My 2015...

[flatlander_48]

It's getting close to rolling up 2015 and MANY things happened this year, including a number of firsts.

• Joined 2 crossdresser/transgender groups
• Since December 2014 I've gone out fully dressed 2 to 4 times per month
• Had 1/1 Coming Out conversations with my department manager, 7 close friends and my daughter and son
• DeeAnn was the Mistress of Ceremonies for our LGBT Fall Community Event, now called SteppingOUT, and marked her first appearance in her hometown (~130 people present)
• DeeAnn presented the monthly update for our LGBT employee affinity group to our Science & Technology Leadership Team, explained the concept of transgender and closed by presenting a photo of DeeAnn (~60 people present)
• DeeAnn presented the transgender piece of an LGBT-related company training course by speaking about identities (some are obvious and some are not) and closed by presenting a photo of DeeAnn (22 people present)
• Shopping for DeeAnn as DeeAnn and as Don
• DeeAnn discovered that she has a Thing for short wigs, hats, wrist cuffs, blazers and Gloria Vanderbilt Amanda jeans
• The retirement paperwork for Don has been initiated, but DeeAnn is just getting started!
• ~1 month from Bye New York and Hello California

The BEST 2016 To All,

DeeAnn

[bridget thronton]

A banner year - enjoy the next phase of your life

[Bria]

Quite a year, DeeAnn. Why California and what will you be doing there?

Hugs, Bria

[Katey888]

DA:

Now I am exhausted on day 1 of a New Year just reading about your old year...

If more of us were able (and willing) to do what you have done, we would surely be educating a lot more folk and finding acceptance and understanding spreading like those Californian wildfires...

Good luck with going West! (but watch out for the wildfires.. )

Katey x

[Kandi Robbins]

Now that's a full year! Congratulations on all of it.

[Julie Denier]

Good for you! Happy New Year

[Dana44]

Wow DeeAnn, you accomplished a lot in 2015. Looks like your future is great. Take care and have a great new year.

[kittie60]

Happy New Year DeeAnn and may this year be a banner winning year for you. Last year sure was. Congrats on your accomplishments and we all hope you do well out in CA.

[flatlander_48]

Thanks Everybody!! Thank You for all the kind words. It is very much appreciated.

B:

California? These are some particular reasons. For health-related issues for both me and my wife, hot and dry (and basically no winter) will be a VERY good thing. We'll be in Cathedral City, which is adjacent to Palm Springs. It is desert between the mountains. I've always been a car guy and growing up I read all the magazines of the day: Hot Rod, Car Craft, Rod & Custom, etc.; all of which were based in Southern California. I got maps of the area and would look for where the various shops, race tracks and car shows were. When I first went out there for work in the 80's it wasn't like going to an unknown place. In fact, it was a bit like being home. And finally, my wife is originally from the Los Angeles area, but her family moved east in the mid-50's. Anyway, I don't really have any connection with other places like Arizona, New Mexico, etc.

Not sure what I'll be doing, but I will need to do some part time employment to offset alimony payments to my first wife. I don't think I want to look for another engineering job as I'm not looking for that level of involvement and commitment. I did a bit of teaching in a 2 year college back in Toledo years ago, but my day job, travel and family time killed that. However, that could be a possibility for current times. I've been a fan of Minis and Sir Alec Issigonis from the 60's and presently I own a JCW MINI Clubman. I think it might be really cool to sell MINIs. Anyway, those are a couple of possibilities, but I haven't done a deep search yet.

K8:

There isn't much in the way of woods where we're going. I took the attached photo when we were on vacation 2 years ago. It was taken from near the top of Mt. San Jacinto. There's a rotating tramway that goes up the mountain. Almost dead center in the photo is the Palm Springs Airport. Although we can't see all of it, Palm Springs is basically between the airport and the mountains. The thin black line that runs left to right is the I-10 expressway. Cathedral City is between the airport and the I-10, but it (and Palm Springs) also extends partly towards the right of the photo. The range on the far side of the expressway is the Little San Bernardino Mountains. Notice how brown things are. There isn't much in the way of forrestation or undergrowth in the valley, so the possibility of wildfires is pretty low. You need greener, wetter areas for that and the Coachella Valley has never been green or wet (well, maybe not since dinosaurs were above ground!).

The other photo was also taken during our vacation. It is the Forever Marilyn statute that was done by Seward Johnson. It is 26 ft high, weight 40,000 pounds and is constructed of aluminum and stainless steel. It was on loan to the City of Palm Springs for a couple of years, but it has since been moved to a sculpture park in New Jersey. Seeing it was an unexpected bonus, but it's sad that they couldn't keep it.

DeeAnn

[LydiaL]

An excellent year DeeAnn.

I am sure that your retirement will lead to even greater enjoyment of your life experiences. California is a good choice, although parts of Arizona could work out for you. The desert regions in New Mexico do get some winter.

Dealing in Minis, especially the British classics, could be an interesting retirement pursuit.

Have a great 2016.