March 2013 - Two Special Amazing Ladies.

This long entry is all about a special weekend with two amazing ladies in our capital city! As mentioned in previous entry, Sue Richmond had previously invited me down to London for a few days but this invite was received when we met at Sparkle last year. At long last, we manage to agree on a date which was Friday, 8th to Sun 10th March and Sue kindly offered accommodation too but also had ask if my good lady M.R. would like to come too! This was a lovely offer but I must admit I was not sure if M.R. would wish to come especially been with me for at least 60 hours as her special friend and more importantly out in the everyday world too rather than the normal confines of the Village in Manchester. The only way I was going to find out was ask and give her the choice. Much to my surprise but of great pleasure, M.R. agreed to come but I had put emphasis that Sue particularly ask if she wanted to come as it would be nice to meet her too. Anyway we confirmed with Sue that both of us would be coming and now looking forward to the visit. I must admit I was a little apprehensive how M.R. would be with me over the whole weekend, as it was a big thing for her to actually be with her soulmate in public but in different clothing attire! As things transpired, not sure why I was even worried about it as M.R. took things in her stride! 

Anyway, Friday morning arrived, outfits already chosen and time for both of us to get ready with clothes / suitcase already packed previously in the car. I had decided to keep clothes simple with knee length skirt, top, and flatties as easier to drive for a long period. Midday arrived and we were on our way, letting Sue know accordingly. We headed down the M6, stopping off first at the M6 Toll road service station for a bite to eat and a drink with this being our first test together in public at this busy service station which was full of students heading home I assume. To be honest it was a non event, as everybody just thought we were just two women minding their own business which was in fact what we were doing. Being a non event was ideal and I’m sure gave M.R. that little extra assurance that things were going to be ok! We set off again traveling on the M6 / M40 stopping off at the Banbury service station for a short break, then we proceeded on to Sue’s via the road to hell or the big circular car park (M25) and M3 arriving at approx 6.30pm. Sue gave us a big warm welcome especially to M.R. and it was really nice to finally see her. We had decided in advance that we would stay in Friday evening, being a little tired and conserving our energy for the following day. While I unpacked the car, Sue and M.R. got to know each other a little better and by the time I entered the fray, it was clear to me that both of them were getting on like a house on fire - that was nice and made me relaxed straight away. Then again, it is no surprise really, as Sue is a lovely warm person and I knew she would make M.R. at ease. The rest of the night was just a girly night with Sue being the perfect host, laying on wine, excellent home cooked food and generally chilling out with catching up on news n stuff. Before we knew, it was bedtime and getting some sleep for tomorrow’s day out to West End, Covent Garden etc. 

The following morning (Sat), after all getting ready (flat boots being the order of the day) and having breakfast, we all headed to the local station to get the train to Waterloo which was a first for me, as never travelled on a train as KD before, but yet another non event. By this time, it was clear that M.R. was in relaxed mood and taking things in her stride. Having arrived at a busy Waterloo Station, we then headed for the underground to Leicester Square, yet another first for me but this time it is full in your face public interaction, with no escape - not sure why I was bothered to be honest, as it felt natural. Sue had previously arranged an loose itinerary of things to do and see on our visit to the West End but it became very clear early on, she knew everywhere and kept us entertained throughout the day. Having arrived in the West End, we all went to Caffe Vergnano in Charing Cross Road for coffee and highly recommended too. We proceeded to meet Joanne, the barmaid at the Cambridge P.H. and one of Sue’s friends too. Joanne made us welcome but became clear to me, she was quite a character to say the least but a lovely person too. I suppose the best way I can put it, she is crackers! :-)) Shortly afterwards, we made our way to “Melanie” a fine Italian Restaurant, Old Compton St for a pre-arranged lunch with another friend of Sue’s, namely Petra, a charming lovely TS from Sussex. For the next 90 mins or so, we were served excelllent food and plenty of girly chat covering a multitude of subjects, then it was time to part our ways sadly. Hopefully, I will meet Joanne and Petra again, it would be nice. 

