger again, but I noticed one not at a services I had never seen before on my google maps, so headed there.  

Turns out I had a quite a big charging complex all to myself !  

 

Hull - 21st 

A visit to Hull to explore some more real ale pubs with Charlotte.  We were also going to try a Brazilian restaurant (meat on a stick type place).

It was a very nice afternoon, we did two new ones (new to me) and then one we had done the previous month. One of them was where the plot that started the civil war took place !

We stopped for a tea at a little gallery on the way to the restaurant, just to sober up a bit :)

The Brazilian restaurant was really nice, but we probably had too many drinks to fully get our moneys worth.  You had a card that you flipped over to stop or start the delivery of meat, and a salad bar. 

 

Swimming

I did attend on the 2nd and 9th , I think I managed 42 on both !

 

Fringe achieved, international travel enabled

Thursday 23rd of Jan - Chameleons :  

Spoke a lady who I assumed was there for the 1st time, and was perhaps only just coming out. But it turned out she had been over a decade ago, and despite having her surgery had been living in ambiguous mode for a few years now.  I am not sure if she will return, hopefully she does.

Saturday 25th of Jan - Wakefield :

I decided to get on with sorting my passport out, as I felt I had lost a bit of momentum with my legal transition. I didn't like my drivers license photo that I did in a booth at the Co-up up the road, so I went into Wakefield to a 'Max Spielmann' I had been recommended before. 

It was all over in an instant, and he didn't take the million shots I would normally do, before choosing the best - but it looked better than my driving license one.

I had also wanted to book a hair appointment, so I was brave an went into 'Scott Banks' which looked quite posh.  The lady was very nice, and got me booked in for the following Friday, which was one of my days off.   

I went to the Black Rock for a refreshing beverage to celebrate my successes. It was rather full, and mostly of the older generations, but I didn't get any bother from anyone. Although one chap was definitely keeping an eye on me. 

 

26th of Jan  - Swimming Bramley baths  :  

I equalled my PB of 42 lengths , Only Mars bars in the vending machine !

31st of Jan - Wakefield Hair Appointment :

I arrived , they offered to take my coat, and asked what I wanted to drink !  I am not used to this, it was nice.

I was introduced to Lucy and ushered upstairs.  

She sat me down, brushed my hair a bit, and we discussed the plan, I had wanted a fringe - it is meant to be a good trans option, to hide the vast expanse of my forehead, which I have a bit of a thing about.

We agreed she could take a bit off the ends to tidy them up a bit, and it was determined that with a centre parting, I would need about 1 inch off one side, and 2 off the other ! 

After that we went to the washing station, where I was treated to a weird massage by the chair as she washed and treated my hair.  Back to the other chair, and then had the blow dry.

At this point she double checked I really really wanted a fringe, and she did a rough cut to take off most of it.   Then spent a good while refining it. 

It was all done in an hour, a nice and relaxing experience.  I must admit I wasn't 100% sure I had done the right thing with it, it just didn't look like me in the mirror. But I have grown to like it a lot. 

I wear it a lot with a pony tail for work, and really only wear it as per the photo when I go out. 

I do have to spray and blow dry my fringe for a few minutes each morning, but that has been a lot more simple that many of the YouTube videos seemed to make it out to be. So hasn't really added a great deal to my getting ready time.

Was advised that 8 weeks would be a good interval to aim for with the next cut, so I have booked one for the end of March.

Comments on social media seem to indicate that I look nice :)

4th of Feb - My passport arrived !! : 

It was very quick - I got the supporting docs back the next day too, I was amazed

Friday the 7th of Feb : LFF 

I had avocado and feta on toast for lunch with Benni, before heading to Pints and Straws for the afternoon bar crawl.  

It was a lovely afternoon,  met some newbies who really seemed to enjoy it too.  There were quite a lot of us, which was a bit unexpected.

We ate at the Botanist , there were 5 of us there.  I had a hanging kebab, which was delicious. 

