The Brave Babes Battle Bus - All Going On A Sober Holiday! <crosses fingers that it stays sunny>

[Mouseface]

Hello, tis me, mouse

Welcome to The Brave Babes Battle Bus, grab yourself a seat, they're really comfy and a , oh and a home-made chocolate chip before they all get eaten!

We're a Bus full of alcohol abusers/addicts, some of us say it out loud, some whisper it and some aren't ready to say it at all just yet.

That said, there are a few of us who just have the occasional drink and that's something that they can handle. There are a few of us who must NEVER have another drink because that first one will lead to many, many more which will only ever end badly.

We're open to all....there are no requirements to join us on our journey to sobriety, there's support, great laughs, tears and tantrums here and that's just me!!!

If you'd like to see how we got here, follow THIS LINK

I dearly wanted a glass of wine when I got back from swimming, not while I was doing it!!!!
Crap grammar, that's what the holidays do for you

Haha, I get what you mean Thurso. But you have done a lot today so I expect you're tired too. Well done on avoiding that urge. It's funny that when it's gone you wonder why it was so hard to resist at the time don't you. That's been the one thing I've always had to bear in mind, the craving will go. You will be so pleased tomorrow.

Have a relaxing evening, are you watching the olympics? Great isn't it. I have been inspired and went for a run/jog/run today. Only a mile but it was a start

Oooh and I also did a big healthy food shop and cleaned out my kitchen cupboards. Quite a productive day for me too

Only a mile!!! Faire, that's fantastic. I could only run if a bear was chasing my childen .

You're right, I am tired, but not in a sleepy way, sadly, just sort of tired out and sad. I'm not like this when I'm at work. I might be missing the busy routine of work, or, it is the first summer of no Dc's being here that's it really.
I did my job fitting in with the Dc's, and now I don't need the holidays off anymore! Very strange place I'm in at the moment!

Right, large mug of sleepytime tea (I don't really like it much, but it's worth a try) brewed, and two crackers with a laughing cow light, cheese triangle.
I certainly live the high life .
Night, night all
Sleep well and peacefully.
xxx

Yeh I know Thurso I work school hours too because it fits in with the dcs but once they're gone I'll be in the same boat. Does your local college still run adult classes throughout the summer. I know mine did as I worked as a volunteer in adult literacy for a bit.

Or you could do a bit of childminding? Loads of parents are desparate for childcare during the holidays. A bit daunting perhaps?

wow you have been so busy thurso it makes me tired just reading all that! I suppose keeping busy is a good way of taking your mind off things, eh?

I am also having a wobble, am on my second glass of wine and trying not to think about the gin in the cupboard. Thought I'd got past the stage of asking DH to hide the gin

gugg great news, awesome first week so far.
Im still struggling on day 4 today.

koti day 4 not going OK for me but nor did day1,2 or3
determined not to answer the call of the wine monster today.
Tomorrow ? well I'll think about that in the morning.

joey
Resist the gin, do the drill, the puzzle site, anything
to distract yourself. I am wavering badly too but
keep remembering the hangover from hell last Sunday
and most of Monday tbh when I caved in on day 6.

hey jesus - hope you get a good night's sleep and feel better tomorrow - how mortifying for your soon to be sil. never understand why people offer things they have no intention of following through on.

thurso - what are you doing at college? think i've missed something.

alias - hope you can stop after that glass x

faire - ONLY a mile!? hahaha at only.

all ok here. very lazy day and ds played out with friends a lot so i got a bit of recharge. busy day tomorrow so should think about some sleepy tea myself - oh and i just remembered there is fudge in the cupboard!

Joey leave the gin. If you really want it another day, it will be there. The shops are full of alcohol. You can always get your hands on it if you want it. But not right now. You've had some wine. Stop now, go clean your teeth, have a big glass of water and take another one up to bed with you. Have you got a good book to read? Or you could write some poetry or do a sudoku puzzle or something?

Is it too late to get dh to hide it?

It's nearly 11pm on day 4. With my lft looming on Friday there is no chance of me going near a drink. Don't have anything in the house anyway. I think that's the best thing I can do for myself actually.

