Mother's Day 2008 "I Try to be good but I Like to Cheat!"

Last Sunday was Mother's Day 2008. I visited my Mom like a good daughter should. I came over early and she had me planting Impatiens with her. Both neighbors from both sides came over to say "Hi!" and everything was cool. No tense moments, no trouble, just a good neighbor chat. Mom is getting real comfortable as me being Deja her daughter. She even calls me Deja now! Well, except when she is talking to my children. Then I am "your father" and "he" etc but all in all, Mom is accepting me very graciously and with love! Yay!!!!

Mom even gave me the top I am wearing in the pic above. I remember when she would give me male clothes to try to butch me up but now she knows that she was fighting a losing battle. Now I get a woman's top!!! I am so happy and so proud that she accepts me now!!! Yay!!!We had a very nice day planting the Impatiens, drinking Manhattans and ordering out dinner from Chili's. Mom likes the baby back ribs! Hee hee!!!

After dinner Mom went into her freeaer and pulled out 2 Klondike ice cream bars, one for her and one for me. Yes, I know that they are 17g of fat and too many calories but as my Mom bit into hers she said with a smile "I try to be good but I like to cheat. And besides, it's Mother's Day!" We both laughed and we happily ate our Klondikes!

It was truly wonderful sharing the day as Mother and Daughter! On the way to her house that day I had to drive by a cemetary. There were lines of cars going in and coming out, no doubt, children visiting their Mom's graves. How sad I thought as I drove by and I started to tear. I felt so bad for those who do not have their Mom around anymore. I am sooo lucky that I still have mine. I count her being alive as one of my biggest blessings! And for her to accept and love me??? I am truly blessed!!!

PRIDE pics!

When I posted my May 5th entry I couldn't upload a pic. Now Blogger will let me upload so I decided to do 5 pics. I guess all bogging venues can be fickle at times!

"Noho Pride 2008!!!"

This past Saturday was my 5th Northampton MA PRIDE and once again I had fun. I did miss 3 of my friends who were very sick and it was a little sad to not have them there. It's truly fun to share experiences with your friend but these 3 were not available today. C'est la vie! I guess.

There was an opening parade and I always march in it. I marched with the Trans Pride group and we got the crowd going really good a couple of times with our chant "Hey hey! Ho ho! Transphobia has got to go!" We chanted that over and over and it built up this incredible rythym and drove the crowd wild! People were cheering and smiling and dancing and it was awesome!!! I love to march in a PRIDE parade and get people wound up!!! It is sooo wonderful expressing yourself!!!! One of my sick friends later told me that we were on the local TV news and the local paper and they made note of our chant. Hee hee!! I was the one who started the chant! Call me a PRIDE motivator!!!

But the parade did end and I had to scurry back to be at my Trannie goup's table. After all, the crowd was looking to check all the vendors/participants out!

So I ran the UniTy site all by myself. Lots of peeps came by to scope out what freebies I had to give away. Since one of our benefactors is big on Aids prevention I was given two good sized bags of "One" condoms. The design on the condoms were pretty cool and there were several different designs. Plus the package itself was round, not square, and they were rather attractive. I received lots and lots of compliments on my "cute condoms". Hee hee!!! I was making jokes like "No, these are too pretty to open up. I'd rather go without sex then to tear these little pretty thingies open!" or I said "These are so pretty I'd hang them up on my wall!" Or "Maybe I should wear one as a button?" Hee hee! I am such a happy, playful child!
It was fun and I loved my colorful giveaways!!!

But there was one semi awkward moment. You see, there were two little girls, about 6 yrs old or so, who's eyes were caught by my table of colorful condoms. I watched them look through the colorful varieties and they were happy and smiling. I don't think they knew what they really were, they just liked the "pretty little circle thingies' that I had. One of the little girls looked at me with the cutest eyes and asked me "Can I have one of these?"...

Um, I was like "Yikes! She wants a condom! What do I do?" But she looked so sweetly and I always have trouble saying "No." to a child so I said "Okay." Her and her friend each took 2 each and they were happy with their little colorful, cirle treasures. I'm sure there was a lively discussion with their parents later on... Oh well!!!

I saw a lot of peeps I know and I saw hundreds of new faces who stopped to chat with me. I also passed out notices for an LGBT Prom for the High School kids. It's just like any other prom except this is designed for LGBT kids and their allies. Girls can go with girls and boys can go with boys and crossdressing is permitted. It's a really neat idea as it gives the young LGBT folk a chance to really enjoy a prom instead of trying to appear straight and feeling awkward. I will be a chaperone like I was last year. It's so cute to see the kid's smiling faces and the young Trannies are so cute in their gowns and tuxes! It's a wonderful idea and a lot of fun!

As PRIDE Day wore on and the weather was chilly it was time to retreat to a restaurant. In the restaurant was tables of Lesbians and Gays and we had our little Trannie table. Hee hee!!! Of course I engaged in conversations with the adjacent Lez tables and found there were friend connections bewtween our two tables. Then another Lez came up to me who recognized me from last summer when we were both at P town. I suppose that i am kind of an unforgettable type of person being 6'2" and being an MTF with a low voice and a smile and a spirit that just shines. Hee hee!!!!

So the NOHO PRIDE has come and gone and once again I had a blast attending, participating and being a part of this wonderful event. And the smiling faces, the laughter, the happiness that PRIDE brings justs fills my soul right up to the tippety top! I still smile when I think about it!

"On the Go to Noho Pride!!!"

It's Friday and I stayed home from work since Tuesday. I was attacked by some bug that made me sleep, sleep, sleep. I went to my Doc yesterday and she suggested a blood test for Mono. Hmmm, who have I been kissing lately???

Tomorrow is Northampton, MA Pride. This is the first pride of the year in my area and although it's small it remains one of my favorites. Northampton is a college town, Smith College to be precise and Smith is a women's college with a very open Lesbian population. When you visit Northampton (Noho) you will sense this. It's a wonderful place for nouveau Trannies to practice their new gender skills and ways. Noho is very accepting and I've never had troubles there. I learned a lot by "practicing " up there and I consider Noho to be kind of my "home town". This makes the Pride even more special.

My first Noho Pride was 5 years ago in 2004. It was exciting and wonderful and I was in my glory dancing to the lively music and giving out candy to the crowd as I marched in the Pride parade. After the parade I worked in the UniTy (Transgender) booth and explained to people what Transgenders were. We've come a long way in 5 years but we still have a long way to go. I feel blessed that I am in the wave of Transgender growth as we assimilate more and more into society. It's really a historical movement of a misunderstood group of people who span all nationalities and cultures.

I am an open Transgender. By that I mean that I freely admit that I am Transgender and I go about my business and people see me going to work, going to the grocery store, shopping at the malls, going to concerts, going to the doctor's, everywhere! as Transgender. I feel that this is important that people like myself do this because it puts a face on the word "Transgender" in society. In the "old days' Transgenders (Trans) were taught to never admit that they were Trans. They had to constantly keep the facade up that they were not Trans.

It was deemed critical to their "success" as their new gender that their "old" gender was never to be found out. It's like they never lived before their transition. How can one erase their life up to now? As you can imagine, this carried a lot of baggage and problems with the "old school" Transgenders.

But today is a different world. People are more open and accepting. Oh there are people who don't like us because we cross gender lines and break some kind of imaginary rules or whatever but for the most part, I find that people are ok with Transgenders.

So Saturday I will be celebrating with other Transgenders and Lesbians, and Gays and whoevers as we partake in the Pride. Yes! Be proud of yourself! Do not be ashamed or afraid of who you are! You are you! This is how you were made!