Author: Stephanie

Had a lovely relaxing day planned today, a few jobs to do around the house, some general “pottering” plenty of visits to the coffee machine and a tasty lunch. The rest of the day was indeed relaxing, a quick drive into town to get some cough medicine and to Bunnings for some new locks for the shed and the front door then a long walk and bed, just what the doctor ordered!

Saturday was a day for jobs in the morning and then we had been invited to the pantomime in the afternoon followed by pizzas at our in the evening with the Lacys, now I wasn’t much looking forward to the panto but as is usually the case if you’re not looking forward to something then it usually turns out better than you expected and this was the case! For a group of amateurs and school kids it was an excellent effort and the company was good as usual. The evening was very enjoyable also, Chris and Ali came round for dinner, the pizzas were excellent as a bonus. Alison brought me some things she was going to throw out like several handbags and scarves, and one beautiful scarf wrapped up as a present to Stephanie from the Lacys which was lovely, all the right colours and feels gorgeous on.

So it’s Friday again! 144 days to go not that I’m excited about it! The highlight for me today was always going to be my visit to Linny for my pedicure, eyelash tinting and some lessons in makeup, it was amazing, Linny is so lovely, my eyebrows are a little sore after waxing but look wonderful as do my lashes and my toenails. I took the dress that Jessie bought for me and put it on for her, I think she was suitably impressed!. Being pampered is just amazing, I love it so much and have missed out on it for so long living as Robin and as long as I can afford it I am going to enjoy it to the max.
Claire was down getting her hair done so we had booked the Chinese for dinner, I showed her my toes and my made up face, she never asked why or anything so no awkward moments!. Dinner was good at the Chinese, about half the price of Esperance but very crowded, food excellent and we all ate too much!. Had a good walk when we got home and as mum was out went to bed soon after. The saddest part of the day was a message from Anna saying that she probably wouldn’t be going to Bali as she was not well enough, hopefully she will call me today to have a chat, I’m not sure how much I can help but like Jessie her sister, I love her and would love to help if possible.

Today a trip to Bunbury with Denise to the osteopath, a truly lovely lady who without her I wouldn’t be where I am today, she set the ball rolling almost 5 years ago by suggesting I visit her GP and I am so thankful to her, also she works miracles on me without much pain so a bonus. We had coffee and a muffin in Macdonald’s then went to look at dishwashers, the first place was pretty unhelpful but the second, retravision was totally different, a no bullshit approach and we came out with a very good deal and it in the back of the car!. No surprises what I am doing this afternoon then! After a little adaptation I managed to install it but unfortunately the tap then leaked so left it for Friday.
We then had a visit from Cindy, what we both expected to be a five minute visit to drop off the keys turned into a couple of hours with a glass of wine and I was able to wear my dress for her which was good, I can’t explain it but wearing dresses just makes me feel amazing and I want to do it all the time!

Wednesday was going to be a busy but enjoyable day I felt, I went into town first thing to do some shopping, the town was manic even before 9 so I quickly got what I wanted and returned home, then a visit to the GP for Denise and a blood test for me, I don’t like giving blood but have got used to it I suppose and this was uneventful. I went back next door and waited for Denise to come out, she was followed fairly quickly by My GP who came over to me and announced that she had seen pictures of me as Stephanie, I was a little shocked to say the least, she is the most wonderful person without whom I would not be in the position I am today, half way to my dream of transitioning! She said how lovely I looked and jokingly told me to stop looking so happy!. We returned home and I prepared myself for the afternoon! First lunch with Jessie then to wild lily, Jessie had organised for me to have the shop to myself with her undivided attention, I thought of a couple of hours at the most but we ended up being there for 5 hours! It was like a dream come true for me, I have to say, I didn’t expect to part with over $1500 but it was well worth it! I have so many clothes now I don’t know what to choose when I dress for dinner but it was a lovely experience and worth it, she also gave me lots of tips for makeup and accessories, gave me lots of dress jewellery and we shared a bottle of bubbles in the process.
The down side of the day is that Denise is really struggling at the moment, I guess mainly down to me and it must be very hard watching me transform into Stephanie and have so much fun when she feels that in the process she is loosing Robin, her soulmate, coupled with issues with her kids, pressure from work and to some extent my up and down moods it must be very hard for her but at least she is getting help and has made an appointment with a counsellor for a week Monday, in some ways I would have liked her to see The same psychologist as me but I can see her point of view that it wouldn’t be the right thing when she is looking after me so we will see how it goes.

