about

I’m Briar.

This blog was given its name in 2004 when I was deeply, deeply unwell.

I was mentally unwell then, spiralling downward through a serious depression.

Coming out of that, I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia and found myself physically unwell.

And then, when I was just getting those two things under control, I went through infertility.

Things have improved since then. I have an amazing 4 year old son and my job is going well and between those two things, I don’t blog much (but I worry about it less). My mental health has remained relatively stable for a long, long time. While I definitely still deal with fibro on a daily basis, I am coping.

But it’s still the right name for this blog and I love it.

Some information about me:

* I am a school librarian. In every possible way.

* I am married to a wonderful man named Wes. When we met (blind date, 1996) he was female and I was a staunch lesbian. Over time, he realized he was really supposed to have been born a boy and I realized I was really attracted to trans-folk. So it all worked out rather well.

* I have a 20 year old stepson. My husband is his mother. Yes. I refer to him on this blog as GMB (Gargantuan Man Boy).

* Wes and I both suffer from major, chronic depressive disorders. We have both been free of any catastrophic episodes (and mental hospitals) for more than 7 years, but still – sometimes our house is BIG fun.

* I have always wanted to be a mother. Using donor sperm, I started trying to get pregnant in May of 2005. After seven tries (two with Clomid), I finally got pregnant but miscarried at 9 weeks. Our first try back after the disaster worked. Beckett Ace was born August 15, 2007.

* My mother died when I was 20 years old. She had cervical cancer. She hadn’t had a pap smear in more than three years. Please visit your gynecologist regularly.

* I have a pain disorder/syndrome called fibromyalgia. I am in at least some pain nearly all the time.

* We both love to travel. Wes loves glaciers and animals and his dream vacations are Antarctica, Patagonia, Galapagos, and Kangaroo Island (Australia). My dream vacation is a World Cruise.

* I am frequently bitchy, bitter, angry, moody, cranky, or whiny. It’s why you love me.

NOTE: I have been blogging since 2002 and back then (she says from her rocking chair), the Internet was a different place. I blogged about work a lot. I blogged FROM work a lot. Now that I am on WordPress, I am in the process of password protecting posts that have to do with work so if you stumble upon something you wish you could read, please don’t hesitate to email me for the password. I am only doing this to attempt to finally, 8.5 years later, be a responsible, grown-up, professional-type person.