Greetings from Texas

Hi everyone! My name is Janet. I am a lifelong male to female transgendered lady living in Texas. I created this blog to hopefully help other transgenders out there who have struggled with their identity and with other issues. A few ground rules to begin.
1. I am a MTF Transgender. If the whole subject of transgenderism grosses you out, please do not continue to follow this blog. Eventually there will be pictures and discussions about men dressing as women and going out in public. If you are offended by this subject, I suggest you search again.
2. Cyberbullying and harassment of any sort will not be tolerated. Any posts that harass transgenders or any other member of the LGBT community (including their significant others) will be immediately deleted and the violator removed from the blog. NO EXCEPTIONS.
3. Anyone is welcome to follow my blog, and much like an equal opportunity employer I will not restrict access to anyone based on their race, color, religion, national origin, creed, or sexual orientation.

First off, as I mentioned before, I am a male to female transgender. I was born a man but prefer to publicly appear as a woman as often as I am able. In a future blog (or possibly series of blogs), I will discuss how I started down this road to personal freedom.
For now, I will concentrate on my reasons for posting.
I have struggled for years with the knowledge that I was somehow different from everyone else. Male clothes do not impress me, and I would much rather wear womens clothing. I enjoy everything about the clothes I wear. I love the colors, the feel, the fit, and how the clothes look. From reading posts on a crossdresser website (www.crossdressers.com) I have discovered that I am not the only one. Therefore, I decided that I needed to blog about the trials and tribulations (and triumphs) of being a 40 year old transgender. This is not an easy task. I only have one friend that knows my secret. She has been my friend for almost 20 years and accepts me for who I am. I am happily married and have been since 2001, but my wife does not accept this part of me. We have adopted a "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" process for dealing with my transsexualism. She does not ask if I am dressing, and I do not tell. This has been a very difficult part of my life to deal with. I am aware from readings on the previously mentioned website that there are others that are going through the same situation. This blog is meant to offer help and support for others going through this situation, while also giving fellow transgenders a sounding board.

A few things about me:
As I mentioned earlier, I am a 40 year old transgender from Texas. You may notice that I do not call myself a crossdresser or a transvestite. The three terms generally have the same meaning (a person adopting the appearance of the gender opposite of their birth gender), but I feel transgender describes me better than the other two. I am not offended by the other two, and have no problems being called them as well.
When I am by myself out of the house, 99% of the time I am wearing female undergarments. I also try to fully dress (lingerie, pantyhose, clothes, shoes, wig, jewelry, makeup, and nails) at least twice to three times a week on the way into work. I schedule time off from work several times a year to spend full days dressed.
When I am dressed, I do things and go places that I would normally go. For instance, on the way into work I will go to a grocery store to buy breakfast or purchase my lunch for that day. If I need gas, I will stop at the gas station and fill my tank.
A few questions that always come up:
Are you gay? No, I am not. I am attracted to females and always will be. There are transgenders that are gay. I have no problems whatsoever with that. I do not have issues with any members of the LGBT community and welcome their gender and sexual preferences.
Do you want to be a woman? A tricky question that most transgenders have trouble with. If I were younger and did not have the responsibilities I currently have, then I would probably go through the Gender Reassignment Surgery (GRS). It is very expensive and participants go through a long, gruelling procedure. The other downside is that you alienate most of the people currently in your life. My parents and family do not know, and I would probably lose contact with the majority of them if I were to change my gender.
How do you act when you are out in public? Like any lady would.
That is it for my (extremely long :-)) introductory blog. I will post more as I am able.
Janet