Hi! I'm lm, hopefully returning from a long hiatus!
I've been scarce mostly because a lot of my time has been preoccupied with stuff too personal to post about at the time or just mundane bits of being a grad student. And then once I hadn't been here for a while, returning started to turn into A Thing -- and here we are now.
Personal stuff
About 2 years ago it became pretty apparent to me that I needed to do something about my gender. So, after a lot of thought and talking things over, I transitioned! It's been about a year and I can definitely say that it's been a vast improvement for me. She/her pronouns, please
Chickens
We had Bertha in the house for a month this winter. Outside, she's at the top of the pecking order and generally wants to be left alone so she can do her bird business. Inside, away from the flock, she spent about half her time snuggled up on my lap or sitting on the arm of the couch next to me.
(or sometimes on me)
She's all healthy again and back out enjoying the spring mud.
Username
For pretty much my entire life I've been embarrassed of the person I used to be a few years back. Usually it doesn't bother me that much, but in this case the discontinuity was...unsettling.
Also, ilex is a pretty name!
I'm glad to be back -- I've missed you all and the sense of community here. How have you been? What's new?
Congrats on taking some very big steps in your life. You look very happy, but who wouldn’t be with a chicken on their shoulder? Welcome back to the community! Is your name pronounced “eye - lex?” I like it.