The first year (and it passes relatively un-noticed)

Today is the anniversary of when I came out to Mrs Kate, an event which at the time was as difficult for me as the day we got married and the days since have been just as comfortable, accepting and happy. Thank you my love for being so supportive, and not just for me, but for the new girl-friends we've made... being accepted by a real girl is the validation any t-girl wishes for.

Ok enough of the slushy stuff! - I write this towards the end of the first coming-out-anniversary and how did I celebrate it? - well, having to work for starters... but taking some comfort in a little shopping between trains in Birmingham. I bought a blue satin top and black skirt; the skirt was the sort that has very little in the way of elastic in the waistband so I thought it better to select a slightly larger size so it fits more comfortable - when I got it home I was rather surprised to find that it was way too big for me!... and it falling around my ankles; at this rate it might have to be a size 14 (I'm still around a size 16... or at least I used to be!). Oh well, will have to see if we can exchange it at a local branch or wait until the next visit to Brum.

Saturday
Last Saturday we did a very late excursion to the Village to meet up with one of our special girl-friends Karen and the 'gang'; we arrived at Naps for about 11pm - straight from home, which felt a bit strange to say the least - to be going out around the time we're usually preparing to retire for the night. Whilst it was brilliant to see Karen and the others from our little 'gang', much has been said in Mrs Kate's blog about that - read that for the details ... but I just want to mention the situation prior the arrival of girls, with a certain pushy guy who seemed to take more than acceptable interest in Mrs Kate. 'D' has stated that I gave him 'daggers', looking at him as he attempted to put his arm around her waist.... to be honest I was rather bemused by the brass-neck of this guy; more from a perspective of how Mrs Kate might deal with him? - it was obvious we (Mrs Kate & I) were 'together'... but he clearly missed the bleedin' obvious (typical male - that doesn't sound too sexist does it?!)... thinking about it, I'm seeing it all from the other side of the fence; two girls out without the protection of an alpha-male?

'D' handled it reasonably well although I sensed she wasn't as confident as she makes out since she was in relatively unfamiliar territory; but the guy fortunately got the hint without the liberal application of a left-handed slap across the face!

And that excursion was the latest ever we've been out... hmmm!... it was heading towards 5am before my head hit the pillow.

Pondering moments...

The last week or so has been a difficult time for a couple of girlfriends I now count as my closest friends - which is a strange situation for me as in the past, I can't really say I ever really had a best friend - except for Mrs Kate who is my special friend; but I'm really talking about the complete strangers that we come to trust and perhaps to rely upon for that bit of support; to laugh with, shed tears with, but most of all to be there with.

One friend in particular has had a really awful time with a representative of the same authority group that is supposed to protect us; despite great strides in understanding and tolerance, there are still some folk who abuse their position - without a doubt, a definition of a bully. And I really hate bullies - although I've learned from Mrs Kate to pity them since the universe will one day redress the balance.

Next week will be 12 months since I 'came out' to Mrs Kate - like the Queen, I wonder if that might count as my official/unofficial birthday? But one thing is for certain, the last 12 months has had a profound impact on me; even life-changing? - all far more positive than I could have ever wished for when I started out on this journey; but the main thing for me has been acceptance of just being myself... hmmmm ... on second thoughts, I still need to work on that; I still get confused with the whole 'him' and 'her' thing, especially as we've come to realise that sexuality is no longer a binary definition.

Universe in balance

Mrs Kate has often referred to the little 'gifts' from the Universe that sometimes turn up - her most recent was a nice zebra print halter-neck dress and of course the re-appearance of the 'forbidden fruit' shoes.

Today we went to the Trafford Centre and in New Look, the 'forbidden shoes' were on display; they even had them in my size, but to Mrs Kates dismay, there weren't any to be had in hers (shoe size). We decided to go and have some lunch, and for me to ponder about a lovely pair of the forbidden shoes in my size. As we made our way to the exit we saw some lovely fur jackets. Rather bizarrely, one of the jackets was marked at £25, £10 less than all the others. We couldn't see anything wrong with it, so we decided to slip it back into the rack between all the others and let the Universe keep that for us too - after all, if it was meant to be, the jacket and the shoes would still be there later.

Lunch was leisurely and lovely, and on our return we found the shoe racks had suffered similarities to a 'bun fight', they were in disarray with various shoes tried and discarded all around; but the forbidden shoes were all gone. But what of the lovely fur jacket? - the Universe had protected it, it was still where we left it amongst all the others. And as though as compensation for all the forbidden shoes being taken, the jacket had a further £5 discount when we went to pay for it at the till!