For the rest of the afternoon, we visited numerous places including Seven Dials, Covent Garden which is always full of activity, with some very good street entertainers including some shopping too. Other places included Shorts Gardens, Neals Yard and numerous side streets with some unusual but interesting shops - it you want it, its there! In fact, without Sue, we would have no idea where we were and never come across these fascinating locations. We eventually arrived at a quaint but lovely cafe La Roche on St Martins Lane were tea and scones was the order of the day and more importantly to recharge our feet! After that we headed for the lights of Shaftesbury Ave,   Piccadilly Circus and Leicester Square with its Swiss carillon. Eventually Sue lead to us a wonderful pub called Chandos near to Trafalgar Square which is highly recommend, as the atmosphere is solely created by people chatting and laughing - yes no music, fruit machines or TVs, but with nice  open fires and booths an oasis in a mad city! I just wish there were more places like this! We had by now been out nearly 10 hours and time for more food. On this occasion, we visited Wong Kei (Wonkys as otherwise known), a basic restaurant with cheap but excellent Chinese food which is located in Wandour St on the edge of Chinatown. Not sure how Sue find’s places like this especially in London of all places. By the time we finished our meal, all three of us were a little weary and time to head home to Sue’s via the Underground and train to Twickers! 

This was some day, out for over 12 hours, full on with Joe Public and not a single problem encountered by anyone, in fact we were treated (as expected) with courtesy and respect, what more could you ask for. More importantly, M.R. thoroughly enjoyed her day too and as she said later, it was being out with two lovely normal girls. What more could I ask for - mmmm “wow”. 

The following morning (Sunday), got ready, had breakfast and went for a long but very chilly walk around Sue’s local area and Marble Hill Park near to the the River Thames. It was our intention to have a pub lunch but sadly the high tide of the River Thames put paid to that as the area in question was gradually getting flooded so we played safe and went to Orleans House Gallery for a warming coffee and cake! I must admit in hindsight, I’ve should of worn a longer skirt or even trousers for the walk as I spend some of the time, holding down my skirt from the chilly wind but at least I was warm (just) and had my over the knee leather flat boots. Afterwards, we went back to Sue’s for hot soup and snack before packing the car to head home. It was time to say our good byes to Sue who had been a wonderful host but more importantly made both of us feel at home especially M.R. In a lot of ways, although Sue would be the last person to admit this, but she made our weekend and one that neither of us will ever forget for numerous reasons - all “we” can say is a BIG THANK YOU for an excellent enjoyable weekend, hopefully we can do it again sometime. 

Sue has also made an entry in her blog about this weekend, see - http://suerichmond.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/a-tourist-in-my-own-city.html and there are also some images of the weekend on my flickr site. 

Finally, I cannot finish this story without an extra mention of my partner M.R. who also made this weekend extra special indeed and in my eyes what more could I ever ask for. In fact I never in my wildest dreams, that she would ever think about going out with me for a weekend as KD especially  full in your face weekend jaunt in London! This say’s a lot about my lady indeed and proves that with a lot of love and understanding, that miracles can happen although to get this far has not been without numerous discussions, hurt, moving the goalposts, and most of all patience! As M.R. has said on a few occasions over the last 18 months, she has finally accepted her special friend K.D. and now I firmly believe her! Wow!! 

Again, my personal thanks to two amazing but special ladies for a great weekend. xxxxx

March 2013 - Home at last!

Well much of this entry refers to things happening in February rather than current matters, but the latter I’m sure will be written in the next few days as it will be about one of the highlights of KD’s life if not “the” highlight. 