After this we headed to the main meeting bar, the 'Bridge End Social' , where we caught up with people for an hour or so, then onwards to a cocktail event in Farands.

I had a Black Velvet, which was Guinness and champagne based, it was OK, not too overpowering. Then I decided to have a Zombie - they didn't do flaming zombies there (my favourite drink at the sadly recently closed Shed bar).  So I took it upon myself to recreate one, by fishing out a t-light from a table decoration, much to the alarm of my friends - Nobody died, or had their fringe burned off.

We ended up in the 'end bar' :)   -  didn't do much dancing, the friend I was sharing with wasn't feeling that great, and we were in one quite a walk away, so ended up going home about 1:30am ish. 

Ended up watching an episode of LoveJoy while eating a pot noodle when we got back - very rock and roll :)

Saturday the 8th of Feb : 

I didn't sleep too bad, but my digestive system was not happy with the cocktails, or cheese, or hanging kebab, beer, or all of the above.

We didn't manage breakfast, but I did try a pasty from the pound bakery.  I only managed half.  

Spent the afternoon with Alice and Rebecca, we did the armouries which was OK, then tried to get a table in a pub - this was problematic as all the  pubs were rammed. We assumed it was football related, but it continued to be extremely busy well beyond the match time, and hardly any football clothing spotted.

We had to walk a fair way out of town to find a pub to eat in during the evening. We managed to find a table at the 'Midnight Bell'.  I had a pheasant starter, followed by a chicken and chorizo cassoulet . It was lovely.

After this we went to 'The Hop' at the Granary Wharf, and had a relaxing few hours.  I was pretty tired so we ended up going home before kicking out time.  It was a bit of a trek to the Vicar lane Travelodge.

Sunday : 

Breakfast at the Travelodge was achieved, it wasn't too bad, only scrambled eggs, but nice sausage !

I got home before lunch, which I didn't have. I ended up having a nap in the afternoon.  I got an email from a YouTube subscriber who had offered me a free gearbox, and I followed up to see if he would mind if I picked it up that evening - he agreed.

Went to swimming, only managed 32 lengths, but I was trying to swim harder, and I think I got a good workout.  They had restocked the vending machine !!! so I could have a twirl.

After saying goodbye to my friends, and expressing a hope that I wouldn't get murdered, I travelled north to meet the guy who has messaged me.

He turned out to be really nice, and even insisted on carrying it out to my car. It was a bit dirty, but seems to turn, so hopeful it can be used.

I returned home pretty late and hungry, with the swimming, and missing lunch. 

It was a very busy weekend !

  

Xmas events

 

Leeds First Friday

Had been really looking forward to this one, as normal.  Someone I had been talking to on Instagram for a few years was making the effort to come all the way from down south to visit, plus the turnout for the Xmas one is usually very high as well.

I met Benni for lunch at Rudy's near the train station around midday, then Charlotte joined us at White Cloth Hall which I wanted to case out for possible future use. After this we headed to Tapped to start the Pints and Straws bar crawl.

The bar crawl went well, we had lots of people join, I had to pre-book a table in 'Friends of Ham' and pay a no show deposit for this privilege - turns out I had underestimated by a fair number, and a number of other patrons re-organised themselves to allow us to use some other nearby tables to keep us all together. Sally joined us in there.

Head of Steam was very busy, but there were no issues with the other patrons. I checked into the Leonardo between there and the Tetley which was the last venue.

We had a table booked for food at 6:15  at Bowers Tap , for 6 of us.  I had a burger, it wasn't bad food and came out pretty quick. Everyone seemed to enjoy it - including the 1st timer.

After this we headed to our hotels to do a quick outfit change before heading to the Bridge End Social for the main event.  It was pretty busy in there, we stayed for an hour or so. 
Moving on to 'The Shed', and then the 'End Bar' and finally 'The Smokestack'.   The 1st timer wasn't keen on the loud music in the End, so they did have a bit of an early night, but I have spoken to them since and they enjoyed it overall. 

