The Brave Babes Battle Bus - Carry On Past The Vineyard.

[Mouseface]

Welcome to the Bus!

I'm Mouse and you'll find me snuggled sat at the back where it's warmest!

If you're sober, drinking, or somewhere between the two, you are more than welcome on board.

No judging, no cliquey groups and no closed minds here, oh no! Chances are, no matter how bad you may be feeling right now, one of the Brave Babes will have been there too!

So, come say hi.

And, to read the last thread and other journeys so far, follow this link

-have- had

have even!

X posted Noteven

Sorry you've had a crazy day.

BB - Are you sat down?

46.88 units and 2550 calories.

OMG + the % covered by the alcoholic's lies!

Does anyone know how many calories are in a standard bottle of white wine?

I know how many units I was consuming in a week (1-1.5 bottles a night takes you over a 100 doesn't it ), but never really thought about how many calories of wine I was racking up!

And that is just 5 bottles of 12.5% red. An average week. Or a quiet week as I would say.

Very tame compared to my old consumption. So, how are you going be at your 50th?

What are your plans?

By God, I do not miss my puffy, linned and grey face. Not one bit.

Do you know something else BB, my cheeks are far less flushed too, the broken spider veins are less visible.

All of those little tell-tale signs that 'the lady at the checkout with the cheap vodka' will drink it all tonight......... are all ebbing away.

And I feel GREAT for it.

Am making my first batch of Christmas Cards, music on, pizza in oven, diet coke in hand. Sounds ok

Standard bottle of white at say, 12% is 9 units and 555 calories.

Noteven - keep going!!!! You are doing great. Look at the time....... 9pm. No point in starting now.

Once you've eaten, finish off in the kitchen, have a hot chocolate and get into bed. Lush.

Oh, and make sure you send me some pizza for taste testing!!

No projecting allowed but I'm hoping to be sober, slimmer and FUN. In the words of the song I feeel goood!

Clinks elderflower glass with noteven's diet coke

mouse that's scary, so at least 5,000 empty calories per week

and that's without all the munchie crap and hangover comfort food!!!

Exactly BB. So what, double that? Shocking really.

But we have all or still do lie about what we consume.

Such a taboo to want a drink, need a drink, and the more you hide, the more embarrassed you become about it all. The less social your drinking becomes.

And for me, that is why these threads are so great!

None of you know me in RL (or do you? ) so I can be honest here.

I wasn't always, as I'm sure sometimes others aren't too.

Why are we still sometimes ashamed of what we do or did drink when we are very clearly not alone?

BB you go for it!! You are allowed to project sobriety, just not panic!!

Still, do it a day at a time. Maybe stick a chart up with days to count down to the big day? Cross them off as you get through them.

I found that helped in my first month. Not for everyone I know but if you can 'see' how sober you have become, it might just spur you on!

Shame is alcohol's deadly weapon, it sucks away your self esteem, and makes you turn back to it time and again. I can't believe how much happier I feel at present. I know I am lucky and have an easier life than a lot of the Brave babes, but I am so glad I told it to fuck the fuck off.

You go!

Time for bed here. Need to get Nemo setled and pay DH some attention.

Night all, sleep well xx

thanks for always being here Mouse give Nemo and DD a hug from me, I hope you have a quiet night.
I'm still here for a while babes if anyone wants to chat.

Mouse you are amazing, did you know?? I had a terrible dental abscess that required hospitalisation last Dec - I can feel some of your pain I hope - the FIX IT NOW!! pain. And once it was fixed - I barely needed the painkillers for the extraction - which demonstrated how bad the pain was before.

Unfortunately (I can't send some...) the pizza got a bit too toasty as I was being creative with the cards and then I forgot. I didn't know that kind of enjoyment and distraction was still possible. gggggggggggggggSo I resurrected the best bits and have enough in my tummy to sleep! Off to bed with hot milk which strangely I find more comforting that hot choc. And a hot water bottle - my house is COLD!! Tomorrow is day 3!!! And then I will start responding much better to individuals.

jwn I know these threads were first yours - please feel the gratitude from not just me but the lurkers that are surely to follow.

I am pondering thoughts of alcohol-less sex - for me it's in a positive wonderful relationship but have been there in FWB - remembering is surely such a good thing. And, um, truly consenting and enjoying.

I'm tired and going to try to sleep, until 3 or 4, anyway. Wishing strength for all.

What are those "g"s about???
They weren't in my post.

I'm off to have a hot bath with my book and then bed, sober!

Good night noteven, mouse and bbwannab. Sorry for bursting into your earlier conversation...I forget people can't see me sometimes!!

sleep tight xx

Well done noteven sleep well

threesteps I like the way conversations look random on here, and in RL I am very quiet so I also like the fact that I can butt in here

Hello to all the Brave Babes,

I've been lurking on this thread since day one and it's been a huge support over the last few months. JWN - you've been an inspiration to me. I read your first ever post on the day you posted it and related so much to what you said, how you felt and what you'd been through. It's been great to read everyone's stories; the triumphs and the slips- it helps me enormously. I'm sure there are many other 'silent witnesses' out there who would echo my sentiments.

Like so many others, I've struggled with alcohol for years. I could tell you all my horrible stories, I could recount my mornings of shame, the fear I felt having to face people after parties, having to phone people to apologise for my dreadful behaviour. Yikes....I get the eebie geebies just thinking of it! BUT - we've all been there. No point in recounting our 'rock bottoms'.

What I want to talk about is 'selfishness'. Sometimes you have to be selfish to get sober. My DH (we are now separated) knew I had a big time drinking problem. He supported me going to AA when things got really bad but he never really encouraged my progress. He didn't want to lose his 'party girl'. He didn't want to lose the lush of a wife who would only have sex with him when I was plastered. . I would go to AA meetings faithfully 5 times a week, but come the weekend, he'd suggest a drink. Well - to me, that was like 'permission'. "What, you mean I'm allowed a drink?- great!' And then the cycle of one drink leading to another would start til I went to AA again. Some people can have one or three drinks and then stop. I can't. DH never saw that and still doesn't.

I left my husband in July. Scary stuff - after being expats for 13 years of marriage, I left my DH and brought my DD back to live in England and it's been transformative. I still drink though. I've pretty much finished a bottle of wine tonight but that's in between 4 days here, five days there of complete sobriety and feeling great. I think the most I've managed is 14 days. I'm building on it though and it feels great. I read your posts every day and they give me strength.

I just needed to post after lurking for so long. I'm sorry if my story took up too much space. Just wanted to say that I'm grateful for this thread and that I'll keep on keeping on!
Best wishes to you all. xx

Good evening to anyone who is still around. So happy to hear about your evening noteven. I guess that we get so used to opening a bottle as a reflex action that we totally lose sight of how nice ordinary activities can be.

BBwannaB I really hope I'm not about to piss you off here but when you posted 5 bottles a week, my first reaction was "oh yeah, and the rest". That's the equivalent of half a bottle a night with dinner, plus a few G&Ts and a nightcap at the weekend. Yes it is a lot, but I am ashamed to say that when I was drinking at that level, I thought I was being restrained. I am mortified at the number of units I consumed, and I do not know how my poor overworked liver survived - I am still amazed and awed at how the human body responds and repairs itself.