February was a quiet month which in away was nice with minimum KD time but it was of maximum quality though. For a change no clothes purchases, nor any on the horizon although some MAC make up is required as running low on some items. While talking MAC, thinking of looking for suitable make-up to go with Red / Auburn wig that I have but very rarely wear. This is down in my opinion, that it requires different make - up to my normal so will seek advice from the MAC girls and see what they suggest. As for outings, only out twice, with first occasion being another Saturday evening out in the Village and meeting up with a couple of good friends too, namely Nikki and Christine who I have not seen for a while. Usual haunts were visited including a quick meal at Taurus and literally bumping into more friends during the course of the evening, including Paula, Carol, Kate and Mrs Kate, were a little bit of catch up on news was made. Also during the evening met a couple of (real) girls on a visit from Liverpool who were just having a night out, made more spooky, that one of them lived around the corner from me although she did not realize how close though! All in all, an enjoyable evening with great company, hopefully not too long before we do it again. 

The second outing was a little special on a personal note although the origin of the outing stemmed from a chance meeting of a student girl called Sianne from Blackpool in October last year. I met Sianne in Manchester while she was photographing another TGirl as part of her University project on Transgender people and got talking to her about her project. Cutting a long story short, I agreed to let her take some images of me in an everyday environment although at the time, not knowing which location it would be! That location turned out to be the Albert Dock / Pier Head in Liverpool which is my home city, a place that I have not visited for numerous reasons.    I met up with Sianne with her boyfriend Gary at the Albert Dock on a Thursday dinnertime were initially we had coffee / chat at the local Costa. From my perspective, this was as normal it was going to be amongst all the people and other students visiting too, especially being half term week too. Anyway Sianne, during the course of the afternoon, although a little chilly, proceeded to take photographs of me in an everyday environment without drawing any attention to myself. Gary was acting as Sianne’s assistant but he seemed to be enjoying himself along with being surprised how convincing I looked (his words) and beginning to understand why we Tgirls need to be ourselves. It was not long before the afternoon was over and we said our good byes, which after that, I went back to Costa for another coffee before ultimately heading home. It was only then I realize, that not one person gave me a second glance and not even the half term students had notice either which on reflection, gave me a great confidence boost that may be I look better than I think? Well it is up to others to decide that but I must be doing something right! As yet, not seen the images but I have been told there are some good ones and will be incorporated into Sianne’s university project. Regardless, I had finally visited my home city for the first time and deemed it was a successful visit but will restrict visits in the future never the less. 

So that was February but in the meantime, I had agreed to visit Sue Richmond in London in early March which turned out to be an extra special occasion in KD’s life in more ways than I could imagine. More of this, will be in my next blog entry, hopefully in the next few days or so. 

February 2013 - Not a bad start!

First, a belated happy new year to those you read this blog and hopefully it has been a good start for you. It is now 6 weeks into the year and it has been a reasonable start with getting out on three occasions and meeting new friends too - more of this a little later.

Life is ok at the moment and M.R. continues to support and accept me, although there is still the odd minor issue to deal with which we attempt to solve it one way or another. Being New Year and January, more clothes purchases were made but I have also had a mini clear out of existing clothes but not as many as I hoped that could go - need to look again I think as I just don’t have any room for more clothes. Thinking about the rest of the forthcoming year, my thoughts are about places and meeting friends further afield which I am attempting to do something about and currently working on some thoughts. Certainly I’m hoping that M.R. will come out with me on the odd occasion, as it is nice for her to share this part of me! One thing that is on the radar, is to see  a nice girl (friend) Sue in London for a couple of days but just got to find the right time to go as family and work matters need to be resolve to open up this window of opportunity. Other events that come under the radar for this year, include Leeds First Friday, Sparkle in July and hopefully Erotica (London) in October but have a little time to plan them. 