I think it was about 2am before I got to sleep, did seem to wake up a lot with a dodgy tummy, but felt OK in the morning.  There were 6 of us that knew each other staying there, so we met up for breakfast together at about 10am.  I managed a small fry up.

Checkout was a bit earlier at 11am than I am used to , so it was a bit of a rush - our keys had already been disabled by the time we tried to get back into our rooms from breakfast, so we had to get a cleaner to let us in.

Overall it was a lovely night, it didn't exceed some of the previous Christmas ones, but it was still good.  I guess the more I do, the less of a novelty they become :)

Swimming

Unfortunately swimming was cancelled, but it was probably for the best !

Lurgy

I started coming down with flu like symptoms on Sunday, eventually ended up being sick overnight. Monday was a complete write off, I emailed work to say I was sick - something I rarely do.  I spent all day in bed.  I had woken up on Monday with a bit of a black bruise under my left eye too !

Tuesday, felt a bit better, was able to work (from home) , my eye was worse, a much bigger bruise. Wasn't feeling very hungry and didn't eat much.

Wednesday, I went to the walk-in centre about my eye, they took some convincing that I hadn't been punched, or had fallen over.  The nurse thought it might be burst blood vessels due to straining, or coughing, but nothing likely major.  That was after a 2 hour wait :(

I had a Bupa video call in the evening, and she recommended A&E, I decided to wait and see if it got worse. 

Thursday, eye was no worse, so decided to leave it, and it's not been any worse today. 

I am eating a lot more at least now. 

Unfortunately this did all mean I wasn't able to go to Chams on Thursday night - I had been going to bed early all week due to feeling very tired, so a long drive didn't seem possible. Plus I didn't want to infect anyone there !  I am still coughing.

Was also meant to go to BNO in Milton Keynes tonight, there was a birthday meal booked as well, felt really bad cancelling my attendance to that, but that is a bit of a trek ! 

Other Plans

Myself and Ann are visiting Glasgow for the Glasgow Third Friday event next weekend (fingers crossed and all that )  , so we do have one more opportunity for xmas trans fun at least :)

She will be driving as well, so less stressful getting there and back for me, hopefully.

What's New in the World of Izzy

 

I've not been keeping on top of my blogging again very well I have I !

The last you heard, your current interlocutor was in Liverpool at an awards ceremony at the start of October.

By mainly looking at selfie evidence, I can conclude I have done the following :

October

10th - Chameleons

We saw the northern lights !, and owing to the grass being freshly cut, we trailed half the field into the centre - so I got to play with Henry the hoover :)

11th  - Blood tests 

Didn't faint ! 

16th - New car delivered

I bought a 1937 Standard Flying 9 !!!

She's not in the best of shape, but I hope to get her running over winter, and ready for some early car shows next year.  

Josephine does need attention too, but she can sleep in the nice dry garage. 

This one will have to stay under a cover on the drive for the moment. 

18th - Sheffield Beer Festival

This was with Sally, Charlotte, Oliva, Alice , Rebeka and Gemma.  Friday night was pretty good, we ended up in the head of steam, and I got a bit tipsy :)

Saturday I went to a greasy spoon for breakfast with Sally, and we did some wandering about, got a photo with the green Tardis :)    In the afternoon we went to the beer festival, saw the engine run, and drank some nice beers.  I was very tired though, and didn't end up going out in the evening.

21st - Ground is broken

Work commenced on having the front garden tarmacked over. 

This is the first work by contractors that I have had done while in female mode, from the survey to dealing with the work guys on site. I was a bit nervous about doing so, but everyone was really nice and respectful.  I mean I am sure I was talked about, but not in front of me :)

It took a few days to complete, they came back on the 23rd to lay the tarmac, then I left it 4 days before I moved the new car on there.

