Ten years ago today...

So I have been a bit lax with regards to blogging lately. After a bunch of September and October posts, I became swamped with a number of out-of-town university presentations and local panels & book readings. I have also been trying to focus in earnest on book number two. It had been going rather slowly, in a somewhat piecemeal fashion. So I have committed myself to waking up extra early (5 or 6am) each day to get a solid 2 or 3 hours of writing in before heading off to work (that is how I managed to write Whipping Girl). On the bright side, I have been making good progress! The downside has been less sleep and less time for blogging...

Also, I want to thanks everyone for all the quotes from queer women who partner with trans women and/or cis men. I plan to compile them this month - as soon as I do, I will put them up on my blog, I promise! (and for those still interested, I'd be happy to accept more submissions until then). So those who follow my blog, you have that to look forward to. Plus I will likely be posting some small excerpts of book #2 along the way...

But in the meantime, I really wanted to make a point to post today because it is a very special anniversary for me. Exactly ten years ago today, I began living as a woman. Granted, it is a somewhat arbitrary date, as I was female-identified well before then, and people were reading/treating me as female before then. But basically, it was the day that I officially stopped using my old male name and presenting myself as male.

It is soooooooo hard to believe that it's been ten years! I remember being on a trans email list when I was first looking into transitioning, and sharing an exchange with a trans woman who said that she had been living "full time" for a year and a half. And I remember being in awe of that. I was so anxious to transition, and the idea of being a whopping year and a half post-transition seemed absolutely mind-blowing. Now here I am ten years post-transition. Who'd a thunk it?

This whole late November/early December time period is chock full of trans related anniversaries (tranniversaries?) for me. November 27, 2000 was the day when I kinda sorta made the decision to transition. And two years ago tomorrow (December 7th) was the date of my bottom surgery. I feel the desire to commemorate all of these anniversaries by saying something really really profound. But despite all my efforts to be poignant, only two simple thoughts come to mind:

I am truly grateful to be where I am now.

And time flies like the wind. (But fruit flies like bananas.)...