Getting back to outings this year so far have involved meeting new girls in order to build a new friend base for the future as clearly most of the girls that I deemed to call friends have drifted away for what ever reason - some of which are not clear to me! My first outing of the year was to a new girl’s house (Tami) for an evening get together with a couple more local girls who I met for the first time, namely Paula and Sophia. Strange really this was the first time I had actually done this but an enjoyable evening was had with plenty of girly chat and laughter along with a lovely meal provided by Tami - not a bad cook either! Hopefully during the year we will meet again, and may be an outing can be planned too. Second outing was with another new friend, this being Carol from Preston who I struck up a conversation in a chat room and within a couple of days met in Manchester and enjoyable evening was had again with friendship seeds sown for the future too. Last Saturday, I finally manage to meet Nikki again as it had been about 6 months since we last met, in that time, also manage to struck up a friendship with her lovely partner too (M), which hopefully I will meet one day. Met Nikki in the Village, and a good night was had with the added bonus meeting a few familiar faces including by chance Christine, Paula, Jane, Carol, Kate and her partner Shirley - certainly added variety to the evening along with playing catch up with Nikki. Can’t wait to get out again but may be next week at the earliest at this week is booked up with work and personal matters. 

Things at work are now routine and given my thoughts 12 months ago, i was not expecting to be there still but I am. However, in that time, all the girls / women I work with get on with me and vice versa, but that is down for being “myself” without the baggage so to speak. Everyone there has notice the difference in me and I must admit I’m happy too although I just wish I could get a little more free time than I do now! Keep working on the latter though. 

Finally, a friend I’ve known for at least 7 years, Julia has now fulfilled her long held wish and has now become the woman she always wanted to be. Julia had been full time for the last couple of years and we have kept in regular contact but finally made the appointment and arrangements to see Dr Chettawut in Bangkok last month. She is now back at home, recovering but in the good company of her boyfriend George who has supported her too. Hopefully, she will remain in contact with me and will see her again too but one never knows what will happen but from personal past experience, I have always lost contact with friends who gone down that route because they have sought (with some understanding) of a new life and breakaway from the old world so to speak. I live in hope, this wont be the case with Julia, so fingers cross. Regardless, I am pleased for her. 

Well that is enough for now and time for bed. See you again my little blog! 

December 12 - Lets look forward!

Well it is almost the end of the year and its time to look back on the past year but more importantly look forward to 2013. But first, anything recent with Christmas being around?  

December has always been a quiet month for me for getting out, mainly because of work and family matters, just never easy to find “me” time. However, manage to get out twice with what I call quick visits to the Village to meet a couple of friends but that was it. Strange I had other opportunities to get out but no one seemed to be available. Ah well that is how the cookie crumbles sometimes. My next outing certainly wont be until next year that is for sure. Manage to purchase some clothes recently including a dress, 3 skirts and couple of tops, the latter for the summer as and when it arrives next year. 

Looking back over the year, it has been not as I hoped for in some ways especially in getting out on a regular basis. In fact my outings this year have been fewer than previous years yet I present myself better and confident too. Hopefully, I can change this for next year but this does hinge on meeting more people and making new friends - well that is my goal anyway. Highlights of the year have certainly been my trip to Birmingham and the couple of days at Sparkle - the latter is a surprise bearing in mind I prefer not to be there! May be that tells a story of 2012? At a personal level, I’ve been happier within myself this year but that has been down to M.R. and my work colleagues keep me going when K.D. physically can’t be around. The surprise of the year was my daughter knowing I was a TGirl but unfortunately only chatted about “me” once and never been mentioned again. I find this sad as clearly my daughter don’t wish to know or be interested which is not the way I hoped for but at the same time, not the way I bought up my kids either as I’ve always stated that it is the person that matters and not what they look like. Ah well, at least it is not total rejection but it still seems, it is still a secret!  

As for next year, well as stated, my main priority to get out as often as I can with old and new friends. May be this will include less visits to the Village and more elsewhere, I certainly hope so. I am aware, I have opportunity to get further afield and meet other girls I know via the forums, a couple of met previously but be nice to see them on their home ground so to speak. I certainly know that I am more content and comfortable in female company as they seem to treat me with respect and except me for who I am rather what I look like - that is nice. 

Well, this just leaves me to say Happy New Year and best wishes to all who read this blog, hopefully your wishes come true for next year also. Please take care and see you next year my little blog. xx

November 12 - Looking towards the future.

