The Brave Babes Battle Bus - Carry On Past the Valentine's Wining and Dining

[notevenamousie]

Following on from jesuswhatnext and her original very successful thread and all the many others here , this is the Brave Babes Battle Bus, sharing struggles, thoughts, experience, strength and hope concerning life but more specifically our relationship with, and our journey through, cutting down or cutting out alcohol.

There is no judging or nastiness, just support for whatever works, and if we fall out of the bus we are always welcomed back on when we are ready with open arms and listening ears.

I'm notevenamousie and I'm an alcoholic. I abused and was dependent on alcohol for months if not even a couple of years. I feel a hundred times better physically, emotionally, spiritually, since giving in the fight with alcohol, admitting I had lost, and walking away, but it's very much one day at a time.

If you are a long time lurker, why not make this thread the one you jump in and say hello!

Zany - I'll see your Newsnight, BBC1 news, Question Time, University Challenge, National Trust membership, bag and rug and I'll raise you a Blue Badge Parking Permit, Mastermind AND anything like Life On Earth/Blue Planet.

Newsnight, BBC1 news, Question Time, University Challenge, National Trust membership, bag and rug, Blue Badge Parking Permit, Mastermind, Life On Earth, Blue Planet and a car journey with a flask

of tea

Newsnight, BBC1 news, Question Time, University Challenge, National Trust membership. Can tick all of those Caravan Club membership?

ma I have the Friday feeling too ((hugs)) Long week, no longer than they usually are mind, so make that a 'difficult' week and I deserve a drink. But unlike the friends I was talking to at the school gates this afternoon, that doesn't apply to me!

Must dash. Taking eldest DS to kick boxing. Will be back later.

thurso

Okay, you're winning currently but I see you've missed out warm sandwiches in a plastic tub!

That is, of course, unless you are posh and have an M&S cooler bag, a little dainty thing. My mother has far to many!

Na, never! M&S is the dogs xx

hi all! - am in my pjs here - have had a major struggle this evening, i think the stress of everything caught up with me - im ok, had a good cry and a sniff, did the drill and im off to bed in a mo.

tomorrow is a nice day, my bfs dd is 16 so we are all off out for a meal - it hits me sometimes how quickly life moves, we met when our girls were at nursery, now they are at uni, college or about to do gcses AND THEY BRING BOYFRIENDS OUT WITH THEM TOO! , how did that happen? still, it will be a good fun, noisy evening, just what i need right now!

see you in teh morning babes!

L XXXXXXXXX

hmm! wonder if chanel do cooler bags? quilted obs!

JWN

Be gentle on yourself sweets, you've got shit loads on your plate at the moment, no wonder your wobbling.

But you kicked it's ass, right? you told it to fuck the fuck off, right?

GO YOU!

I hope you get some well deserved rest and have a wonderful weekend xx

night babes. Hope you all have lovely sleeps.

JWN take care of yourself.

Noteven glad your mum is doing ok. Hope DD is better soon

So sorry to have been absent this week while back at work. I have been leaving the house at 7am and it's 8pm before I'm home and have put the kids in bed so I hardly have time to wash let alone mums net! It's going ok but am exhausted, stupidly i had some wine last night and then woke up at 5am this morning, so annoyed as it's my one chance to sleep late. My own silly silly fault.

Will catch up on thread and hope everyone ok

Morning all

Hope everyone is well and happy!!
Looking forward to a produtive sober weekend.

Be safe and stay sober

xxxx

Hi all
I,m not about as much these days, but I still look in when I can. You are all brilliant. I have been feeling a bit wobbly too JWN. I think this time of year is tough, it has been a long dark winter and I am desperate for some sunshine and daylight. I have not had a drink for 8 months, and I am proud of that, but I think I need to find other ways of making my self feel happy/cheery, or other ways to lift my mood. Bollocks I've started typing and realised I don't know what I really mean, if you have any ideas what I am going on about, let me know

Hi Miss Perrier I guess you maybe feeling ready for Spring and sick of the dark winter and therefore looking for something to cheer you up.
This time of year has some promise of Spring so we can look forward to that.
What, we all know is that alcohol will not make anything better.

I think exercise is the key to get all those endorphins going. Whether that is a 5 mile run or a stroll round the block, it makes me feel better so that is what I intend to do today. Do you fancy joining me

Hi all

I think I would like to join you on this thread if that's ok with everyone. I have realised that it's time for me to stop drinking. I just can't control it any more, and although I'm not ready to go to any meetings yet, I would really like someone to virtually hold my hand while I try to give up.

