Update 12 March 14

As noted before, I had my first therapy appointment on Tuesday. While several of my coworkers joked around about taking Skyler to therapy with me, it turns out I actually am allowed to do that, which is pretty awesome.
I ended up driving to the wrong office and had to reschedule for later that evening, but it all worked out. The therapist (Brian Wright) is really laid back and pretty nice, and was more than supportive (even though this initial meeting was really just for background info). I explained that while I had been experiencing these feelings for the last year or more, it had only recently started becoming so horrible that I couldn't even focus long enough to do homework, etc., and I felt like my entire life was being taken over by this problem I couldn't quite solve.
I will be seeing him weekly for the immediate future, and eventually will step down to a little less frequently.
I won't know for sure until after several appointments what he really thinks, and I figure my toughest challenge will just be remembering to avoid the uncomfortable dumb jokes I make in weird moments.

For the information I didn't really get to include in the last post  -
I most likely won't be able to start hormone replacement therapy until January (when my insurance rolls over and I can jump on my own plan). That being said, a court-ordered name change is the first priority on my ever-growing to-do list, and along with that comes:

...woohoo. If anyone has any pointers on where to start with all of this nonsense..

I've also seen a few posts about changing any indications of previous names on things like credit reports, etc., and I haven't the slightest idea how to go about doing that. 

I figure the passport and the birth certificate will probably be the last things (undeniably two of the most important, of course) to get changed due to stricter regulations surrounding them, etc., but we'll see as things progress. 

I am definitely excited to watch as things around me change constantly over the next year, and if any of this begins happening sooner than I anticipate, that can only be better, right?

Video #1

The Journey.

Over the past few months, I've begun a sort of transformation. For those of you who had previously been reading Shiksa Chic, you will have been present for my initial "coming out" as trans*/genderqueer/etc. I am happy to announce that coinciding with this return to the blog (you might notice I've begun writing through a different email, one that will become associated with my new identity), and perhaps even responsible for this return, I am beginning the journey of transitioning to a body that more accurately reflects my mental and emotional state. 
I now go by Micah (almost exclusively, although if you know me in the real world, I would prefer you double check where it's alright to refer to me as such and where other names should be used). 
Tomorrow, I have my first therapy appointment with a Dr. Wright, and am incredibly anxious to see what happens next. Logically, I will not be starting hormone replacement therapy until I am on my own insurance plan and am otherwise financially independent (for obvious reasons), but I am ready to start doing everything I can to prepare my body and my mind for what comes next. I have started maintaining a regular exercise schedule and am happy to announce that I have returned to a vegetarian/eventual vegan diet after a four year hiatus due to health issues. I am caring for myself as well as I know how, and Skyler has been my number one motivator! 

Something about having a dog back in my life has been exceedingly beneficial in encouraging me to really embrace life as I feel I should be. Now, for the readers:

For various reasons, I will NOT be changing the name of the blog. I had already begun identifying as GQ when I began this, so Shiksa Chic doesn't really seem inappropriate to me. The earliest posts were mostly concerning the conflicting nature of trans* and Jewish identities, as well as trans* and feminist identities. I don't expect any of that to be changing. I will be doing my best to update as frequently as I once was, which should be relatively easy considering I have much more free time than I did previously. (No school, no relationships, no nothing except for work is taking my attention from you all ;) ). 

However - I would still love to have contributors on this blog. So if you are interested in writing posts occasionally (or more often), or if you have topics you want covered, by all means, EMAIL ME. 

Address all inquiries to "Micah" at ( micahjmedina@gmail.com ) 

This is simply an update post for right now, but as above, I'd love to hear from you, and I'll be back tomorrow for an update on a broader scale and a followup from my therapy session tomorrow. 

In the meantime: here's what I look like (three days ago)!

I'll be posting updated photos regularly as things progress, but consider this a sort of "before" photo.