Well, this has been an ... interesting week.

Depending upon how you say the title, it could almost be the start if a music hall joke, except I've been essaying an essay essay as an essay all day. If that doesn't make sense, neither does most of what I wrote. An essay can be an attempt, a piece of written work shorter than a treatise, a first draft, a trial or an experiment; according to Chamber's.

So last night, my mom and I were talking about when she was a kid, and it occurred to me we had something in common. See, she's left-handed, and in those days, they tried to "fix" left-handed people by belittling them and physically punishing them. My mom was assumed to stubborn, stupid, mentally ill, or even just evil just because she was different from the norm. Gee, that sounds a LOT like what trans people go through ...

Well, it was a mixed bag of emotions at my daughter's birthday last night. I was very happy to have some time with her, of course, and the food was good, but the conversation ?

Well, not so much.

See, my mom started talking about my brother going to college, and my sister in law going to university, and how successful they were and are, but when it came to mentioning me ... well, let's just say I have had less success in my life.

Just finished a conference by phone, and it was chaos. There has been a stabbing, shooting and murder-by-car at our Parliament, and many of the people I was talking to were in lockdown, literally. Everyone I know (including one member of the House of Lords) in the area is safe.

Some of you may recall me mentioning a leg issue over the last few weeks, well it got worse at the weekend so today I availed myself of the services of the NHS.

You don't need the gritty but the long and short is that I have a venal blood clot in my thigh. It's a wonder it hasn't done for me with my riding over the last few weeks but the expert's seem to think the prognosis is reasonable.

Gee, moved into this place July last year.
since Dec 10 this is the 3rd round of pneumonia. :(

I gotta find a new place or I'll be dead at this rate.

Bailey Summers' newest chapter of Jem got me thinking of a moment when I was a teenager.

A couple of girls who had become part of an unofficial D & D group with me were at one of their houses and we were just goofing around, and then the girls decided it was too hot and since they didn't have bathing suits handy, they simply stripped to their underwear. Despite feeling a touch self-conscious about my body, somehow I got talked into doing the same.

The last two weeks have been odd for me as my muse apparently wandered off with no warning at all. I had been posting pieces on an average of about every 2.5 to 3 days until that point, and I expected that to continue, so when it didn't, I felt like I was lost in writer's limbo.

I haven't written anything since I posted Betrayed on February 18th, and I was beginning to be worried that my muse was gone for good.

Thankfully, she has returned, and I am about to start writing the first piece of a new story.

Just an FYI... I will be in the endzone at the #SheBelievesCup matches today in Harrison, NJ.

As a pastime and to help de-stress I have been doing sports photography for a sports blog.

If you are at all interested in Soccer/Futbol England vs USA will be televised on FOX at 5pm eastern.

When the game is over I will try doing a blog of photo highlights.

-HuGs-
-Piper

I was getting into essay writing mode when my printer played up again, it did so last weekend when I was trying to print off a couple of scientific papers that I could quote or cite to justify my case. I was trying to do the same again, print off a paper on sustainable use of the forest when it started playing up again. It's amazing how quickly an hour can pass when you're enjoying yourself - so why is it so slow when waiting at an airport or railway station?

There are a lot of pagans in the trans community.When someone reveals they are pagan I treat it as something confidential and will not tell anyone else what I know and feel very complimented by their trust. The numbers do surprise me though. I am curious what drew people in.

I don't know if this will help anyone except as a cautionary tale and maybe a warning to frequently check your bank accounts.

I came back from holiday a little more than a week ago and went to the ATM to withdraw some pocket money, only to be told that my account was now invalid, so I went into the branch and asked what was going on. The nice lady at the Help desk took my card and called up my details on the computer. She turned the screen towards me and I immediately saw that I had been hacked and robbed.

Many of you will be aware that one of my favourite characters, Arwel Powell, was based on my cousin Tom. He finally succumbed to his cancer and passed away last night. Words really do fail me.

Well, today was a bit of adventure.

It started with getting a phone call from a friend who was crying so hard she could hardly talk.

Then I went to the police station to get my fingerprints done so I can change my name, and when I got there I realized I needed 2 pieces of I.D., and I only had one on me, so I had to go back home, get my birth certificate, and go back to the station.

But I got my fingerprints done, so that's one step down.

This is one of those days that I truly dislike winter. The weather's been mostly okay, although we're getting light snow right now.

The temperature has dropped about 9°C (16°F) in the last twelve hours or so, and I'm quite cold sensitive, I feel it even indoors. When it gets cold enough, the pain from my Fibromyalgia becomes more noticeable and I'm more likely to have a migraine build-up.

I drove up to a wildlife refuge out of boredom on a road that I did not think I had been on and as soon as I got off the freeway and headed west, things began to seem familiar, and a bit down the road, I saw a farm with a very tall board fence surrounding the yard. As I passed it, the full memory suddenly went off in my brain like a burning meteorite; making it feel like it was burning a trail through my grey matter. I KNEW that place!

Well, I had planned to be able to give myself a ribbon for adulting yesterday.

It started off well, despite my cold, I shoveled the walk, and went and got the form for my marriage licence (I need a copy so I can do the name change thing), and then topped it off by getting a hold of the bank that has my car loan to find how much I still owe.

Silly moment from work yesterday. Coworker whispers she's lost her voice. I tell her to look behind the couch. She laughs as loud as her strained voice lets her, and tells another co-worker the joke.

It's nice to know I can occasionally make somebody's day better, even if it's with a silly joke.

I am very lucky to live in a house with animals.

Like last night, I was having troubles emotionally, and laying in bed and unable to sleep when my brother and sister-in-law's cat came into my room, jumped up on my bed, and basically demanded I pet her. After a while of stroking her soft fur and hearing her purr, I could feel my blood pressure drop and my heart rate slow. When I stopped petting her, the cat sat at the end of my bed facing my door, as if guarding me from any intruders, until I fell asleep.

Like I said, I'm very lucky.

With help from my sister in law, I got the first step done to getting my name change. Total cost should be about $ 200, take probably around a month from start to finish.

But before you can start a journey, you got to take the first step, and I did that today.

To say Ihave been depressed for the last while is an understatement.

Looks like My paralyzed leg has decided to work in tandom with mr good leg Evey day I wheel my wheelchair in front of the kitchen sink. I use my good arm and hand to grab the edge of the sink and counter and with assistance drag myself up and stand and balance for as long as my strength allows the dead leg is helping me stand though I still need the assist small l baby steps is the ticket to walking someday

Thanks to everyone has posted stories I live for them.

My grandmother often warned against "getting the big head."

She believed in humility and, of course, she was right.

Damned if I didn't go against her sage advice -- and grew a melon of above average size.

I've been able to order extra large wigs from Paula Young in the past, put they seemingly have stopped making them.

The searches I've made for extra large wigs have brought me to sketchy sites that appear to be selling poor quality products to desperate people for exorbitant prices.

FINALLY ! I have my check! I think I can pay off my car, and get my name change stuff done. YAY!!!!!