Brave Battling Babes - Booze No More!!

[Mouseface]

Well, thanks to the refreshingly honest and inspirational JesusWhatNext - this is the third thread, for the battle to beat the booze for all of those who are on the path to do so.

Some are sober, some are trying to be and some are still drinking.

I'm Mouse, I'm new to this and I'm scared. So, come and join the journey.

Oh my!

So many new faces!

Welcome Glass

Just popping in to say hi, and pledge, TODAY I WONT BE DRINKING!

dear Father visiting today (alkie) feeling pretty strong...onwards!

Thanks to you all for this, I am looking forward to being able to tell you I didn't drink! Am going to cook a beef in red wine tonight with the wine in the kitchen and that way temptation is gone Have the beef pieces marinating in it was we speak so there is no way I can drink it

Hi everyone ," extends hand for handholding " .
IAM - I'm like that ,don't drink for weeks ,months and then down that slippery tunnel I go .
I think a major personality change would sort it for me ,one of the reasons I fear AA meetings and having to think more about my dysfunctional self and how much " work " I have ahead of me .
Oh dear ,feeling down and tired today .
I'll get dressed and pull myself together !

Algee - where are you ? Are you ok ?
Is it hard having your family back ? And didn't you just move ?

"God, that sounds like me" Glass you will probably find that feeling a lot on here, when someone will describe something about their drinking habits and you will think, Oh yes, I know that feeling, I've been there, I've done that, and I probably got a t-shirt but I think I left that on the bus / gave it away / vomitted on it....

Holds hand with others (but looks away incase anyone tries to give me a hug -eek!)

Morning everyone and welcome to everyone new.

Day EIGHT today! I went out last night with DH. I said I obviously wasn't going to be drinking and asked if DH felt like joining me. He did! So we DROVE to the bar to see our friends, had a couple of soda and limes (total cost £4), chatted to everyone. We left at 10pm, went round the corner to a gorgeous cafe. There we had some amazing 'white tea' (a kind of pre flowering green tea or something!?) and an amazing nutty brownie. We sat in a lovely funky place, chatting for an hour, completely clear headed, giggling, laughing, holding hands. Total cost £7. Got in car and drove home, lovely chat to babysitter, then off to bed for a solid night's sleep. And a bargain night too - no pricey drinks, cabs everywhere etc - we are so broke but that hasn't stopped us in the past.

It was the FIRST time we have ever gone out, both not drunk, FIRST time we have ever chatted like that. DH got up this morning to go for a run, and for the FIRST time in months didnt' have a headache.

Honestly sobriety is so amazing, we had such a lovely evening last night, it's better than being pissed or taking drugs - I just love the clarity, the gentleness of it all.

AND I wore a dress that I COULDN'T FIT INTO LAST WEEK! I have been exercising and not drinking and have slimmed down so much I can't believe it.

THIS IS ALL GOOD!

To stop myself drinking glass - what helos maybe do soemthing to take yourself out of the routine. If it's normally cooking time or bathtime or soemthing that marks the opening of the bottle, could you ask DH to do it instead, and you go for a run or something, or a walk, or have a bath yourself. SOmething that makes you feel healthy and lovely.

Also we have no booze in the house now which helps a great deal.

Also, just to add - is anyone else finding that they are eating less? I feel that somehow without me having to eat so much to 'soak up' all the booze and the hangovers the next day that my appetite is much less.

And thank you mouse for the interview tips. Going to a friend's later for a mock interview and presentation - wish me luck!

christi - that sounds lovely, what a super evening! (my dh says he loves that i am now a 'cheap date' )

i have done so much this morning, house is blitzed. dinner in slow-cooker, have turfed fridge out (oooh there were some 'surprises' lurking in there )

i know what you mean about eating less, i find that i am also eating better food, no junk, just dont fancy it, i have lost quite a bit of weight too, my skin looks really soft and fresh aswell.

so, this afternoon my plan is to do some more sewing, read the sunday papers, have a nice cup of tea and a piece of homemade cake - i love having all this time, i seem to be able to fill it with so much stuff!

Afternoon Babes.

CTS Wow! How wonderful to read that you had such an amazing evening. You have made me smile.

You'll be grand at your interview. Nice and calm and positive. Smile, eye contact and a good firm 'I'd be great working for you and you know you want to hire me' hand shake ok?

Please let us know how you get on. xx

Hello to all the new posters, I have to take notes to keep up but welcome to lowenergylightbulb, IAM and Wine......ooops no wait, I mean GlassInHand.

