The Brave Babes Battle Bus - Sweeping Into Autumn With A One Way Ticket To Sobriety.

[Mouseface]

Phew, just in time!

I'm mouse and I love a few to drink. I love all things cheese and I love MrMouse

Welcome to the Bus. We are a collection of drinkers, non-drinkers, and those who are somewhere in between but we all have the same thing in common, we can't just have 1 drink and then stop.

Come say hi, we don't bite .

Here are the other threads to date, if you have a spare hour or seven to kill.

OUR HISTORY

Morning, Well day 3 and my head still feels a bit fuzzy and I feel a bit sluggish all over but I am feeling positive

mouse as a newbie I don't know the full extent of your spine problems but it sounds a lot to cope with good luck at the doc's today

Thanks for the jigsaw link startafire I have just had a quick look and right now it looks more tempting than a glas of wine so feeling positive so far today. The weekend looms but i am determined to just have two glasses of wine tomorrow night then switch to soft drinks probaobly deluding myself but I am not ready to go tee total forever

venus thanks x posted will give that site a looky too

oooo no one quick look and now i am addicted to online jigsaws how fab is that

X - post with saf

wellies if you REALLY want to drink less tomorrow then here's one approach:

• start by making sure that you are really well hydrated during the day, and not too hungry. That way you don't go out hungry and thirsty and try to solve it with alcohol (which doesn't work, it only dehydrates you more), so lots of tea / juice / water during the day.
• when you arrive, ALWAYS start with a non-alcoholic drink; know what you are going to ask for and know what you are going to say e.g. "I'm so hot and thirsty after rushing to get here, you know I think I'll start with an orange juice and soda - lots of ice please."
• Have a non-alcoholic drink as your second drink too, and again know what you're going to have and what you're going to say e.g. "That was so refreshing, I think I'm going to have another orange and soda".

All of that stops you from dithering around and making the 'easiest' decision which is usually to just have the same as everyone else (assuming they're all on the wine). It means that you can still have your couple of drinks, but later in the evening, rather than right at the start and then 'punishing yourself' by struggling to say "No more" after the first 2 glasses. And it is always easier to ask for a non-alcoholic drink as your first drink than as your third drink, so as a strategy it is much more effective.

But try it out. And if you do start with your couple of alcoholic drinks, then find it difficult to stop, you'll know what you're up against, and you can also wonder whether you really wanted to be as sensible as I am suggesting

thurso we went out for 'good-bye' dinner with dd [sob] [sob]. Actually I feel saddest because she's been all clingy and cuddly.

Hi all - checking in to confess as I broke my own rules last night and ended up drinking too much wine (thingie at school with free wine- only had two small glasses there but then went on to dinner...). Am really cross with myself, but kind of not surprised - I didn't drink much non-alcoholic stuff during the day yesterday and have been feeling a bit run down and depressed this week, and also was feeling like I'd conquered the problem after six/seven weeks. Obviously not, and my original plan to stick to the rules like glue for at least a year was the right one. Grr. The really hard thing is that I enjoyed myself, don't have a hangover, and feel a lot less depressed this morning, which is unhelpful. Anyway, I am not going to drink today.

So many people on this thread now that I'm struggling to keep up!

mouse good luck at the doctor; wellies well done on progress so far; thurso good luck with the shopping, and well done to all those on diet/exercise regimes. Speaking of which, am off for a run. Am going to try and increase to 40 minutes today, so wish me luck!

venus thank you very good advice and yes you are right I would probably start on wine then get carried away.

Why could I not be sensible enough to think of that? Just as well I joined this bus trip you babes are proving to be my lifeline

I can't keep up either, but hello all, hope all those working week babes are glad it's Friday! I'm house hunting for somewhere cheap and temporary today and have counsellor, alternative therapist, etc. Busy enough to keep my head elsewhere. And have baking commissions later, plus a meeting to get me through the weekend with my girl and no meetings.
In important news - SS are no longer taking me to court, but increasing time at home and the big meeting in 10 days will determine the last bit of the schedule!!! Hooray!!! There is light, at last :)

great news noteven, and good luck with the househunting!

Great news noteven, and there is som much that you can say about how you are protecting yourself, keeping busy, using your meetings, your sponsor and us. Glad to hear about your baking - what are you going to make? Are you watching the Great British Bake Off?

MOrning everyone

How are you MOuse have you managed to get an appointment with your GP.

Great news Noteven reg SS, one less stress and now a weekend with DD

Legal don't forget how well you have done, last night was just a slip up. Good on you for a 40 run

Glad you got through your wobble Isindie

I am feeling a bit fed up today, just got a speeding fine of £90 and had to rush the dog to the vets last night which has cost me £73 for a bruised shoulder!

DD was at her Dad's last night (DS still on school trip) and she rung me as she was missing me and to tell me she loves me. I think she is feeling unsure about being around her Dad's at the moment after he (in my opinion) let her down last weekend over the fall out she had with his girlfriend.