Just an average month in the life of K.D. , well that what it seems to be. Since my last entry, I’ve manage have more thoughts about the future which made me realise that although I never thought it was relevant, but I’ve spend 95% of my working life in the company of women and this even applies in my existing employment. So what does that tell me - simply I get on ok with women and feel at home in the company of them. I must stress, never in a sexual way, just pure friendship. Now in the light of my previous blog entry, I think the penny has finally dropped, it is better to be out and about with them too as “me”, again in pure friendship terms. There are advantages in this, especially being in the company of genetic girls is I become one of them too for all intent and purposes as “joe public” would be none the wiser. Personally, I have no issues about passing / blending in anyway as I dress appropriately and hopefully genetic girls would not have issues either? I suppose only one way of finding out but ....... a problem to be solved as yet but at least a direction in having genuine friends maybe?  

Over the last few months, all the girls I know in a particular place, have got to find out about me and accordingly have seen images of me too. Seven of them so far, have even seen me live and in simple terms, they have been impressed with what they have seen, seeking more information and also importantly destroyed the media / public perception of a TV too. The reaction has been better than expected including “wow”, “omg” “look good” and I “pass” too. Well put it this way, some never even realise it was “me” which I suppose says a lot. I know some of them would like me to go out with them but as yet I’m not sure if that is a genuine request or just a bit of fun for them? May be a step too far in this instance especially being local too as family considerations must come into this also. 

Manage to keep in contact with some cyber girlfriends and in a couple of instances, even a meeting has taken place is which another step forward. However, as with all TGirl friends, there is always baggage / personal circumstances that prevents a proper friendship from forming sadly. Alas the nature of being a TGirl but at least with the two girls, we know we are real now rather than a faceless name on the internet. Contact with a couple of close friends seems to be sparse at the moment due to their changing circumstances but we will meet up again when things improve at their end. You never give up on your genuine friends. 

On the home front, one thing that has become very evident, that M.R. has finally accepted who I am and also accepts my needs of being “me” too. It has taken a long time for this to happen but it does make life easier for both of us now - sort of we can move forward and get on with “our” lives  in its entirety rather than keep discussing K.D. matters. Another reason for looking towards the future too. 

Outings have still been sparse, in fact since my last entry, been out twice but that has been in the last two weeks. The first occasion, met up with my sister at Cheshire Oaks, had a bite to eat then went to the Unique meeting in Llandudno to meet up with one of the cyber friends, namely Angela who is a good looking and very presentable girl - mmmm she has lovely complexion but as yet not ventured into the big wide world. There were other girls at the meeting and I was made very welcome too - may be I will go again but make a day of it with some sightseeing in the area. The second outing was unusually, a Saturday (24th November) and also to Manchester. Not often I get out on a Saturday as there are reasons for this but not an issue never the less. On this occasion, met up with another cyber friend, Kathy at her home and she was a lovely person too. Sadly she had not been out for quite a while due to personal reasons but hopefully this may change in the future and we get the chance to do it together? After that, headed to the monthly Transforum meeting in the Village which was enjoyable along with very guest speakers too covering a few relevant but interesting topics. Again I met up with another TS girl (Bev) who I had been in communication recently and found her interesting and a straight but a lovely lady. Afterwards a few of us went for a bite to eat and an enjoyable time was had. It is hoped I can meet Bev again in the future. After the meal I got change into another outfit and met up with a local girl I know, Paula, who I had not seen for a while but had invited me along and to meet her other friends too. We visited some of the delightful bars in the Village before I headed home at 2.00am. All in all, a varied interesting but enjoyable day was had. 

Manage to sell more clothes on Ebay again, raising some extra cash for the piggy bank but not really making any in roads into my large wardrobe - a further clear out is required but still purchase a dress in the meantime at the recent M&S sale. Crazy but it was bargain and must have!

Well, my little blog, time for bed but at least the future is a little brighter and hopefully a couple more outings before xmas too?