Trinity Well done for sticking at it! You are doing really well. 3 DAYS!!!!!! Yay!!

katerum Stay strong with your dad. You can do it.

Hello ginger how are you?

JWN Yay for 9 weeks. You are a star.

How was the BBQ venus

cat - fancy a game of chase?

Anyone seen bossy boots MIFLAW of late? He's not appeared on this thread yet. Hope he's ok.

Has FrankLampoon been back? And hazel?

God, I'm perky today! Less booze = happy, awake Mouse.

Sorry for all the bold names, it's just so you can see yourselves.

I'm going to count my units this week. (I worked out that previously, a 'normal' week was around 84!) Then get dry on school nights a night at a time. If I have less booze, I'll think 'it's not worth drinking' so won't. That's my plan.

Afternoon everyone, day 2 and STILL feel hungover from Friday, I couldn't sleep last night so instead I spent time on the net reading teetotal success stories!

Feeling positive about giving up the booze, don't want to suffer any more humiliation

This thread has been good to read that I am not alone

Sounds like a good plan Mouse. I decided I need to go cold turkey and hope I have the strength to see it through

Hazel I felt rubbish for the first few days. MIFLAW in the last thread said something that REALLY struck me - that you feel awful for a few days because it's been so long since you actually saw a hangover through to the end without interrupting it with more booze.

I also had many many weird dreams.

I am truly past the hangover now. It's really worth it to try to get there. One day at a time though.

Hello jesus and mouse

Oh and was surprised how many celebs are teetotal - Gerard Butler, Rachel Stevens, Jennifer Lopez to name a few and lots of comedians

Hazel

Oooooh, Gerald Butler. Yum. Glad you are feeling better and YAY! for day 2.

CTS

Yes, the continuous hangover is no fun at all. God, weekends used to be a blur, more so than week days.

Having a DS with SN is hard, dealing with it hungover is hell. It's nice to be able to say that.

Vivid dreams have always been a feature of my night times. With or without booze. I'm looking forward to not needing a pee in the night!!! Sorry, TMI!

?? Who the hell is Gerald Butler. Maybe his father........ 'Gerard'!!

Mouse what do I do if they ask me a question and I don't know the answer, can't think of an example of when I did something (you know, tell me about a time when you encountered resistance to an idea you had at work etc etc)

CTS

Be honest. If it hasn't happened to you, say so. If you can't think, tell them it hasn't happened to you.

So - 'tell me about a time when you encountered resistance to an idea you had....'

You'd say 'as yet, this hasn't happened but if it did, I'd try to understand all points of view, then explain the benfits of my idea and then listen to the responses. I would try to resolve the issues so that the outcome was the best for the majority involved' Or similar.

You need to be honest. Be flexible and be willing to buck the trend. It is better to be respected than liked. Especially if you are going to be brought in as a fresh pair of eyes etc. If you will be a decision maker in this role, then you need to show the panel that you can do just that.

You'll be grand. Have you done some homework on the company? If so, print it out and take it with you. It looks good. You can be sat reading it before you go in.

I've done quite a lot of homework, and I have thought about questions I can ask three of the four people interviewing. Well, actually, what kind of question can I ask HR? Don't want to leave her out! The other thing is, is it OK to have some questions written down or is it best to try and remember them all.

THank you so much for these tips and massive apologies for the hijack everyone else.

Christi you could always refer to an experience from not-at-work e.g. I haven't encounterd that situation at work, but when I was organising the playgroup chrismas event / a family celebration / etc this is what I did....

Hello to everyone else, just popping by briefly.

You could ask about training opportunities?

I have come to think of MIFLAW like an archangel watching over this thread...

When we're all doing fine and supporting and encouraging each other, he watches frmm afar and thinks, hmm those girls are doing good.

When someone is in a desperate place, out he pops with strong words, just what is needed. Or when we are all getting too 'nice' to each other and supporting ourselves to be self pitying, along he comes with a big dose of reality and says something like: of course you're feeling crap, you're a drunken bum.

Hello venus

I agree re MIFLAW. He's like a fairy godfather in hob nailed boots, which I have said before, waiting in the wings.

CTS

Venus is spot on re examples of life experiences too. And training is a great question to ask HR. Yes, write them down and ask.

It shows you are organized to have notes with you to refer too. The panel will!!!

Many thanks girls

Really really appreciate your help

CTS

What time is your interview tomorrow? It is tomorrow?

Who else has an interview?

Good luck those who do!

Getting to drink o'clock so off to keep busy.

it's on Tuesday

yes need to keep busy too