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The plan was for both of us to go to the block today but Denise had stuff to do here so I went on my own. The job I planned to do didn’t happen as I came across a problem and didn’t have the tools to sort it but I used the time to tidy up the shed, sweep up all the sand and fit the carpet round the shower and toilet, it had been annoying me for some time.

on arriving home I received an email from my ex boss in Yorkshire, having worked for them for 11 years I was fairly close to them and wanted them to hear my story first hand rather than from a third party, they were so appreciative that I had done, very understanding and supportive and will do a great job of telling people in a very sympathetic way and I’m sure tell the full story. I can’t wait to call in to see them when we are over, a lovely end to the weekend.

So while at the friends for dinner (names will not be named!) one of them mentioned they were going on a bike ride in the morning, I mentioned that if they would like some company to let me know and I would join them. I repeated this in a message this morning but heard nothing back until about 10 past 9 when I received a photo of said persons bike lent up against the Siesta park reserve sign and the caption “catch me up” now I thought, it won’t take me long to get there so agreed, got my bike out, put on my helmet and set off. I have to say it was further than I thought, it probably took me 20 minutes and when I got there there was no sign of her, I peddled on but was unsure where the cycle track went so messaged her again asking for directions but heard nothing back so carried on, and on, and on until I reached Dunsborough. Still no sign and by this time, probably 17 or 18 kms later my bottom is pretty sore, it was after all only the second time I had sat on a bike in 20 years! I decided to head back which seemed much further than I had traveled but anyway made it but very sore. Won’t be volunteering to do that again anytime soon, maybe need a new seat!

The afternoon job was a visit to Bunbury to see the osteo, I thought maybe a shouldn’t mention my 30+ km bike ride previous as I wasn’t sure she would approve! All was good though, the osteo was her usual lovely self and her receptionist gorgeous also.

We were having friends round for dinner, well to be more exact, my friends, Denise met Gary very briefly in 2013 but has never met Ali, we had the best evening, lots and lots of laughter, great stories and they will be great friends of us both now.

So it’s the first of May today, the month of my surgery has arrived but there are seemingly endless jobs to do before we go and first on the list is a visit to my GP to deal with the endless list of requirements from Philadelphia, blood tests, ECG, urine analysis, swabs, a physical examination and lots of forms to fill in. For the second time, I visited the GP ‘s fully Steph’d, one of my favourite dresses, shoes to match and felt good.

My GP was her usual lovely self, didn’t complain about the long list of requests just commented about it being very American, we soon got through her part of the list, had the physical examination and the forms signed, next was the ECG, I’ve never had one before but it was pain free and the lady doing it was friendly. I paid my dues and left for home.

the next job on the list was the bank, I had made the appointment last week, dressed fairly ambiguous but was a little surprised when the girl who took my name so the person I wanted to see could call me asked me if it was Robin with an I or a Y but I thought she was just being accurate and I thanked her and left. Laura then called me and made the appointment for today, now I have known Laura for 10 years or so but haven’t seen her for probably a year but was looking forward to telling her my story. When I arrived her previous client was just leaving, another good friend of mine, so she called me straight in, we exchanged pleasantries and I told her I had a story to tell her, she listened carefully and at the end said she was so happy for me and honoured that I had wanted to tell her, we got mostly through the business part of the appointment, she gave me a big hug and I left feeling very happy that it had gone well and had the knowledge that when I need help with the name change stuff she will be there to help me.

The other job for the day was to do the shopping and visit the cycle shop to get a helmet for Denise so we can use our cycles, this we did and after fitting a new bell we decided to give them a run. Now I haven’t ridden a bicycle in earnest for 20 years so was a little rusty to say the least but as they say “it’s like riding a bike, you never forget” and it all went well, we visited some friends, ended up being asked back for dinner and that was the end of the the day.

Today it’s just 4 weeks to the day we leave for Philadelphia, it’s starting to become very real and we are both now focused on doing everything we need to before we leave, preferably with one week to go so we can at least relax!

The Amarok was going for its 15k service today, an expensive affair but we love the car and it’s much better on fuel than the Navara so the fact that it is a little more expensive to service is not a big problem. I had also arranged an appointment with my speech therapist, she was really pleased with my progress, and said she thought I was 75% there with my pitch and vocabulary which is pleasing. My back is still not good so I also made an appointment with the osteopath, she is a wonderful person and played a part in me being where I am today as it was she who introduced me to my GP and without her I probably wouldn’t have obtained my health records from the uk which started the ball rolling in 2015.

The next job was doing the weekly shop at Coles, I was going to go home first but thought there was no point so went straight from Bunbury, I enjoy doing the shopping and even more so as Stephanie but yet again I didn’t see anyone I know, it has to happen soon! It’s probably a good thing actually as I am building up my confidence so am better equipped to handle a situation should one arise.

