Hi, tis me, Mouse
Welcome to the Bus. We're delighted to have you here :) Not because if you're new to the Babes you are here for help, but because we welcome every kind of drinker. And for all of the reasons life throws at you.
Those that do drink, those that don't drink and of course those who do but don't want to say just how much..............
We've all had our own personal Groundhog Day , some still are and don't want to remain trapped in the same cycle day in, day out, and some still are and want to be which is fine and why we're here.
To talk, to listen, to just be us, like you are YOU. You never know, one day you might just want to wake up on a different day? :) There's no judging here, no 'sides.
After all, something made you click on and read this :)
Come say hi! We even do 
& 
if you're super quick!!
And if you want to see what we got up to in the last thread, have a look RIGHT HERE
And this is where our adventure began, almost six years ago now!!
ALMOST SIX YEARS AGO...........
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The Brave Babes Battle Bus - Springing Into Some Warmer Weather, Staying Sober Togeher
Mouseface · 30/03/2016 00:05
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wish thank you for your kind words.
I am limiting myself to 2 glasses each night but I just want to drink myself into oblivion. I am aiming to go AF as I think it's the only way I will get through this
Cancer is such a bastard 
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Hi babes, just popping my head out of lurkdom after quite a long while to say hello. Wry, it's absolutely great to see you back again throwing around the bosies! Your new dog is beautiful.
Even though I virtually never post [hangs head] I still check this thread nearly every day, and I love reading the inspirational posts by baby and venus and spanna and faire and mouse and others. Ma, I really hope your company is still afloat; it all sounds insanely stressful.
It's been almost a year and a half now since my last drink. I can't quite believe it myself. AA has really worked for me. I still wrestle with all the old demons depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, lethargy but they are a helluva lot easier to wrestle with sober. I am lucky in that I've met some lovely people in AA who are a big support to me -- a bit like I imagine you Babes would be if I were privileged enough to meet any of you in real life.
Obviously everyone is unique and there's no way of knowing whether what works for one person would work for another, but if you're really desperate to stop drinking (by "you" I mean anyone!), please do give AA a try. The best thing it has done for me (apart from helping me get sober and stay sober, a day at a time) is take away the stigma that I myself associated with alcoholism. I used to blame myself terribly for not being able to moderate my drinking. Now I don't, because I've seen so many other people who are also unable to moderate their drinking, just like me. IT IS NOT YOUR FAULT. In the "rooms" of AA/NA I see homeless people, mums, students, professionals and what I have in common with them all is the way my body responds to alcohol. And what I've also learnt is that sobriety is about a billion times easier than moderation. (I have read Baby's posts on that topic and just found myself nodding my head all the way through!)
I never thought I would be so happy not to be drinking. It's downright weird. 
Elba, your posts remind me a lot of what my life was like two years ago. Except my job was/is not nearly as demanding as yours. Big hugs to you. You sound so self-aware.
Another thing that occurs to me as I lurk on this thread is how difficult, how almost-impossible it is to get the wine witch under control while juggling work and parenthood and studies or whatever. I suppose that's basically the definition of what a high-functioning alcoholic is: an alcoholic who's managing to hold it all together more or less. That's what I was. (Ignore the word 'alcoholic' if you don't like it; I'm totally inured to it now but I know some people find it alienating.) Lots of people come to AA/NA straight out of rehab and while I know rehab doesn't always work, I still think it's a great idea. Because addiction is so damn powerful, it takes lots of time and mental space to recover from it. Rehab is a way of getting yourself that time and space. Looking back, I realise that even though I never did rehab, I was lucky in that I was able to spend a whole summer (the summer of 2014) getting my recovery underway. I had a supportive DH who did lots of childcare. I'm an academic so I can work from home in the summers, and that summer I did basically no research work whatsoever. 
But it was worth it. It took years for my alcoholism to develop; it takes TIME to turn things around.
So I suppose what I want to say is, if you are struggling with drink, be kind to yourself. But please reach out for all the help you can in addition to the fabulousness of the bus -- whether it's rehab, or your GP, or AA/the 12 steps, or SMART recovery, or community support for substance misuse (where I live this is run by an organisation called Turning Point, but it will vary depending on where you live). Someone who posted on the last thread (Pup?) mentioned that she didn't want to go to her local recovery service because it would involve outing herself to the family friend who ran it. I would say that anyone working in a service like that would have seen people from literally all walks of life coming through the door. In AA I have met other parents from my DC's school, other professionals from the university where I work, and so on. There is no judgment, there is no shame. Addiction can happen to anyone and we are all in the same boat. If anything, the friend will admire you for being honest and brave enough to seek help.
I am one of the lucky ones because I got help before I drank myself to death and lost my family and my job. I'm very aware of how easily it could have gone the other way and that's why sometimes late in the evening when I used to be drinking myself into a stupor I now feel an emotional (evangelical! but not in the religious sense) urge to tell people that help is out there.
In RL I've become increasingly open about being an alcoholic in recovery. I know that some people want or need to be much more protective of their privacy (for work reasons or whatever) and that is absolutely their right. But at this point, my DC, all my close friends, my boss and my closest colleagues all know that I'm in recovery. Again, maybe I've been extraordinarily fortunate, but I've received nothing but support. Telling more people about recovery is partly a way of protecting myself (so I'm even less tempted to grab the glass of champagne instead of the glass of orange juice at the student reception) but I also have a tiny hope that if someone else is leading a double life like I was, a life where I seemed to be functioning on the outside but was utterly sick and miserable behind closed doors, they will realise that they're not alone. That there are more of us out there, and that recovery is possible.
I didn't mean to go on for so long -- sorry! But I am so happy that the Bus is here, helping to raise awareness. In an ideal world, there would be no taboos associated with seeking help for alcoholism and addiction. In the meantime, there is the bus. 
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