All Aboard The Brave Babes Battle Bus!

[Mouseface]

Hello, welcome to thread five!!

I'm Mouse and I'm 10 whole days sober which is bloody amazing given that I would normally consume nearly 90 units per week! And that's without 'special occasions'!!

So, if I can do it, you can do it! The support here is awesome, no matter where you are in your quest to quit. No judging, no cliquey groups.

We are just real, honest people. All helping each other to give up the booze. Come meet the other Brave Babes........................

And for those who would like to read the adventures so far, here are the links from the first four threads!

JWN's original thread (the reason we are all here)

Thread two

Thread three

Thread four

Ha! at Peggy Mitchell. I think we've scared everyone else away.

night night JWN, glad you've found your sense of humour again x

hiya all new here, scared stiff, admire you all for what you are doing.

Good morning all, and hello to steam. Sorry no on was around when you posted to chat to you, most of us have been enjoying our sleep sober, and have not been up late. Please come back and talk to us today.

morning venus!! you nearly ready for the off?

hello steam - are you a night owl?, we do have one on here, wasindie is often up at all hours feeding new born twins! come back for a chat later, the lovley miflaw will be about i expect, he is full of fantastic advice for the newly sober

Good morning all!

It's a beautiful day here and I am sober (and not hungover)!

venus & JWN - enjoyed catching up on your conversation last night!

steam - welcome to the thread! I hope that you come back today and tell us a bit more about yourself.

helpme - well done on your 8 months. That's fanatastic!

Looking forward to another sober day. (Although I am terrified about my appointment at the bank. Remember I need good computer fairy vibes from 12pm today please!)

Morning JWN!
(Obviously I can't spell today - see previous post!)

Morning all! Hope you're all ok - JWN hope today is one of the better days for you after yesterday. Well, I struggled last night, but got through it booze-free! Ended up going to bed at 9.00 pm just so I could get out of the way of hubby who was enjoying a glass of red - which I don't even like, but suddenly looked very tempting (the wine, not hubby!) So I read my book and had a big mug of sweet tea and felt very pleased with myself. Had a lousy night's sleep though - very restless. Going to Tesco soon to get some nice soft drinks. Have a good day everyone. Welcome steam, I only joined yesterday, but already feel at home.

Morning saffy!
Nice to see you sounding so positive. I also find that going to bed is a wonderful way of avoiding temptation! The restless sleep is totally normal - it will get better. Have a good day.

morning moomin - bank appointment, ugghh, just try and remember that you are the customer at the end of the day, and the banks have not exactly shown themselves to be a whizz at financial planning, have they?

Hiya. Posted a couple of weeks ago on one of the older threads and have been on and off the wagon (more off than on TBH!!) since then.

However, today is day 2 for me and as well as nailing the booze I'm going for the fags too.

For me, drinking and smoking are so intertwined...if I have a drink I want a fag, if I have a fag then I fancy a beer.

I can say for sure that today I will not be having a drink or a smoke.

Hi all!

Moomin - Good luck at the bank!! Very brave, I will be thinking of you. No matter how bad things are, it's ALWAYS better to look them full in the face rather than hiding from them. And I speak as someone who used to not open bank statements because they scared me too much!

Venus, you're still here! go on holiday already! Sounds like you've had a loved up day or two.

JWN - I'm so glad you got through your wobble yesterday. Hope you are feeling much better today. I have read somewhere that the danger points are 3 weeks, 3 months and 3 years...and you're just coming up to 3 months.

I also loved MIFLAW's Grandnational on a unicorn analogy.

Saffysmum - well done on your booze free evening! I haven't found my ideal non-alcoholic drink yet. Fizzy water when I'm out but not at home. Drinking tea in the evening makes me feel like an old woman, so at the moment I'm just sticking to tap water.

Trinity - I had a good read of your other thread, but everything I would suggest had already been mentioned. I think it's a lovely idea, a celebration of Neil's life. How are you doing today?

Hello everyone else! Is Algee around??

As for me, I'm still feeing shit and knackered and a bit depressed. Oooh, a barrel of laughs, me. Was going to take today off work, but then decided I would come in and now wish I hadn't. Oh well. Day 13 today so that's definitely something to be grateful for :)

Thank you JWN! I will try to remember that!