Today started badly, another email from a relative in the uk with a negative tone to it questioning if I had “thought through” what I am doing and fully considered the consequences, it immediately made me see red!
What is wrong with them I thought, I have had 43 years to “think through” what I am doing and trust me I know it’s the right thing to do. I replied to the email and left no uncertainty that I was unhappy with how the email had been worded and told a few home truths about how I felt and what I thought about my brother and his treatment of me. The sad thing is that it didn’t make me feel any better but instead sent me into a day of feeling very down and unhappy, as much as both the psychiatrist and Hayley the psychologist have both told me that it’s their problem not mine, I don’t want to fall out with people and I have very few family members left so should really try to conserve my relationship with those that are. The funny thing is I felt more like trying to get my relationship with Dave back on track than I do about my brother, I think that is because Geoffrey upset Denise as well so went too far over the line in my view.
To his credit, Dave responded to my email in a quite apologetic way, I understand that it is a big thing for them to get their heads around and that I have had 43 to think about it but if he had said in the first place, “I have heard a rumour that you are making some changes, can we talk about it so I get the full story” it would have been much more sensible, anyway, I replied to his second email by sending my story in letter form which I had done for his parents to read plus a short explanation and a photo of Stephanie taken in January, the response from that was lovely, I think people are surprised how nice I look, to be fair I am 10 kilos lighter than the last time I saw him so that would help! Anyway, the day ended good, I sent him a couple more photos, one of the block and one of my favourite place Esperance.

Denise and I have been at Nannup today and had a very productive day, the weather was not so good so it was always going to be touch and go if we could work on the slab building the trusses so instead we built the stud wall in the shed so we can have some privacy in the shower and using the toilet. I have to say it looks magnificent! Denise had the idea that instead of buying plywood to cover the frame we should use the colour bond sheets and acrylic sheet left over from the shed build and it really worked, it looks like it really belongs there and is part of the shed, all in all a really satisfying day!

Just a short one today, we went into town and walking past Noni B saw that Louise was working so popped in, Denise saw this really lovely top and as much as I shouldn’t be buying any more clothes, I don’t have much in terms of autumn clothes so I tried it on and loved it, Louise mentioned that everything on a particular wall was on special for $20 so we went for a look, now I definitely don’t need any more dresses but she found a lovely Liz Jordan dress which had been $179.95 and it was there for $20, now there was no way I wasn’t having that! I also picked out another top from the $20 wall so was well pleased with my haul for the day!

Well it’s Friday again and a big day ahead! First job is to take the Hyundai into bunbury to get the aircon fixed or at least rule out some of the things it might be. As usual Aileen was most helpful and after our conversation about surnames last time she had put a line through my surname and said she would get it altered on her system, now i wondered what she had in mind as we hadn’t discussed what me name was going to be so I surmised she must be thinking I was changing it to Davies so I told her that was not the case, she looked at me and asked me to write on the job card the name I would like her to change it to so I wrote in capital letters Stephanie Vaughan, she looked at it, looked at me and looked at it again and said “that’s a nice name ” we left it at that! She showed us to the loan car and we left, drove to centre point car park where I changed into my dress, put on my makeup and we went shopping after a visit to muffin break for coffee. We had lunch at the dome after shopping then went to my speech therapist for my appointment. Leah is just lovely, she puts in so much work for my appointments. After that I called Aileen to see if the car was ready, she said it had just been brought out so come in when you are ready, is said “before you go, as I don’t want anyone to feel uncomfortable, it will be Stephanie who picks up the car” she said that’s fine so we headed for the dealership, when we arrived she was just showing some people to their car and welcomed us, I felt terrible doing it this way to her but she assured me it was fine and said I look great, we proceeded to the service desk and she explained that the car needed to go back for a couple of days and she booked it in. All in all I think that was exceptional service, given the seeming change of gender she was the upmost professional!
We drove home and started preparing dinner for my ex bosses, I was really looking forward to seeing them and telling my story but have to say with some nerves, I shouldn’t have worried, they were amazing, even offering to host a dinner party so I can tell my story to two other couples who I worked with and were close to which I was struggling to think how I was going to tell about Stephanie.

Not a good day today, Margaret and Robert have now officially backed out of coming to Esperance with us, a trip which has been organised for a good long time for my birthday. For some reason I got it into my head that it was because of Stephanie and that they had a problem with me transitioning, I texted Margaret who assured me that it wasn’t, anyway I brooded about it all day until I got a call from Robert making sure I was ok and reassuring me that it was nothing to do with Stephanie, I said I was ok with that but still can’t help being very disappointed, we were so looking forward to going back to Esperance, it’s one of my favourite places in the world and we so looked forward to showing them all the best bits. Anyway, another time I guess!

What an amazing day! Had Guy and Kate round for lunch and to tell Kate about Stephanie, they were both amazing, I am constantly blown away by the kindness and love that is shown to me when I tell my story and today was certainly no different. I had only met Kate a few times and hardly knew her but as soon as I started telling my story it was as though I had known her for years, she was beautiful! Gave me a massive hug at the end, again when I changed into Stephanie and again when they left, so lovely as was Guy, I can’t get over how much support I have had and offers of help, it makes me feel very humbled and lucky to have so many wonderful friends around me.
Then this evening we met Denise’s half brother and his family from Cardiff (on Skype), that too was as though we had known them for ever, lovely people, very friendly and so pleased to have connected so all in all a wonderful day of which I seem to be having more and more, transitioning is certainly good for me!