The Brave Babes Battle Bus - Starting the Summer Filled With Luscious Mocktails.

[Mouseface]

Hello, I'm Mouse and I used to drink far too much. Too much vodka to be exact, then too much wine, then too much cider....... you can imagine how it went.

This Bus is full of people like me, and people like you actually. Sober people, drinkers, a few not surers, and those who are simply 'somewhere'.

The one thing that we have in common is that we can/do/did/will abuse alcohol.

Some for a number of years, some months, some for their entire adult (and before) lives.

The support here is for everyone. Those in AA, those who are taking medication to help, those going it alone, those with the support of others. We're all here for the same reason.

Why not come and say hello? We are all so very different in our every day lives but we all have a common theme.....

And, for those who want to see where all of this began 2 years ago, HERE IS a link to all of the past Bus rides.

Just logged on myself,
joey has something just happened, or has it been a gradual thing?, if you're out of your depth, it's up to workplace to work with you to improve things.
sending love xxxx

"your" workplace!!

thanks thurso

its been my second crap review in 2 months and I do feel I'm a bit out of my depth. Although I can't put my finger on why.

joey you got some good responses on the employment board. Try not to worry over the weekend.
It sounds like you make good use of outlook calendar, you could try to schedule in some thinking time every day, if you are getting loads of emails and reminders it feels like you are fire fighting all the time. If you have some scheduled thinking time you can plan for the next day/week. also when you are doing project work eg preparing for the meeting, turn off outlook, emails popping up can be incredibly distracting.

I use the flagging system on emails to 'bunch' them into similar types then rattle through them in blocks, which is easier to concentrate on than picking them off randomly.
You have a lot on your plate and I think forgetting stuff is a symptom of your stress.
Try to look after yourself, you are showing great strength of character and getting a grip on your life, work will fall into place as well.

- yep, TODAY would be FRIDAY, thanks for that and sorry for being an utter feckwit! Been a long, hard week and my days are all over due to the schools finishing on different days.............. so....................

Here it is again on FRIDAY!!!!!

Evening, tis me, Mouse

It's that day of the week again that some of us fear the most; the end of the week, it's Friday.

But yesterday it was almost Friday and the day before, it was 2 days away. Most of us know that, still have that little peak of 'ooooh, it's almost Friday'

Well, it has the same amount of hours as yesterday and tomorrow. It has a 'y' in it just like the rest of the days of the week.

I'm not sure why I'm posting this..... I just know (because I've been there and am only ever 1 drink away from 'it') that Friday night can be 'fuck it I deserve a drink'

But it's never a drink. It's rarely 2. Probably 3, most likely 4 drinks...... 1 bottle, another few glasses after that.

If you don't want to feel like Deep Fried Dog Vomit, tomorrow, or any other day, then take the label off Friday and look at what you have in that glass in your hand......

Joey - {{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{HUG}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}

Mouse groundhog day!

Mouse you're funny! In a good way .....

Isindie

about bloody time

where have you been, apart from getting married and on your honeymoon

missed ya babe x

Venus: now that's a concept - bored and lonely because I'm drinking too much..you could be on to something. It certainly limits me because I'm too tired/hungover sometimes to do much

Toptramp..I am in the same situation as you. No love life and can't handle my emotions. Plus all my friends are big drinkers too. And I just can't find the motivation to change..that is what I hate most.

joey sorry to hear you're having a tough time at work - haven't read your post in employment since yesterday, but have you let your employer know that your doc is investigating CFS? Under the DDA, they may be able to make some adjustments to your work, or at least take your current situation into consideration. THIS link has some information and includes memory issues or ability to concentrate.

But joey the best thing I noticed was that you felt crap, and wanted a drink. But the first thing you did was go out for a walk with your dog, and then post on mn for some good advice. That is really fantastic - a much more constructive approach that simply getting stuck into some crappy drink.

I had a interesting week - had a group of friends staying. All lovely people and a couple of nights they had loads a few drinks. The next mornings they were not visibly hungover, but god they were lethargic and demotivated. One who rarely drinks had only a couple of small glasses and she felt exhausted and slept for hours. It seems to be one of the worst tricks that alcohol plays on us - it makes us demotivated: too demotivated to change our drinking habits.

Have a good weekend all - the sun is at last shining, so I'm off to make the most of it.

Morning all, another {{{{{{{HUG}}}}}}} for you Joey and brilliant you haven't had a drink.

Venus it must be so liberating to be on the "other side" as it were. Your post has reminded me of all those ghastly Saturday mornings (and Sunday mornings and Monday mornings etc etc) when I too felt totally demotivated. It's a bit of a catch 22, you need to stop drinking to be motivated enough to stop drinking but it works!

I have my brother here to meet Alfie as he's going to house-sit for us in a couple of weeks whilst we're on holiday. They're getting on great, my bro is a problem drinker too who's been dry for two years and has all sorts of mental health issues but the dog is proving a real tonic for him.