Hello lowenergy! Nice to see you are still about. Well done on getting to Day 2. You are very brave going for fags as well as booze. I smoke too but personally I can only deal with one thing at a time! (I know what you mean about the 2 being interlinked though.)

hi saffy, yes, today looks brighter already - going to AA at lunchtime, doing some cooking this afternoon - i like to plan my day out and have something constructive in mind!

hi lightbulb, i gave up smoking 12 years ago, used patches for 3 months and have never wanted one since, the smell makes me gag now! good luck with it!

i am cheering you maddogs - i can see a real difference in your posts now!!, i know you still feel a bit down, but you sound a whole lot more cheerful than you did!! keep on keeping on!, you are bloody fantastic!

I wonder how many of us alcoholic/ heavy drinkers do smoke as well? Everyone who has been to AA must have noticed the crowds outside smoking before/ after meetings! It almost seems to go hand in hand?

Hello maddogs, well done on day 13!!! And well done for going to work when you didn't feel like it. Hope you have a good day.

Funnily enough I've given up smoking a few times and have not found it a terribly big problem...until I have a drink. As soon as I have a drink in my hand I need a fag. And even though I can go all day without a smoke on a night out (or a night in) I can smoke at least 20 in one sitting.

So not drinking (as well as being the best thing for me in general) removes the temptation to smoke.

I've worked out that if I don't drink or smoke for the next 3 months that I could buy myself an ipad. So I've got a picture of an ipad on my fridge to keep me motivated!!!!

I feel really good this morning, full of energy and I haven't got that nagging feeling of guilt that is my usual companion.

I've got a day of DIY planned - I'm decorating my bedroom, a pile of books ready to read and a knitting project to start.

And I'm off to wash my hair now, safe in the knowledge that for today it will smell all nice and clean - not faggy, smoky and stale.

Grrrrr! Bloody bank have called and changed appointment to tomorrow! Was all geared up for it today.

lowenergy - you sound really positive! Great idea to have loads of different jobs etc planned!

Grrr from me too! Have just got red pen down the front of my light blue top, right on top of my boobs and have nothing else to wear so have to walk around like this for the rest of the day!

Sober sex is great. (Reminds me of a line by a stand-up comic, actually, who was talking about computers - "CYBER sex? I can barely manage SOBER sex!") Also, Luci, I obviously don't know how old you are - but, if it's been mainly "tipsy or worse" for 20 years, how much sex of any kind was there before that started and how the hell do you remember what it was like? Give it a go - you may surprise yourself! (And you are certainly less likely to embarrass yourself by, for example, falling asleep "mid-activity" ...)

Hello Steam - welcome. What exactly are you scared of? Silly question, I know, but you may find it helps to go through the motions of answering it.

Lowenergy

Good luck with packing both in together. Take it one day at a time. I am sure you can do it.

I have to say that I couldn't do it - I had to pack up the drink first and leave the smoking till later, because, addicted as I was to both, it was being drunk that stopped me thinking straight and had me doubting my decision each time I tried to do it the other way round. And, if I tried to do both, then cracking on one would make me feel useless and was my excuse to crack on the other, too.

Hi

Having a horrible day

but not drinking

morning all

daaaaay 9

panicking about trying to organise the bbq

found a fab little kit from asda for doing helium balloons, thats as far as I've got lol

Miflaw - I've just got this urge to be totally 'clean'...does that make any sense?

I haven't really had an urge to smoke yet, but I do keep thinking how nice a glass of wine/gin/beer/meths would be!!

Like you say though, one day at a time.

As for sober sex, when I'm on a bender I'm crap at sex. I have no desire for it and am probably a rubbish partner.

When sober my sex drive reappears and I am a much better lover.

Lowenergy

I completely understand that "urge". I arrived at AA wanting to stop drinking, stop smoking, stop gambling, cut down on coffee ... But, in my case, an "urge" had never been enough and, when I failed, just became an extra stick to beat myself with. I was given excellent advice in AA - stop doing them in the order they are killing you.

Even then, it took me a while - but, today, I have not drunk for seven and a half years; I have not smoked for six and a half; I no longer gamble compulsively because it was the drink that made me lose sight of reason and unable to walk away from a losing deal; and, while I still drink too much coffee, I have yet to be barred from Caffe Nero or escorted from starbucks by an ambulance crew, so maybe that one's not such a big deal after all.

Think we all understand that "urge", in my case I describe it as total lack of patience, I want to stop drinking, stop smoking, stop eating too much.
I want to be sober, non-smoking, slim, healthy, sylish etc etc etc:)