A little background to my problems... I think I have a rather addictive, or perhaps extreme, personality, and although I have never been addicted to drugs, I have mahoosive issues around both drinking and overspending. Think a lot of it is linked to low self-esteem. I don't down a bottle of vodka at 9am, but I drink around 4 to 5 units most days (normally wine, to 'destress' after work), and when I go out it can get really messy. Like last night. I am not a genial happy drunk, I am mean, unpredictable, get memory loss, and sometimes end up throwing up etc. These incidents are much rarer than they used to be, but they are bad enough to scare me when they do happen.

What has frightened me most recently is that I tried to cut down, and I don't seem to be able to. I get really cranky if I can't get a drink in the evening. And I think I've started trying to cover up how much I drink. So it is without a doubt time to stop completely.

How do I go about doing this? What do I say to my husband? Do I clear all the booze out the house? Tell me what I need to do.

You all sound so amazingly strong, it's fantastic to hear about being alcohol free for 8 months, etc.

morning all! , had a good nights sleep and feel soooo much better for it!

hi missp!, havent seen you for a while!, i think i do get what you mean - i am desperate for a bit of sunshine and warmth!, looking for positives in the grey damp can be quite hard work!, im specally enjoying the sight of snowdrops, catkins, crocus shoots, daffs and tulips this year, i keep reminding myself that change is always just round the corner and that its a GOOD THING! , bloody well done on the 8 months btw!, im coming up to 9 this next week, something i never thought i could achieve, im very proud of myself!, a very real positive i am noticing though is that my dd is used to me being sober!, something im immensly proud of!

hi ellie!, i take it you are hungover and remorseful? , never mind!, its a very good place to start!

as to how you go about getting sober, the method is very much up to you! - my drinking was so out of control i didnt need to tell my husband, he told me! ,, why not just tell your dh you are worried, feel shitty and want to stop drinking for a while?, i still have booze in teh house, dh likes a glass of wine or a beer, its up to me if i drink it or not - i choose not to, i decided at the start that banishing it from the house would make no difference to me, if i want a drink, i will go to the shop and get some, however, i do know that quite of few of the babes put it all in the garage (out of sight out of mind, hopefully), its really your call!, we have a 'drill' for the evenings if things get hard going - brush teeth, have long soak, get in pjs (most of us wouldnt go to the shop or pub in jamas!), go to bed early, read, sew, watch tv, make love, write and essay on the evils of drink! , it dosent matter what it is you do, sl long as you dont have the first drink!

dont think too long term!, you can only be sober today, yesterday is gone, tomorrow isnt here yet, today is what counts and

TODAY WE WILL NOT BE DRINKING!!

Partly I am hungover and remorseful, yes. But it's something I've been thinking about for a while(I last researched AA etc about 6 months ago), and I already knew in my heart of hearts that I need to stop, because apparently I can't do moderation.
Definitely no chance of drinking today though, couldn't even look at a glass of wine without wanting to hurl :)
I'm off to get rid of the wine (DH doesn't drink it) and hide the beer. You're spot on about not having that first drink... Maybe I need a couple of good books to distract me...

Thanks for the welcome IsinDeBetterPlace

Wine is going in the bin, it's definitely that that I have an issue with. I'm definitely going to follow your 3 steps. Could be an interesting chat with DH later... I think he'd love me to be sober, he has mentioned a few times in a faux-jokey way that I'm an 'alchy' , which could easily have been his way of trying to broach the subject.

I'm getting to the point where it's making me physically ill most mornings (chronic diarrhea), I really need to stop . Have no idea why I thought I was in control just because I'd stopped the full on falling-over-passing-out-drunk binge-drinking thing...

Hiya ellie
Welcome to the BB Bus. indie and jwm have summed it up beautifully.

I realised that I couldn't do it myself and asked for help from the people around me (including this lovely lot)
Gor rid of all alcohol.
Got myself a wine time drill. Good non alco drinks, books, rubbish tv. Sugar hits, coz I was not taking sugar from the wine, Early bath and jammies to avoid the temptation of going to the shops for supplies.

Also trained myself to tell the other voice in my head to "Fuck the fuck off, and when it gets there fuck off some more"! Slightly insane, but working for me!! .

And I talk to you lot - alot, and I talk to my AA friends alot, and I look after myself, and I make my sobriety the number one priority in my life.