Mia hope you're OK lovely, and that all is well in your world. xx

hi everyone, thanks for the support. I am doing my usual 'head-in-the-sand-don't-want-to-think-about-it' act. Not been back on the employment thread to read the replies, and probably won't until tomorrow - I just want to FORGET for a while.

And back on Day 1. After seven weeks, I'm afraid last night I caved - having to go to the in-laws I just couldn't cope on top of everything else.

At least I didn't get too drunk, or do my usual staying up till after everyone else had gone to bed. AND today I bought Raspberry & Soda from M&S instead of more wine.

mouse that must been interesting, having to repeat Friday! Did you get a weird sense of deja vu?

Just popping in from my holibobs! Not a drink in sight here because of a little baby and my friends are surely not drinkers anyway. Which is great, because it means I haven't even had to test myself and say "no thanks"

back from hols, all midge-bitten and exhausted.
don't have the energy to read back all the pages - someone give me a few line precis please.
Am on the alcohol free beer tonight after a heavy week.

Hello Ma

Can't do the precis!! but so lovely to hear from you!
Things rubbish with Dh here, hope not the same with you!
xxx

hey thurso
sorry things are bad dh wise.
DH and I actually managed to spend an entire week away without fighting or arguing about you know what! I did have to do a few early morning silent slithers out of bed to avoid any notions of nonsense, but apart from that it was ok.

ma I will try and do a precis, it goes like this - everyone has had problems either with kids or their partners or work, but despite this most have stayed on the bus. We have had several new passengers, but I can't remember all their names. isinde came back from her honeymoon and popped her head in, but then disappeared without even showing us photos!

greyhound had a problem with a dog. soma had no problems with a dog. The bus broke down and we had to call out an engineer, but after he'd repaired it we had a party & bbq on the hard shoulder... oh, no wait, that was a different thread.

Actually some old long-timers haven't been around for a while, perhaps we ought to have a roll-call...

the bus broke down???. What did you DO to make that happen?
O God, you didn't let indie drive did you?

I suspect that somebody tried to fill the petrol-tank with diesel... or vice versa... its all a blur really, what with the dancing and the burnt sausages and the dogs... so glad you are back to take control!

Am starting to get that little panicky feeling in the pit of my stomach... but am trying to control it by dealing with my issues instead of hiding them with alcohol

Hey Babes , after Soma's incredibly inspiring post the other day re:awesome things about being sober, I thought I'd post some of my reasons for wanting to get sober. It's interesting, I've made the decision to start the antabuse treatment so I seem to have started post-morteming my drinking already, before I've even started! Anyway, I'm posting from my shit phone so there's no paragraphs and I can only post a certain amount at a time or + can' see what I'm posting. Must get Iphone!

Maybe you could all rate me on how pathetically cliche my list is. I lurked for a while back when MIFLAW was around but haven't read all the backthreads yet, so sure it has been done to death! Anyway, here goes: 1- save money, 2- conserve energy by not being hungover, 3- save face, (ha ha both ways!), 4- free up some brain space by ceasing to obsess, 5- quality time increase with DCs (list not in order of importance btw), 6 maybe look a bit healthier.

7- maybe ressurect relationship with DH, something meaningful anyway, 8- stop hiding, stop letting DCs think alcohol is nomal (cos for them it probably never will be). 9- be confident about acquiring and holding down a good job. 10- be able to stand next to my younger gorgeous sister and not be a mess of nerves. 11- maybe stop the irrational fear that one of my DCs is going to pass crosses self , 12- be able to do my make up in the moening without xonsidering a wrist slash!

13- be able to buy more new stuff and throw more old stuff out. 14- maybe get a better self esteem, 15- maybe be able to walk next to eurasion beauty DD in 5 yrs when she's 16 looking like her grandmother instead of her great grandmother , maybe enough for now, nothing you haven't heard before I'm sure, Sunny vibes to you from Oz beautiful babes .

Hi Ma, Thurso, good to hear from you. Theresafire I love your list, glad mine inspired you! I'm so pleased you've decided to start antabuse and we can be there for eachother.

Do you live in Aus or are you just visiting? I have loads of aunts/uncles/cousins in Sydney as my dad is Australian. Also one of my best friends who emigrated some years ago and I never see here now :(

I've lost even more weight over the last week and gone down a bra size. This is extremely good news as I was a 34FF which on my smallish frame looks downright ridiculous. All down to no booze, slightly smaller portions (but nothing drastic) and dog walking. Forget faddy diets, all my colleagues at work are on something called the Dukan diet which in my view is really unhealthy (you can't eat fruit for the first 6 weeks for eg). Considering we work in a medical practice, I wonder if they've taken leave of their senses.

Happy Sunday everyone, the sun shineth! x