The Brave Babes Battle Bus - Carry On Past The Park Bench!

[HammerMouseOfHorrors]

Hello

I'm Mouse and one of the Brave Babes on the Battle Bus.

The bus is never full and you'll find a real mix of people on board, all with the same goal.

To take control of their drinking. Whether that's to stop completely or cut right down.

Everyone is welcome to get on the bus at any point. You will receive a warm welcome and plenty of support.

Some come meet the others.........

The journey so far.

JWN's original thread

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Hello mouse, how sweet of you to ask. haven't been doing much job hunting as just trying to keep up with kids and house and looking after DH who is pretty depressed atm. He's on a double dose of prozac and has been for ages. It's weird, it is like he doesn't feel anything. So he is wrapped up in his own space and consequently is as helpful or useful as a 'fart in an elevator' as my lovely aussie friend put it...! He has some freance stuff but not much. Spends aaaalllllllllllllllll day and night fiddling around on his laptop 'working'.

How are you? How's Nemo?

I had some odd dreams and woke up in a sweat. Eugh.

Hi everyone,
Waking up sober is so good. I need to remind myself of this during those difficult evenings. I can't believe it's only Tuesday - but a day at a time, though. I've bought myself a new cross stitch for the evenings, which keeps my hands and brain distracted.

Morning noteven I'm happy to be jumping on the bus not hungover this morning as well.
christi hope you managed to get back to sleep.

[girn]

Steady Morticia I'm sorry I was playing around trying to find a smiley with a witches hat! At what point during this non drinking lark do you grow up!

morning ladies -

See you made it through the evening without damage - and I believe from last night posts DM did the same in the end :) -

This morning feeling a bit glum back to the grind which means there will be shouting at my laptop and despairing at stupidity of some people

• Already seen plenty in my inbox but I am not gonna let it get to me and I will only do one thing at the time - despite arsey emails.. only have two hands .. Now realise how much work is affecting me :( thing is I like my job really and some projects when clients are glued up are a pleasure .. but it seems the ones that don't know what they are doing are also to the ones that are most demanding and arsey

anyway enough whining from me - In reality my life is good and tonight Ill make another dash to the pool to de-stress .

whitchety i got back to sleep phew!

diabolik it does sound like work is stressful. What can you change about it? Anything that you can do? What would be on your wishlist? How czn you change the way clients approach you? Can you help to educate them differently? Give them a more realistic set of expectations?

Also, as well as running would you ever consider yoga or meditating? Or kickboxing?!

Hope everyone well. neam good idea on the cross stitch. Haven't done that for ages...

Where's venus?

AntiChristi

not a lot that is under my control unfortunately .. - Structurally there is a lot but every time I stick my neck out I get extra work ( is an old ploy but so effective )

As for yoga - medticating etc ... nah Im ok running / swimming chills me out just the same

Morning babes and blokes,

diabolik I found when I stopped drinking that you realise what is making you unhappy in your life. It was a shock to me that life didn't become perfect to be honest. I find work a major issue in life but sadly don't have any answers (sorry). Just wanted you to know that I share your pain!

Christi I know that things are pretty crap but you are sounding much more positive, its really lovely. Also share your pain on DH / laptop thing. I don't get the appeal of spending hours faffing about with networks and settings and files. Its not actually doing anything is it? [hgrin]

Morticia I plan not to grow up. I am just going to have a second childhood with DD! How was your weekend? Did you get some time to yourself?

neam its good to wake up without the cack feeling isn't it. It gets as addictive as drinking ... [hgrin]

mouse, wasindi JWN MIFLAW lucil venus and all the other peoples, big hello and sending you strength, happiness and contentment through t'internet.

Gee household is doing ok. Gearing up for the big move.DH getting stressed about it all (change is v difficult for him, as are non regulation carpets...). It would all be ok if I had another 24 - 48 hours of time just to myself to sleep, work and order carpets!

Sorry I am not being much help at supporting anyone else at the moment, much love and strength to you all.

