Getting ready for fulltime

It's funny to think that only two years ago. Back when I was living in Adelaide. I was afraid to go out of the confines of my house dressed as the girl I felt I was inside
My first venture out was to my ex's house wearing my favourite boots and my corset under my male clothes
purely to let her know that I'm changing and to test the waters as to Whether she would still respect me once she found out  about my true self
It seems so foolish now looking back , the excuses of her washing machine being  broken was more a convenient way of her letting my try her clothes on for size so that I could get a better idea of what types of clothing worked for me and the sizes I needed to order
I was still very much in the closet and the thought of walking into a shop ,even under the guise of I'm getting this for a friend , filled me with dread so all my purchases were on eBay or online departments . So you can just imagine the number of items that looked good on display either didn't fit or looked totally ridiculous on me

And here I am now at the point of bursting to go full time as my true self
At work most people have a fair idea that their is something very different about me , most think I'm effeminate or gay .
some actually know the truth of things and have been most accepting towards me and are comfortable enough to make wisecracks and  jokes  nothing bad , one wisecrack  was in reference to a work BBQ , where I was warned away from the BBQ as its a man's domain , "get back into the kitchen and make salad"..

Lately my bosses asked me again when am I planning on going full-time and who do I want to know my real name.I've always convinced myself it will be next year in February . But lately I have been going to work wearing foundation mixed into my sun-block and a little powder and so far no one has said anything about it
and I have always worn my bracelets to work ,  But the big surprise for me  was last Monday I woke up and got dressed in my normal work wear yet as I was getting ready to leave I realised I had also put on a bra without really thinking about it , It was only then that I knew that February is a long way away ,I'm so not going to make it that far . I have now decided that in three weeks time I want to do my name change and start working wholly as Alice , It will be strange yes  as most of my clients are involved with the construction and renovating of development properties. so a very blokey world

Having said its a blokey environment , here I am walking in and its quite obvious that certain visual aspects are sending the cues to most of the tradies brains that I'm not really a male .
I have never in Eight years of shop-fitting  had anyone offer to help with one tool box let alone cumbersome items.
I did find one site in particularly amusing every day I was there at least two macho tradies offered assistance . And more friendly comments than I would normally expect
Maybe its a Victorian thing.

So finally today November the 9th 2011.
I actually let my boss know that I have been thinking about bringing forward my full-time date
or as he likes to call it , the Alice stops cross-dressing like a man date
So I think late this week or early next week my two bosses and The HR manager will be chatting about the best way to enable me to live full-time. And the best method for informing all the other people at the company . in a way that they feel comfortable
I'm expecting it to be where they can have it explained to them in an environment where I'm not there, so they can feel comfortable expressing their thoughts without me present and without having to censer their comments , then I will be available at another time if they would like to ask questions or find out more information from me

so my original date of February 2012 has been amended by the ever present slippery slope