I did consider buying a bottle of wine today, to have in the house if I wanted a drink this weekend. But I did my shopping and completely forgot about buying it. Even that, for me, is a miracle!!! Staying away from the booze aisle, wow!!

I'm sorry to read that some of you have succumbed joey I have been there so many times. The Allen Carr book is still in my head though. I re-read a couple of chapters last night, just to make sure I remembered most of it. I was drinking wine like juice! Definitely asking for trouble.

daisy agreed the best way not to drink is not to have it in the house!

I am doing the jigsaw puzzle and surfing the net. I won't drink any more its just not worth it is it?!

I used to like sleepytime tea, but now I think it just tastes like stewed grass (and not in a good way).

joey drinking may lessen your anxiety for a brief while, but I always found that at 4am or 5am in the morning when I woke with my stomach churning and my head whirring, I always wish that I'd done something constructive the night before rather than have a drink. All my troubles and worries were still there, but now they seemed exacerbated by the after effects of drinking . It's such a tough cycle to get stuck in. Much better to go back to your gp and see what can be done properly for your anxiety, something that really suits you and helps you, whether it's different meds, or relaxation or bloody on-line jigsaws......

Now who re-found that link to the jigsaws - hmm, I've just wasted another half hour!!!

Well done for stopping Joey. You haven't failed, you've just learned something which will help in the long run. I'm off to bed now, hope you manage to sleep ok tonight x

Did it. Finished the wine, ignored the gin, rescued a baby hedgehog - for the 3rd time this evening - I assume its the same one. When I say baby it wasn't tiny and was moving quite rapidly. The first time I moved it from our back garden before the dog found it.

Then it started meandering across our front lawn, whereupon 2 magpies immediately saw it (this was in broad daylight, not sure if baby hedgehog has grasped that he's supposed to be nocturnal...) Moved it back behind the shed, assuming it would go into hiding before the dog is let out.

Just let the dog out, hedgehog has been around the garden and gone back to behind the shed (is it stupid? or just too young?) dog of course immediately found it and actually picked it up, so I had to get the oven gloves again

All I can say is thank god I didn't drink any gin on top of the wine, I would have fallen over behind the shed and probably squashed the little hoglet.

Goodnight everyone and thanks for all the encouragement etc

Joey

morning all.
slept over at the stables with DD2 last night - house belongs to a lovely family who own the yard and are away on holiday, but the place is just so....well....filthy lol. I mean in a chock full of wellies, and mud, and old clothes, and tack and bits and bobs and STUFF sort of way.. Everywhere! and five dogs. And a three-legged cat.Makes my place look clean and tidy
Am knackered.

Sounds very Jilly Cooperesque ma

How are doing these days, you sound much more upbeat. Do you think the sunshine has helped. That constant rain was getting me down, now I'm much more active.

Waves to all

Morning all,

Absolutely chucking it down again where I am. I've just got in from returning a pair of skinny jeans, that looked good at first sight, and at home, trying them on again, made me look like a badly stuffed sausage!

Faire thanks for keeping me company last night, I was so glad I didn't succumb, as I know it wouldn't have been the one glass. Thank you also for your suggestions. Actually I should be doing about 6 hours a day on college work, before term starts again (I'm at the end of a 2 and a bit year course SAF), just need to get on track really. I've done quite a lot in the last few days, but still have lots to do, and a dissertation . With regard to childminding, I do love what I do as a job, but it's my children that I miss, and to be honest childminding has never, ever appealed. I don't know why, and I admire the people who do, but definitely not for me. Thank you for thinking of me, though. Have you always been a runner?, sometimes I drive along the coast road, and see joggers, and I'm so envious, it looks so free and energising. I've just never done done it, and wouldn't know where to start.

