Yesterday marks my 1 year, 4 month TRANniversary. Things have been going okay for the most part.
Feb. 22, 2017
Work has been going very well. One night I made the clients some twice baked potatoes. They were a hit!
All made from scratch
I’ve been putting in a lot of hours because some co-workers called me in. That’s okay with me because that means a bigger paycheck on payday.
I enjoy my job, although I have some anxiety about letting them know I plan on moving in the spring/summer. I hope that I could potentially transfer to the site in Fargo. If not, I could somehow make it work. A friend of mine sent me a message the other day about a job for a landscaping company I worked for a couple years ago and that they’d be happy to have me back. That eases the stress of moving and job hunting.
I’m getting more facial hair. Not as much as I would like. It’s a slow and steady process but it’s better than nothing.
I played around with a beard-app on my phone and this is kind of what I see in my head:
Someday.
Today I went to a Dermacare clinic. It was a good experience for the most part. She asked me if I wanted a job, lol. This was because I was doing everything right about my skincare and was knowledgeable about nutrition, supplements, and wellness. It is really anxiety-inducing though because I felt very compelled to not be open about being trans and taking Testosterone. I was thinking about disclosure until she said that, “God gave you a gift for having such an understanding of health!” Granted, I am completely aware that #NotAllChristians are bigots, etc, however, where I live it’s a different story, and my instincts told me to keep my mouth shut about my being transgender. Which really sucks to be honest because the reason why I am having this acne breakout in the first place is because of putting testosterone in my body.
The reason why I decided to go to this skincare clinic was because I noticed that although my acne is starting to heal, there is some subtle indentation happening along with hyperpigmentation.
I really do not want any scarring or poc marks of any kind. I’m being very proactive about my health, and the skin is the body’s biggest organ. According to the Esthetician, we can get my skin cleared up by summer. Next week I will be going in for a chemical peel:
Chemical peel is a technique used to improve and smooth the texture of the facial skin using a chemical solution that causes the dead skin to slough and eventually peel off. The regenerated skin is usually smoother and less wrinkled than the old skin. Thus the term chemical peel is derived. There are numerous types of solutions that can be used and not all of them cause the skin to peel. http://dermacareclinicpc.com/aesthetic-services/
Once my active acne is cleared I will then get a microderm abrasion:
Imagine a very fine sand blaster and you’ll get a picture of how microdermabrasion works. It uses microparticles to slough off the top layer (epidermis) of your skin and stimulate new skin growth. This technique also helps to thicken your collagen, which results in a younger looking complexion.
Since I have a good paying job I can budget these treatments. I was absolutely mortified that I caused permanent damage to healthy tissue, but now I feel very hopeful about this because reading up on testimonials, and seeing before and after photos from other acne sufferers, some with really severe acne who used chemical peels and microderm abrasions result in getting a clear and healthy complexion as if they never had acne to begin with.
It’s been stressed to me that I need to start wearing my hair back while I’m undergoing this process of clearing up my skin. I’ve debated on whether or not I should cut my hair, but that would make me very unhappy. I guess I’ll just be that pony-tail guy for a few months.
There are other ways of wearing my hair back too. I’ll have to play around with it.
I’ve been hitting the gym 5 days a week for 2 weeks thus far, and increasing my caloric intake to around 3200 calories. I have gained 2lbs per week! I was sitting at 129lbs when I started, and I’m now at 133lbs. Since I started working-out again I feel much happier and I sleep deeply though the night. It puts structure to my days. I’m also meal-prepping. My goals are to gain 15lbs. So 11lbs more to go in bulking, then it’s straight to shredding.
That’s all I have for this transition-related update!
Take care,
Ravn Thor
If you’re lucky, you may find places to volunteer which are physically demanding enough for exercise needs. If you’re very lucky, one of those places will simultaneously teach you a skill – which is how I learned allot about construction. It can be somewhat tricky to actually get involved with some volunteer organizations however, but showing up on time and doing the dirty work usually helps; they just get so many shitty people who come in, just wanting to pretending they want to really volunteer.
Ah, so like volunteering into an apprenticeship?
The friend of mine who let me know about that landscaping job is also an organic farmer and so I intend to learn more gardening skills and volunteer on his small organic farming operation. He and his significant other sell at farmers markets all through the season. So I definitely plan on being a hired hand there.
Habitat for Humanity was my stomping ground. You can find related information on my experience and their acceptance of volunteers here: https://mentallurgy.wordpress.com/2016/08/05/religion-the-good-and-bad/
You may find “WWOOFing” of interest.
Cool, I’ll check it out!
Checked out your blog post, sounds like on a personal level it was a good experience. WWOOFING looks really cool and definitely something I’d be into.