Today is drive home day, about 380 kms and I will be pleased to be back in my own bed and see the pets again but before that, a trip to bunnings to get a replacement shower head and some de scaler to clean all the scale from their ensuite shower, I love doing things for people who appreciate it and they certainly do, the shower head was an instant success, the de scaling wasn’t so good as I couldn’t get the stuff I wanted in bunnings but it was much improved. We left around 1 pm after a quick lunch with Joe and headed home, today was going to be warm! Up to 39 in places and the tar on the roads was melting a great deal so unfortunately the car got splattered with it on most panels! Another job to do! It was good to get home though.

Today the drive over to Albany to stay with Joe and Margaret for the evening, back into male clothes for the day which is disappointing after so much enjoyment over the last few days even if it was tinged a little in the restaurant. Today was hotter, up to 34 in Ravensthorpe where we stopped for lunch but back down to 23 by the time we reached Albany. The funny thing was, neither Joe or Margaret mentioned the earrings! Maybe they are too polite but I did expect a comment from Margaret at least, dinner out was ok, fish and chips in a local restaurant, fairly basic but good food and they are lovely company, really interesting people, both look well for their age and I love visiting them.

The first day of 2017 was uneventful until dinner time, we had decided that as the first attempt went well we would go out again to the Chinese, this time not such a good experience, we were ushered into a room on our own, obviously someone had twigged i was not fully female and wanted us out of the way, anyway the meal went ok until it was time for coffee, throughout the meal I was aware of a constant stream of people, mainly waitresses walking to the end of the partition which separated us from the rest of that particular room, looking at me then walking back, I was pretty sure it was to check me out, hopefully they were not sure and were going to take a vote on me when back in the kitchen but when the waitress come about the coffee thought she wasn’t understanding me and probably dropped my guard and went back into Robin mode, however, the coffee never arrived and the stream of people checking us out continued until I had to say something to one of them and eventually another waitress came and took the order again which arrived and the coffee was very good, we drank it, paid and left. I know there are going to be difficult moments and people who are uncomfortable with me and there were things I could have done better so partly my fault but it’s all a learning curve and I will get better!!!

So, it’s New Year’s Eve, time to see out the old and usher in the best year of my life to date! This morning we drove to Bandy Creek harbour and on to the beach, from there it’s possible to drive to cape Le grand, my favourite place, about 28 kms on the beach, amazing, we didn’t see another car and stopped half way for a photo shoot, the water was pretty cold but crystal clear and very blue, the sky was the most amazing colour and we took some great pictures. On arriving at cape Le grand beach we stopped to pump the tyres back up to pressure, I had my bikini on with just some very brief shorts and a vest top, it felt amazing to be out in public like that! We drove from there to lucky bay where the coffee van is parked, it was busy but I wasn’t going to change, just got out, walked over to the van and we ordered our coffee, the lady taking the orders, ironically named Robyn! Said “good morning ladies, what can I get for you”, it was such a small thing but it meant so much! We drove a little way down the beach, drank our coffee and went back to town.
We had decided to go back into town for further supplies and I decided to go as Steph,first time out in daylight fully as a woman! All went well, we did our shopping then went for a look in Rockmans,quite a nice shop and saw a 3 nice tops which I picked out and enquired if I could try them on, the assistant obliged and directed me to the changing rooms, now this is totally foreign territory for me and I felt it went really well, Denise thought the assistant was a little odd with me but I didn’t pick it at all and thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience and bought 2 out of the 3 tops to add to my collection. We traveled back to the house and chilled for a while before doing dinner and settling down to wait for 2017 to arrive, this it duly did, we exchanged lots of messages had a Skype conversation with mum and went to bed around 1.30