24th - Chameleons

Was sort of practising my goth look for the next LFF, I had my Voodoo Vixen long black dress with
spiderweb detail, and also my feather boa.  Had done some slightly gothic green/black eye shadow, and wore orange lipstick, which matched somewhat with my spooky Vinnie skeleton cat handbag. 

It was a lovely night, I got to speak with a newbie Ella who was attending LFF for the first time in November which was nice.   Sally was there sporting a spooky headpiece too :)

WC 28th - Family Holiday, Flamborough

My first family holiday as my true self - we went to a static caravan park on Flamborough head.
Arriving at Monday lunch time, departing late on Thursday.

We were really meant to leave on Friday morning, but I had LFF , so decided to leave a bit early to get back for that.

It was a nice holiday, we did the usual things, day trips to different places and such. Meals out to pubs and restaurants.  In the evenings we managed to get seats in the show bar on the site and watch the entertainment while I supped a few Guinness's. 

Visited the Sealife centre at Scarborough, and rode the train  to golden acres park too. The weather wasn't brilliant, but it didn't rain and wasn't too cold, so not bad either.

I did have to keep correcting the boys / wife on pronouns , and my wife did deadname me on the way home (she was feeling a bit car sick at the time). But aside from that no massive issues.  

I didn't feel confident enough to even consider using the swimming pool, but then again it was full of kids so wouldn't have been the type of swimming i would have enjoyed.

November

1st - LFF

Another fab event, Pints and Straws was quite busy, Ella, Sally and Leah from Chams all made it. We had thought it might be a quiet one, but it wasn't bad at all. 

Alice had gone all out with a sort of bridal zombie look which was very fun.  I had gone a bit more sexy goth than at Chams, shorter dress with black petticoat, and a harness which helped show off my assets. I did wear forms for this outfit, it doesn't work that well with what little my natural provides.

Drank far too many cocktails in 'The End' but had a really good night, I sloped off about 2am.  Saturday I was feeling a bit delicate, but still had a nice time, mainly spent in the company of Benni who comes from Croydon so tends to make a few days of it.

I got home lunch time on the Sunday, then did some adulting for a bit, before heading back to east leeds for swimming at Bramley baths.  Charlotte and Alex from LFF were there too.  I didn't do as much as normal as was quite tired, but nice to at least do a bit.

Cutting back on the sausages

Life Updates

Things are not too bad at the moment.  My dad was in hospital with gall bladder problems a few weeks ago, but had thankfully returned home. There were a few visits to hospital to keep him company in the evenings. He has since been back for day visits for an issue with his mouth swelling, but that also seems to be on the mend.

I have a family meal with my in-laws and my brother in law and his family booked for Saturday, I am a little worried about this, but not massively panicking.  It will be the first time meeting any of them as me, but at least it's only an afternoon, and there will be alcohol. 

Finally got around to updating my CV - a colleague who recently left seems to think her new business would be a good fit.  It took me some time to do, as it had been so long it was sat on a hard disk in a pile of hard discs in a dusty cupboard ! 

Work is not too bad at the moment, but I would still very much like to win the lottery. 

Medical Matters

I have finally updated my details with the doctor, this will result in a brand new NHS number. It seems the ladies in the office had to print off all my letters, redact my old name, and then scan them all back in again, so I actually feel a bit guilty. I might take them some chocolates. 

They have been really lovely, spoken to one in person, and the other on the phone a few times.

I also got the results of my latest blood test - it wasn't for hormones though, it was a normal health check one.  Unfortunately my cholesterol is a bit high, so I need to cut back on the fry ups, cheesy chips, sausages and such 😐 - there were no warning labels on the menu's , it's clearly not my fault. 

I also managed to wangle some more tests for my hormone levels, which I shall book shortly.

Peterborough Beer Festival - 22nd / 23rd August

I had a blood test first thing on the Thursday, but had tea and toast in a café in Barnsley before setting off on the drive - didn't feint which is a bonus ! 

