It's Beginning To Look Alot Like Christmas

Christmas has to be my most favourite time of the year. Now it wasn't always that way. When I cooked for a living I grew to dislike Christmas enormously. It was always the busiest time of the year, a period that would begin on the last week of November and carry on through to mid January. Last year, even though I wasn't a Chef anymore, I lived in a pub so it was still busy for me. This year I get to have a really nice family Christmas at home and I couldn't be happier with that. I get to enjoy my Christmas Dinner without being sick of the sight of Turkey and I get to enjoy a glass or two of Baileys without being either too tired from work or dreading a busy boxing day behind a stove! This year, for the first time in a long time I've enjoyed the build up to Christmas like a normal person with a normal job outside the service industry. 



(Most) of the Humanities Access to HE College group on our Christmas meal

Last night I went out with my college friends for a Christmas meal. It was cheap and cheerful but it was nice. I really do feel like I amongst friends with them and I feel truly accepted. It will certainly be bittersweet when I head off to University next year. On the one hand I'll be moving to a new area and I'll begin studying a course that will give me a bright future doing something I really want to do. On the other hand, I won't be able to take any of my new friends with me. I just really hope that we keep in touch and that we can arrange to meet up every so often. I think that we've all really bonded so it would be a shame were we all never to see each other again after this year!

Morals Mean Nothing In The Face Of A Freebie

Last year I was lucky enough to have Gender Reassignment Surgery (GRS) and Breast Augmentation (BA), both on the NHS. I didn't feel guilty about this which might make me seem a terrible person. Why should I drain vital NHS funds, funds that some would say are better served treating cancer and other life threatening conditions. GRS saved my life so in many ways, that particular operation was a life saving procedure. If GRS hadn't been available on the NHS then I wouldn't be here now, it's as simple as that. Now you can probably see why I feel no guilt over that particular operation. BA on the other hand, well I did feel a little bit guilty over that. Essentially it was cosmetic but, and it is a rather big but, it changed my life! It didn't save my life but it did give me confidence and it has helped with how people see me. People see a good rack on someone and they instantly think female! It's inbuilt in our minds to put breasts and female together!

Something that isn't on the NHS is Facial Feminisation Surgery (FFS) and that's fair enough. It's not something I'm desperate for to be honest because I'm not sure it's something I absolutely need. Don't get me wrong, it wouldn't do me any harm. Any procedure that makes me look more feminine can only be a good thing right? It's still not an operation I'm desperate for though. Now, if it was available on the NHS then I would have some thinking to do because then, then it might become something I needed. It's strange how the opportunity for a freebie can change someones perception. The bad thing is that as with GRS and BA, I wouldn't feel a great deal of guilt! Now, does that make me a terrible person?