Tattoo

Tattoo

Sunday, July 20, 2014

Busy Busy Busy

It has been a busy life for me lately.

Work has been really busy. We hired a couple of new people for the front counter. One worked out. One didn't. And we lost someone from our area in the back. Plus, one guy is gone for surgery on his feet and another guy is on holidays for two weeks. AND, I am going away for 3 days this upcoming week for training. AND, the powers that be have decided I need to be trained on how to fix fire extinguishers.Which normally would not be a big issue but I am busy on my end, and, as I mentioned before, we are short staffed and I have to help out on the front counter. The guy who is training me is also worse then a child when he doesn't get his way.  After a day and half of training, he has already berated me for something that was out of my control and I have already swore at him and walked away. I think the word we are looking for is "clusterf**k."

All I can hope for is that things will settle down. I hope.

On a happy note, I have a dog now. I know. Surprise surprise for those of you on Facebook. Ha Ha!

She is a cocker spaniel named Bella but I call her Boo. She is brown and white and a total sweetheart. Very shy and timid though she is coming out of her shell a bit more now. She was given to me by friends about a month ago. We had a rocky start but we are settling in together nicely.

We go for walks 4 or 5 times a day. She sleeps on a doggie bed beside my bed. Though she would be really really happy if I would let her sleep on my bed. But the bed belongs to the cats. I put a smelly t-shirt on her dog bed so she can smell me and feel comfortable. Seems to be working so far.

I am amazed how different I feel having a dog. I know I had Abby a few months ago but this is my dog. I don't have to give Boo back. She is mine. Even though she has a huge lazy streak, once she gets going on our walks, she is good. I feel all the stress from my day fading away while we walk. I watch her trot along beside me, stopping to sniff stuff and smiling up at me. Her little tail nubbin wagging and everything gets better. Boo has some anxiety but we are working on it. With drops in her food and just trying to be calm around her. I try and push her comfort zone a little bit though. She is staying at Tasha's house while I am gone. With her 2 dogs and another one she is babysitting. I think she will be fine. I am more worried about her figuring out the doggie door.

I am looking forward to going away for training. It will be the only "vacation" I get this summer. Because of the way the flights work out, I end up with about a day and half in Calgary to hang out. I am having a wonderful friend from high school and I get to have a sleep over P.J party with my scuzzin and we are going to spend time with our cousin. Like a mini family reunion. Scuzzin is taking me shopping as well. Now that I have lots a few pounds. And since my twin sis is coming to visit in September, I want some new jeans for pictures we are getting done while she is here.

I found out recently that the doctor I had in town is gone. Which sucks because we have a doctor shortage here. Now, in order to re new my prescriptions, I have to go to a new walk in. Normally this would not be an issue but with me being transgender, I see it as being a problem. There were things I was working with my doctor on and now I don't know if those things are going to get taken care of. And I am not sure what that is going to do when I need more referrals in the future if I can't get another doctor. It makes me feel frustrated and scared. And I am not sure what I can do about it. Moving to another city is not really an option. I have a life here and a good job. Plus, the doctor shortage is pretty much everywhere. So frustrating.

OK. I have to go and do laundry. So I can pack for my trip to Calgary next week.

Bro code Article # 35

A Bro never rents a chick flick.

Dustin

Sunday, June 15, 2014

Father's Day... and other random thoughts.

My Dad.

What can I say about him. He taught me so much. I can remember being a kid and being fascinated by him. I remember his whisker rubs. The Aqua Velva he wore. His little feet and chicken legs. I remember helping him work on stuff. Sometimes whether I wanted to or not. But I did learn a lot. I love my Dad. Today, when I get into a situation I am not sure about, I stop and think, "What would Dad do?" He helps me everyday. I wish we lived closer together so I can spend time with him.

I feel like I got the best of both world sometimes. Having grown up as a girl, I was taught all the domestic stuff girls were taught. But I was also a tomboy. I always ended up outside with Dad learning how to do stuff. Like change the oil in my car, how to gap spark plugs, how to adjust a carb, change a tire. He showed me what it meant to help people without expecting anything back. How to stand up for myself. How to walk away. To be honest. To work hard and play hard. How to laugh and how to cry. He was not always the perfect Dad but he is my Dad. And that makes him more the OK.

I love you Dad.

Onto other things......

My friend A moved away yesterday. I miss her already. I don't have a lot of friends and very few I feel totally comfortable with. And she was one of them. I could always be honest with her. She always made me feel good about myself.

We met a few years ago. My boss at the time hooked us up. We met for coffee at Timmie's then went to a park to talk. She invited herself to come with me to the Happy Homo camp out. I was like, "OK." Thinking this chick has some balls. But away we go. There was much drinking and laughter that weekend. I had a crush on her. And she had a crush on someone else. After we got back, she was awesome enough to tell me she had a crush on someone else and let me down easy. She didn't just cut me out of her life. And I think that cemented our friendship. We laugh about that weekend a lot now. And never regret that it turned out the way it did for us. I love you Monkey butt.

There has also been some other drama in my world. And I hate drama. And I told someone what I thought and it didn't go over very well but you know what? I don't care. I live a simple life with low drama and it makes me happy. People need to get over themselves and learn drama does not have to happen. From now on my motto is "Not my circus. Not my monkeys."

On a happy note, I have a new great nephew who will be two weeks old tomorrow. I am very excited about that. He had a rough start but I feel confident he will be OK. He is a fighter.

My nephew and his wife are having twins. The babies are due next month but there is a small issue so Mommy and Daddy are headed to Vancouver to be on the safe side. It seems there is not enough room for the twins. Baby boy is a little over 5 pounds but baby girl is around 3 pounds. Baby girl has a bit of a heart murmur that the docs figure will work itself out when she is born. I am really looking forward to being able to meet the little wigglers when they get home. I have a soft spot for twins. :)

Apparently my last post offended some people. Enough that they unfriended me from Facebook. I was a little surprised at that. Only because I state in the intro of my blog that if I offend people, oh well. This blog is about me and my journey. It is my life we are talking about here. And my thoughts are, put on your big person pants and deal with it. If you can't, well, smell ya later!

Once again, I am not the information station for transgender people. I can only tell you my journey. And to be honest, my journey has been pretty easy compared to other stories I have read. I know how lucky I am. My family and friends have been very supportive. My work has been really awesome. I have not felt scared or intimidated in this town. So many think this place is "red neck" central but it really isn't. I feel safe here.

I don't mind questions about my life. I am pretty willing to answer questions about it. If someone wants to know how to start to transition, I can tell you how I started my journey. Not everyone does it my way. If you are starting your transition and need an ear to talk to, I can listen. But I really do recommend finding a support group. Even an on-line one. With people who have completed their journeys or are close to it. I am still pretty new at mine. I struggled for a long time about transitioning. But when I decided it was something I had to do. That I couldn't live the way I was anymore, I went for it. And I have never looked back. There are many things that have happened in the last year and a half that I have not talked about on here. Because it not anyone's business. And whether a question is asked in love and understanding, by a lesbian or straight person, if I don't want to answer it, I won't. All I ask is the understanding that I am exercising my right not to answer something. It is not my "duty" or "obligation" to answer any and all question directed at me. Do your own research. The interwebs has lots of information.

It is time for me to get on with my day. Have a great Father's day everyone.

The Bro Code Article # 12

Bros shall not share dessert.

Dustin