Tell the booze to fuck the fuck right off.

ty Ms - I will need to find my own answers - also my answer to Anti as to what I can change is very much the shortest answer I could give on the subject ( it is a very long and boring story ) - My hope is that the longer I stay sober the more I can get on top of my brief - Which I don't think I am right now at the most I am firing at 70% .. - also I have decided I will be pushing back a lot harder from here on in .. I cant have work drive me to drink :)

I think that not drinking does help with work. My work problems haven't disappeared but I am able to be a bit more objective in coming up with solutions and am more confident that I am giving 110% so beat myself up less.

Of course its 9.45am and I am still faffing about without actually starting work, so I am not exactly doing well myself!!

Morticia - to get a hat on your smilies you need to put a h before the word you are typing.

Like this - hgrin so you get [hgrin]

*Christi - sounds hard for you lovely. Nemo is ok. He's back to having horrendous reflux again and that impacts massively on our lives but we just have to get on with it and work around the poor little chap.

I just want to make sure that what he loses gets replaced. [hsmile]

diabolik - morning. Sorry you get stressed out re work. Loving the 'glued' up clients! [hgrin]

Before I aquired my disability, I loved swimming and running to de-stress and like you found it a huge release.

Remember, there is always one of us around to have a rant to today if it all gets on top! [hsmile]

neam - cross stitch is a great idea. Nice and relaxing too.

Morning to the rest of the Brave Babes....... anyone seen MIFLAW of late? Did he miss the new bus? [hgrin]

Morning everyone. Had my first counselling yetserday and guess what, she suggested strongly that I stop drinking [hshock], said I needed to "feel" again and that drink suppresses feelings!

desire - how clever is she? [hhmm]

Did she suggest how best to stop the drinking or was she not quite that clever?

How do you feel it went?

Bingo - first one - Client wants to automate something that is completely out of scope ..
And their trading partner doesn't even want to attend frigging meetings

Oh come on diabolik, surely you can handle a client as unrealistic as this? [hwink]

LOL mouse - yeah but it shows you the kind of lunacy I deal with -

Time for coffee and cookies ... :)

A little lunacy brightens the day, no?

I used to love dealing with clients that wanted the moon on a stick.

There was a lot of smiling and nodding on those occasions!

Keep calm and carry on! [hgrin]

Mouse, she suggested AA as I have no significant support around me in RL, didn't use the word alcoholic (think she thought it would scare me off) but that I am dependent on alcohol to help me suppress/bury my feelings, and you know what - she is right!!
Only realised yesterday that deep down I am a really angry person and I need to learn to deal with that anger instead of burying it (had it buried so far that I genuinely would never have thought of myself as being angry)[hshock]

Boards the bus feeling sober and perky.
But why is it that this wonderful morning sober feeling disappears as soon as the wine o clock bell chimes and I feel the urge to undo all the good by tipping poison down myself even though i know I will feel crap afterwards and I like this feeling better!!
Will that urge ever stop?

How do you feel about going to AA desire?

JWN is a good person to talk to about that, as is MIFLAW. They both have experience of it.

As for the anger, how are you going to deal with that?

Desire. Mouse asked how you felt it went. How do YOU feel it went?

after missing the bus at the stop I've found it. grabbing my seat for this week.

monday done and dusted with no wine and am feeling better waking up without a fuzzy feeling or knowing that I am getting through the day coping rather than being on good form.

dh I think does realise finally he needs to do something, and yes he is incredibly controlling and manipulative a lot of the time. his father is the same.

he also seems to realise he is overcritical, especially with me - i'm losing weight and am doing really well and normally it would be a "well you still have more to go" or some other such pearl but for the past coule of days there has been acknowledgement that actually I'm getting there...

long may it last.

Forthe, I felt sort of relived after it, I don't normally discuss my feelings but was open and honest with her, I felt like I had emptied my head a little bit, if that makes sense.
My anger Mouse is not a shouty sort of anger, it's a bubbling sort of anger, a "why the hell can nobody see me" anger??