Looking forward to tonight when both my DC's are back home. Hardly drank anything last night either despite having white wine in the fridge

Afternoon Babes

noteven - that is FANTASTIC news!! What a lovely thing to read. I wasn't ignoring your post yesterday about Nemo and nursery, I have to go with him as he has no 1:1 in place as yet. We're hoping that they will do a statement for him in the coming months so that it's in place for when he starts full time nursery next September.

IsinDe - well done to you!

Zany - £90?! That's a lot! What was it for? Sorry to hear that DD is out of sorts, I think that the issues last weekend are still playing on her mind aren't they.

Well, I called the docs first thing. They are only seeing 'medical emergencies' today. 5.20pm is my appt. Hmmmm, good job it's not really an emergency isn't it?

Thank you for all the concern. I'm feeling ever so sore and stiff today. My back is killing me so I'm on double pain killers. No driving too, just in case this is something more than fatigue. Will keep you all posted.

just checking in, hi to all

Very true MOuse as its certainly playing on my mind alot. Basically what happened is that my DD and her Dad's, girlfriends DS were arguing over conkers as she was giving him some that the had picked but he chose her favourite one. Because they were arguing the girlfriend took the bloody conker saying 'I'll have it if its causing problems' (which is fair enough). My DD then walked off in a huff so the girlfriend threw the conker at her and it hit her. I was round the corner about 10 feet away when this all happened and my DD told me on the way home what happened. My DD's Dad was there at the time and denied that it was thrown and told my DD on the phone later to apologise to his girlfriend which my DD refused. Well there have been many tears/talks since and I was starting to think maybe my DD was exagerating. I asked her Dad to come round the other night to clear the air as I could see my DD was getting more and more unhappy as her Dad didn't back her up. He then admits the other night that his girlfriend did throw it at her but his defence was that the bruise on her hip wasn't from the conker as it hit her back!

Phew sorry for the long post - getting more annoyed with him and his girlfriend now

What the actual fuck?! What a cowbag. Who does she think she is? You're a better woman than I, I'm afraid I'd have had it out with her.

Your poor DD! Do you know what, if I were you, I'd be asking her if she wants to seem any more and if she does, insist that he comes to take her out on their own.

This is what I had to do with DD and her dad. If he wants to see her, he now has to make the effort and come to collect and drop her off (long story and too many second chances blown) plus I have told him that he is seeing her, not his now wife and taking DD out for the day, not his fucking wife.

Amazingly, he understands that he's on thin ice with her, she's 12.5 so has more things to do at weekends now. She has friends and of course Facebook!

Seriously though, if he wants to see her, he needs to buck his ideas up. Nobber!

BLOODY HELL!!!!!

I have a new addiction, JigSaws! Thanks for that link venus

me too ... jig sawed all lunchtime rather than go to the pub

I feel really angry towards he about it but I know that my DC's have been very up and down recently, mainly about how they feel about her but also to be honest because they are not too happy that I am seeing (as friends) my XP so I didn't want to disrupt things any more or cause more upset. I will be quizzing asking him why he demanded she apologise to his girlfriend when he knew what she had done. Unfortunately he is a weak man who lets his girlfriends dominate him and will do whatever they say. Shame he can't put his DC's first.

Hope your appointment goes OK Mouse, thinking of you.

I'm off to collect DC's now and embarras my DS with a big hug/kiss as I haven't seen him since MOnday.

Ah, nice Zany, hugs are fab. You do need to lay the law down with spineless fucker though. No way should he be using his own bloody DD to keep his GF sweet!

She sounds vile. Sorry.

Wellies - good for you, maybe we should have a Brave Babes Jig Saw comp one night? Keep us all out of trouble!

How are you today? Feeling good about everything?

Just quick pop in to say good luck at hospital Mouse.

mouseface a jigsaw fest sounds fab to me. I hope that your docs went well.

Being honest I am struggling today , Friday evening used to be start of the weekend hit the wine early (ier than usual) night but I have made a hard and fast rule that I do not drink home alone anymore even though it is Friday and one of my 'allowed' days.

So got the hump a bit and feeling deprived but I do have fizzy water , lots of ice and lime to keep me company and I am going to have a quiet night in front of either my laptop on jigzone or the TV fingers crossed I can last the whole evening.

I do actually have a bottle of wine in my fridge but I am determined to be strong .... wish me luck

Thanks isinde smug sounds fab to me

wellies it is perfectly Ok to feel irritated that you're not drinking tonight. It's OK to feel a bit deprived. Know what? Neither of those will do you any harm, you won't wake up tomorrow morning feeling deprived, and most likely (I speak from experience) if you distract yourself, drink something refreshing, eat something tasty, you won't feel deprived in another half an hour.

Go on, give it try, experiment, be adventurous with your sobriety.