Welcome and about me. :)

I'm a 43 year old Transgender woman in the general area of St. Louis, Missouri.  I'm happily married to a wonderful woman and have a daughter that means the world to me.  I've got a job that I really like; albeit one that is not very supportive of my gender transition.

The decision to transition was made about 15 months ago; although it's something I've thought about for at least 25 years - something was always in the way.  With my daughter grown now and both her and my wife being supportive, everything sort of came together last year.  I've been seeing a gender therapist for the last 14 months, and have been on HRT for approximately 10 months; although only recently on significant dosages.  Facial hair removal is ongoing, currently via laser - although eventually that may switch to electrolysis to finish up.  I've been living "full-time" for 6-12 months depending upon the definition of "full-time" - I consider it closer to the 12 as that's when I got rid of all of my "male" clothes; although for a few months I tended to "present androgynously" at times.  I recently went to court and my name has been legally changed to "Madison", I'm now waiting on my birth certificate and actual license (the State of Missouri issues a temporary paper one and mails you the actual one sometime later).  Upon receiving those (well at least the license), I can proceed with changing my name on things such as our home, cars, credit cards, etc.

I think that probably paints enough of a picture of me.  My intentions for this blog are two-fold.  The first is to have sort of a "diary" of my life as it is and secondly to document my experiences at businesses as a transgender woman.  This forum may not be an ideal place for the latter; but until I'm certain I can be committed to this blog I figure that it will have to do.  

As far as the "diary" portion, I was posting to a "blog" on Susan's Place - it is a great resource for Transgender, etc., I just never felt overly comfortable there - sort of like I didn't fit in.  I'm not sure why, I just felt that way so I recently deleted my account and decided to go this route instead.

Regarding the "experiences" part, I will be posting experiences as I go along as well as sprinkling in posts about the experiences I've had the last 15 months.  Obviously just because I had a good/poor experience doesn't mean that anybody else will have the same; but I for one have greatly appreciated the fact that others have done the same and I want to provide mine in the event that even a single person finds them helpful or educational.

I think that's enough for a first entry and it's getting late, so I'll let it go at this.  Thanks for reading.

Madison