The second half of November is full of important days.

I can now count on one hand the number of days until I am legally Alyx.

I’m nervous. I’ve bought a new outfit and started making lists of what I need to bring with me (and what I need to leave at home – evidently, knitting needles are contraband at the Daley Center). I’m a little overwhelmed thinking about the number of agencies I’ll need to alert to the change when it’s done.

But I’m excited. The actual process itself might be a bit of a headache, but it’ll be worthwhile and make for fewer headaches in the future. I can’t wait to have ID with a name that matches my presentation…a name that fits me.

That’s not the only big day in this half of the month, though.

This past Monday marked four years since my partner and I went on our first date. (Next Wednesday marks four years since we figured out that we were both on the same page in terms of wanting to take a stab at this whole romance thing.) It’s been quite the journey, from several months thousands of miles apart to moving in together several states from where we met, through changing identities on both our parts. I have never known anyone who has made me feel so safe and comfortable, and around whom I can be so totally myself. It hasn’t all been sunshine and flowers, but I wouldn’t trade a single moment – all of them, even the hard ones, have been worth it. I will never understand how I got so lucky, but I hope I’m always grateful.

On a rather less sappy note – also coming up at the end of this month is the first birthday of this blog! I wrote my first Accidental Fudge post on November 30, 2013, and have managed to post something every single week for almost a whole year now. (In honor of the impending birthday, I’m giving the site a bit of a makeover; please bear with me, as things will probably change a few times before I’ve really settled on something.) I had no idea when I started whether I’d be able to come up with words every week (and I still rarely know until Wednesday evening what I’m going to be writing about), but I’ve done it anyway, and that’s pretty exciting. It’s the most consistent and dedicated I’ve ever been with any creative effort, and while I may not have gained a cult following, I’m still pretty damn proud of this little corner of the internet that I’ve claimed as mine.