Read about my battles with Pre-Menstrual Dysphoric Disorder (PMDD), my mental health, surviving both childhood sexual abuse and a 12 year relationship plagued with emotional abuse, as well personal projects / challenges, and anything vaguely Jem-related.
I’m currently sat in business class on a flight heading to Athens where I’ll be attending WordCamp Europe in a couple of days. We’re directly above the Swiss Alps and while I eat my complimentary breakfast and sip my fancy coffee I’m struck by the raw beauty of the landscape below; seemingly perfect undisturbed snow… read full entry »
Long term readers might recall that in the years before my 30th birthday, I set myself a list of “30 things to do before I’m thirty“; challenges and personal milestones I wanted to hit before I reached 30 years old. Within months of turning 30, I started writing a similar set of goals and monster… read full entry »
I have successfully rendered myself a liar this week. After calling myself “basically unemployable” back in 2018, I started a new part-time position with Source Design this week. Super stressed Jem who couldn’t possibly contemplate a 9-5 way back in 2018 is now super chilled out handling a senior dev position for one firm, managing… read full entry »
One of my fitness goals for 2023 basically entails me getting my shit together and nailing a consistent gym routine, and as such I’ve given up alcohol for the year (again). My journey to (and from) sobriety is a funny one, with a balance more or less found over the last couple of years, but… read full entry »
I realised today that it’s been nearly a year since my last blog post of note. Teenage Jem would be ashamed, adult Jem is wondering how the fuck a year passed in the blink of an eye. Get up, walk the dog, breakfast, school run, work work work, school run, cook, clean, walk the dog,… read full entry »
It’s hard to know where to start this post. Do I start it as a child where I knew I wasn’t quite the same as my peers? Do I start it as a new parent where things suddenly started to become apparent that I’d not noticed before? Do I start it at the point where… read full entry »
I know it’s customary to write up ‘year in review’ style posts at the end of the actual year in question, but I think I’m only just getting over 2020 enough to write about it. How do you put into perspective a year that has simultaneously seen the lows of a loss of a parent,… read full entry »
After my last lockdown post the Easter holidays drew to a close and we settled back into the homeschool routine. However, the kids seemed to be finding it more difficult to concentrate, and I was more shouty as a consequence. It didn’t feel like we were getting much done, and although I don’t normally do… read full entry »
As I head into week 5 of my personal covid-19 lockdown experience, I am increasingly finding the days are blurring together. My mental health is up and down, although my hormones are partly to blame this week. Since my last post on lockdown, the kids have moved into official Easter Holidays territory. Normally this would… read full entry »
Due to the ongoing coronavirus / COVID19 crisis, we’ve now been isolating (“social distancing” on crack) for two weeks. Slightly longer than Joe Public because my ex is high risk and we wanted to reduce the risk of the kids passing anything on. After the initial week where negative thoughts and an absence of a)… read full entry »