The Brave Babes Battle Bus - Next Stop Sobriety!

[Mouseface]

Hello, welcome to thread number six!!

I'm Mouse and, thanks to these threads, I quit the booze on August 2nd 2010.

This truly is a fantastic source of support for anyone who wants it! Full of real, honest, everyday people who are all at different stages of quitting the booze, cutting down or being long term sober.

There are no judgmental 'know-it-alls' here, whatever your circumstances, you will be supported all the way.

Come and meet the rest of The Brave Babes........

And, as before, here are the previous five threads for those who would like to see how this all began.

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

Thread two

Thread three

Thread four

Thread five

"Please note that the Big Book, which is the key AA text, is available free online. You do not need to buy it."

Also available in most public libraries and, of course, in copyright libraries if you are lucky enough to have access to one of those.

Wasindie that is fantastic!!! I am going to frame it and put it up in new office (bank just called and mortgage approved, hurrah!!).

wasindie - crikey! I am not even sure I understand what you do write about! It sounds very intelligent though!

MIFLAW - thanks for that. I sometimes find it hard to articulate my feelings about AA. While I would never ram it down anyone's throat (not that you do at all) I would really hope that anyone struggling with alcohol would realise that it's something to consider - and just give it a go. It really does work!

MsGee - great news about the mortgage!!

I'm back.

MIFLAW

Thank you for the post on AA. Much clearer.

Wasindie

Maybe you could write poetry on the side, whilst you are doing nothing? You know, whilst you're sat twiddling your thumbs, waiting for life to pass you by?

MsGee

Wonderful news about your mortgage!!

Right, lunch and pain killers for me then DS's nurse then the windows company are getting blasted for being utterly shite!!

Hear the tiny Mouse roar!! GGGgggrrrr!

Bye for now mouse - hope your pain killers kick in!

Nice post MIFLAW. The first AA meetings I went to a couple of years ago had coffee. Really, really disgusting coffee. And then some people on an online forum (not this one) told me that it would help my social isolation if I "did some service" and turned up early to make disgusting coffee for other people.

Thankfully none of the meetings I have been to this time round have been anything like that. No coffee or unneccesary socialising for me. I save that for being on here

"No coffee or unneccesary socialising for me."

You're a natural for this Fellowship ...

How are you MIFLAW? Apart from swooping in and helping us out with welcome words about AA of course?!

I am well, thanks. Off work, and the joys of working out why the £500m grants programme is all lies, today, for our second scan with our second.

The joys of sobriety ...

Not sure what to say about the £500m grants programme...! I am sure it's a welcome break today. But congratulations about your second! That's fantastic news. When's the baby due? (If you don't mind me asking, of course.)

Hope all is/ was well with the scan!

MIFLAW - congrats on the second (very brave with a two year old!). Intrigued about the £500m grants programme (high level of crossover in my work) and I am struggling to find any grants programmes with any such dosh!

Wasindie ... systems thinking ... I haven't a clue what that is, but it sounds important. And impressive. I don't think I had a coherent thought for the first 6 months after DD was born.

Red - how are you today? Working hard, unlike the rest of us??

Mouse - loved the tiny Mouse roar! Hope the nurse visit is helpful and have fun roaring at the window companies.

Venus - had to laugh at your focus on the disgusting coffee at meetings. Its the thought of other people that really puts me off them

MsGee - can't you tell that I am working very, very hard here?! Hmm...

Well I had to presume that you were working harder than me... (acheivements in last two hours, making a sandwich, writing an invoice, watching neighbours, posting here).

Off to redo my to-do list ...

In case anyone took my last comment seriously, I have no views on AA meetings, I'm just generally a bit anti social gatherings with new people (not much experience of doing it sober!). And I have you all

This is my poetic response for wasindie

THE BRAVE BABES' BIG SOCIETY

I sometimes feel a little down and feel a bit alone,
No-one I can talk to and no-one on the phone.
I get a bit frustrated, there's things I'd like to do,
I'd like to help to change the world. Be honest, wouldn't you?

But often it's too difficult I don't know where to start,
Don't want to join a think tank, just give something from my heart.
It's social isolation, or that's what others think,
I only know that when I'm down I often have a drink.

And then one morning just by chance I came upon this thread,
I read how other people felt and knew just what they said.
I joined in, I bared my soul, I shared some things I'd done,
And almost without noticing, I even had some fun.

So now there's quite a network, we help each other out,
Acceptance of each other, support fo those in doubt.
No funding from the government, no committees and no fuss,
The Brave Babes Big Society is working well for us.

venus - that made me quite teary! (And I am in the office!) That was wonderful! Thank you x

MsGee - no worries about the AA comment, I thought it was a tongue in cheek thing anyway. Yes, I go to AA and would encourage people to give it a go. But it's whatever works for you!

venus, that is amazing. I got quite emotional reading it.

And wasindie, perhaps it's not systems thinking that we need, it's systems DOING. Actually doing something about the pointless, single-focus, silo thinking, planning and policy making that surrounds and inhibits real change and action.

Not that I have any strong views .... and breathe.

Red - it is heartening to see the meetings work for so many people. I just can't see me going to one for lots of reasons, partly the control thing! Plus I am very lazy. My DH jokes that if I had the choice I would never leave the house. I can't wait for winter when I can reasonably stay indoors most of the time. Yay.

MsGee - at least you are aware of it and the fact that it does work for many. So if anything changed in the future you would not have been put off it. I think that's what scares me... people being put off by others without seeing for themselves.

Right AA lecture over! (For now, ha ha!)