There were a number of 1st timers that came along, Benni and Jo had never been before.  Alice , Cindy , Rebeka and Gemma were all back from last year.

There were lots of nice beers on, the weather was pretty good. The layout of everything was almost exactly the same as the previous year, with even the food stalls being in the same place. The loos were a bit closer, but didn't seem to be as many of them !  There were 20+ queues in the evening.

I didn't try anything too strong, as I didn't want to ruin the Friday, or be too hungover to drive back. Apparently there was a very strong peanut butter stout that did sound intriguing, but had run out. 

There were some really good bands on, almost worth going just to watch them, most covers. There was a really good punk band did a number of classics that got a lot of people dancing along. 

I had a lovely deep fried soft shell crab at the Thai place on the Thursday that was worth of note. We also had a fab breakfast in a café attached to the Theatre on the Saturday morning. 

Leeds International Beer Festival - 6th September

This was in the ruins of Kirkstall Abbey, it was very photogenic, but I didn't get that many photos :)

It was organised by the council, not Camra so was a lot more commercially focused, with each brewery or business had it's own stands and employee's, rather than barrels and volunteers. 

It did make it a much more slick looking event, with neons and logo's and such. But it came at a cost, it was £15 to get in, and all you got for that was a pint glass.  They also kicked you out between sessions, so you couldn't simply pay to get in on the afternoon, then stay for the evening.

I didn't do the evening, but some of my friends had done the night before, and the abbey was really nicely lit, it looked fantastic in the photo's.

I was there for about 4 hours, we got an Uber from the city centre. I had been helping my friend empty the remnants of the furniture of a house she was selling into a skip the night before, and on the Friday morning, so we had got in a bit later than normal.

We had some lovely Indian burgers shortly after arriving, then I was mainly on the ciders.  I did have a couple of strong stouts, as it would have been rude not to :)

After the bars were told to stop serving, I managed to flutter my eyelids at the guy running the cider stall, and he let me buy a half :) 

We got an Uber back after this, then checked into the hotel. Pizza was booked for 6:30 at 'Pizza Pilgrims' near the Marriot. I changed into my evening outfit before we went for food - a gothic look, but not particularly gothic makeup.

I had an American inspired one, that had sliced hotdog sausages and chips as a topping ! it was OK. There were 8 or 9 of us eating there, it was fun.

Leeds First Friday - 6th September 

We headed to the main meeting venue 'The Bridge End Social' straight after the food, and met up with other friends. It seemed quiet again, which was a shame - I had become used to it being quite busy, I
hope this is just a lull before the xmas season.

I ended up leading a number of us, first to 'The End' , then 'The Shed' , then 'The Smokestack' , skipping the Viaduct again.  I only had a couple of drinks the whole night, a Long Island Iced Tea in the End, and a flaming Zombie in the Shed.  I had consumed enough during the day. 

Didn't feel like I needed any cheesy chips, so skipped the call of Big Bites, and headed to bed shortly after 1pm.   It was a nice night, but nothing special realy.

I wasn't feeling too great in the morning, my digestive system was not happy with me - I blame the
flaming Zombie.  I didn't manage to eat much of my breakfast at Riveresque - I had gone with a veggy one this time.

My friend needed a lift back to the house we had been clearing fairly early, as there was a man with a van on the way to collect some mattresses, so we didn't hang about.

I spent the rest of the morning helping her with a few last bits and pieces, and took some boxes of things away with me to store for her - she is hoping to move up here again soon.

Swimming 

Sunday night I had swimming booked at Bramley, and a few LFF friends had also booked. So I actually knew a few people, which made it nicer.  We did still manage to do a few lengths in between chatting.  Although one of them is a much stronger swimmer and was literally twice as fast as me.

I was a fab ending to the weekend, and nice to get some exercise in, my foot is still not right from the walking over 2 months ago now ! 

I have booked another session on the 29th, and one on the 6th.