August 19th, 2007

I ended up having a good time at GenCon, over the weekend, despite a somewhat rocky start.  I went as Leann and got checked in just fine.  However on Saturday morning as we drove in, I needed to stop for gas before we reached the convention center.

The exit I got off at had only 1 gas station, and it had these really old pumps.  I had to prepay inside, and as I started to pump the gas, the attendant, who I found out was the owner came out and talked to me.  He asked things like 'what was I doing in that part of town', and where in Ohio I was from, and have I ever been to Israel - you know, the usual questions.  I was nice & polite about it all, and when I paid he said he hoped he'd see me again.  So I guess that's the first time a guy ever flirted with me.  I was not interested in him, but it felt kind of neat to be approached that way.

We could not get back on the highway right there due to construction, so wandered through city streets making our way when one of my front tires went flat.  We pulled over at another gas station and my son and I attempted to change the tire.  My son doesn't know anything about it, and while I've changed more tires in my life than I can remember on a variety of vehicles, I could not get the spare out of this car.  So I'm banging my hands all up trying to wrench this thing out and just wanting to cry.  I didn't want to cry in front of my son, so I held that back.  Just then, another guy saw me struggling and came by with his work gloves and worked the spare out and changed my tire.  I tried to offer him money for his effort but he wouldn't take it.  But I was so glad to have my 'knight in shining armor' come to my rescue. ;)

I got my son to his game event he wanted to do, and found a place nearby to replace the tire.  Of course, I needed to replace the other front tire as well, and it needed an alignment.  Oh, and an oil change, new wipers.... a bit more than I was expecting to pay.  Not that it was over priced, but you know, when you don't expect you're going to have any problems in the first place, it's depressing.  I wanted to cry again.  I was able to reach a friend over the phone and give my sob story to, and felt better.  After that, the weekend went very well.

At all the games I played, I was called 'Leann' and referred to as 'she' so it was nice that everyone went along with humoring me or just saw me as a woman.  I did end up winning a Three Dragon Ante tournament too!

Finally, at the end of the weekend, I went over to another friend's house for a movie night.  As we talked about my upcoming plans, it really all hit me how soon everything was coming up.  Hearing tomorrow, FFS only 2 months away, Atlanta in a month - Wow!  My head is just sort of swimming and trying frantically to make sure I'm taking care of everything - not just about transitioning, but my personal life & my job all need attention too.  But I have a feeling, Leann will make it   :)