Ma I think I slept in a stable last night (oh, hang on, no, that was Dh snorfling around )

Grrr Banks I'm trying to make a payment which is apparently 'too big' for my online account to send. Except that knowing it was big I'd phoned the bank in advance and the 'helpful' child who answered the phone told me that first I'd have to try doing it on line to trigger a 'refused payment' and then call back. So first I had to set up a new payment, and then wait an hour. And then it wouldn't even let me get as far as a 'refused payment'. So it was back to the beginning. 'Idiot' who answered the phone said one of my answers to her security questions was wrong (yes because our cleaner has changed their business name so it's now different on the standing order), so she couldn't help me, and she couldn't tell me what I should do next. Apparently even though I knew why one of the security questions was wrong she couldn't overturn the 'failed security' flag. Complaints section was quite helpful, and they even told me what one of the automated questions was meant to be asking (so I could give the right answer). So eventually I spoke to real person, got all the payment in process and now all I have to do is wait for them to call me with a 'security question' to authorise the payment. This call will be anytime today. OK, except I'm not available 24 hours a day, so I told them that I was completely unavailable between 3pm and 6pm, and they said that that is when they make most of their calls and if the don't speak to me today to answer the further question then the whole process gets cancelled and I'll have to start again tomorrow.

What a bloody palaver! It's taken me 3 hours so far, to try and access my own money. I understand the need for security but I am sure that they could make it easier (and avoid me spending hours on the phone on hold, listening to plinky-plonk music).

Rant over.

Hey faire and thurso
I am more upbeat these days - the rain was depressing and work has been going through a huge upheaval. I was also getting very down about my drinking and weight but am managing to reduce both, bit by bit.
thurso download the NHS couch to 5K podcast and that is all you need to get you started. I followed it faithfully and went from stuggling to jog for a minute - seriously - do doing a 5K in 38 minutes. If I can do it, you can do it. It also makes you able to run away from DH. Love the word snorfling btw.
25th wedding anniversary next week - gulp!

What actually is an alcoholic? I ask this because:

I fully accept that I have a problem with drink, I cannot drink normally. I envy the people that can have a couple of drinks and stop. I personally cant see any point in drinking alcohol if you are not intending to get drunk. It seems like a waste of money and a pointless exercise. Yet, alcohol has got me into some terrible situations. I have at the moment got a big purple bruise on my thigh, looks like I got kicked by a horse, it happened at home Saturday night when I was totally shit faced, I haven't got a clue how I did it...

I can't help feeling that giving myself the title of an alcoholic is somehow indulgent, I almost don't feel worthy, like I am pretending.

Its almost like I am asking permission to call myself an alcoholic. I know that all this sounds mad but I am sort of exploring it myself at the same time as writing it. Incidentally, everyone says how funny I am when I'm drunk, I am everyone's best friend and I will talk to absolutely anyone. The life and soul you may say. However, I am aware that the early signs are there and it is better to stop this now rather than later.

I think maybe I am in denial.

Your thoughts please.

Hi everyone. Day 8 for me ...

mrsm - I feel like that! I think it's because I feel like, if I say 'I am an alcoholic', I have to 'prove' it by saying '... and I drink nine bottles of vodka a day and had a horrific childhood that drove me to it'. I feel as if there has to be A Reason, you know?

But, again, I think if there were really one big reason that justified why I struggle with alcohol, it would also be a lot easier to explain. Part of my problem is not that I'll drink when something awful happens - it's that I'll drink when absolutely nothing awful at all has happened. And that's a problem in itself.

I think this is difficult to admit, because there is that common idea in our society that alcoholics are people for whom life has gone terrribly, terribly wrong and must have had something awful happen. So you feel, if there's no single terrible event in your life, it's almost wrong to admit you have a problem with the booze.

I don't know if I would call it denial - if you'd rather call yourself a problem drinker, or say you have problems with alcohol, do it ... just don't let yourself do it if it'll turn into a way to minimize the problems you do have (which is what it's easy to do).

I hope that makes sense/isn't preachy ... ignore it if it is preachy.

Just popping in to say my 'run' yesterday was 1 and a half minutes of jogging, then 1 minute walking, then 1 and a half minutes jogging again. It took me 18 minutes to 'run' one mile, so definitely a beginner. I have never run before, it's never appealed to me but I do want to step up my exercise and this is one of the best ways of doing it. Going to try it again today.

Venus I can feel the frustration coming through on your post. Aaaargh

It's enough to drive a person to drink isn't it

< takes tongue out of cheek >

MrsM I will ponder your post and get back to you later but just quickly I can say that you are not alone with your thoughts there. They have been expressed here before, by many. Will come back to chat later. Got to take dd to orthodontist.

Mia how are you getting on these days? Blanket haven't heard from you ages. Hope all is ok with everyone x