The Brave Babes Battle Bus - Still On A Sober Holiday, Waiting For The Summer!

[Mouseface]

Hello, tis me, Mouse

I'm one of the Brave Babes on the Battle Bus, it's HUGE and never gets full, the doors are always open, 24/7, every single day.

We're a mixture of people who have been drinking for most of our lives and in one way or another, abuse(d) alcohol.

Some of us have stopped drinking every day completely and are taking it One Day At A Time.

Some are trying to control their drinking with medication, willpower, AA, some of us aren't quite sure what we want or where we're trying to get, but we're here, we're all in the same boat Bus, and there's a seat for ANYONE who wants one.

You can find the previous threads HERE and where this Bus first started it's journey, thanks to a wonderful lady, who'd hit rock bottom face first (and she'd admit that to us herself), seeking help and advice from a bunch of 'strangers' on an internet forum........

Come have a peek, take a seat, we don't bite or judge. We listen and will try to help, best we can.

Yay rural. Very very well done!! Day 2 now

I am probably heading off to mid Wales with the kids today. I say probably as we will need to camp and it is currently pissing down. I don't mind as such but the kids are scarred by an awful trip at half term where we were caught in a gale on the gower so they may not be very keen .,,

nono Have a lovely time, sun is out in south wales now (got relatives there) which is rare at anytime. Get something to repel the mozzies there seem to be so many this year. They pick on me too I use tiger balm on the bites as helped when I was on a far flung holiday, many moons ago and was constantly attacked by all many of biting creatures.

TYPO Above
All manner of biting creatures I mean't

oral antishistamines are the way forward - find the creams do bugger all.

morning everyone

in a rush as i'm off to a meeting with a bit of bonus childcare as ds is playing with his cousins for a few hours but just wanted to say good morning and well done to those who stayed off the booze last night.

I am already on phenergan for sleep so don't think I can take anything else. Didn't find they helped at all tbh. Am still being driven bonkers

But ... THE KIDS ARE BACK!!!!!!! I have spent the week cleaning a and tidying and my house is trashed within 90 mins. DD hasn't stopped telling me she loves me and she missed me. DS is immersed in a world of moshi monsters while DD festoons my hair with clips and bobbles and is now feeding me plastic hot dog sausage, pineapple and pear.

Car all packed for getaway to mid Wales after lunch. We live in s Wales and it is currently sunny so fingers crossed we won't get too wet tonight!!

Glad you have a busy day sAf. Hope meeting goes well x

Fab thanks kotinka. Didn't know that.

I am such a softy these days with my kids. That is what happens when you spend 40 per cent of your life without them. I am currently lying under a blanket on the floor with bobbles in my hair while DD sings me a lullaby to get me to sleep. She can't see me MNing under the blanket

Afternoon, tis me, Mouse

I second Saf re the creams, tablets work much better and you can get them for 29p a pack in most stores - (Wilko, B&M, Home Bargains, own brands too - classy shopper me you know ) and Tiger Balm as Rural says, they hate that. They also hate garlic so get yourself some odourless garlic tablets to take maybe?

It's currently thundering and lightening in North Wales, with torrential rain, good luck to those thinking of camping Maybe call in here until it stops, I do a mean bacon sarnie and a lovely cuppa

Koti - we could well be separated at birth! Very similar in lots of ways with our pain and the management of it aren't we? You can do as long as you like re the not drinking. Not just two weeks....... all you need to do is today, or until 2pm, then until 3pm, then until 4pm....... or until tomorrow. Or Monday. Or Just One Day At A Time. Simple as that really , isn't it? Don't put pressure off yourself though. I find that makes me fall face first into a bottle.

The more I worry about drinking, the more I'll drink. It's weird but that's how it works for me.

NoNo - I'm so pleased that the DC are back today. I bet you can't wait to see them. You've done really well you know. I've been reading back from when you first got on the Bus and were so very low. It's great to see that change in you, the way that you've changed your entire mindset about alcohol...... maybe read back yourself and see if you agree? Have a lovely day xx

Saf - hope the meeting goes/went well. Can I ask, have you told your family about you going to AA? (Forgive me if you've told me) How did they react? I seem to remember something about it when you first went but have forgotten.

I'm asking because I'm thinking more and more and more about it.

Anyway, I'm going into town for some yummy Gok food. We're going to have a Gok food night so need a few bits. I wanted to treat my back to a blast on a sunbed. DH pulled such a face when I said I'd like to do that. I asked him what he was planning for the day, the response was, "well, I'm going to be decorating aren't I (because of the weather here) but I'll have to work around you now won't I"

Yes dear, that's right. I've not been able to move for days, I've been in absolute agony and poor old you, you'll have to care for your own son again for a about an hour whilst I fuck off into town for cocktails with random men that I'll no doubt pick up along the way get some really nice food for tonight, so we can be 'us' again and spend a whole 6 minutes on a sunbed to help with my hip and lower back pain.........

Anyway, that's my day....

Obrigada - I think you are doing so well, I hope that you know that. It was only a few short weeks ago that you weren't ready to do this. Massive congrats to you xx

IsinDe - are you there? Come and leave us a kiss or two if you don't want to talk.

Right, I best put my face on, washing load four in, feed Nemo some more snacks, he is still grazing all day which is wonderful. He doesn't 'eat' the food but will lick it and put it in his mouth. The smooth stuff he'll eat, I can't wait for the day to come when the feeding tube will be no more.

Anyway, waffling as per, have safe days everyone xxxx

Nono I know exactly what you mean about the thrill of getting your kids back. I've got 2 hours to wait before mine return, and then a whole 10 days off with them before school starts... woohoo! The trashed house is inevitable,but such a small price to pay. My nine year old is obsessed with making models out of recycled junk ... it's always a toss-up between a tidy house and stifling creativity!

I will be drinking later; but somehow I am looking forward to the September 1st D-day I have set myself to stop. I'm doing a lot of navel-gazing and groundwork in the meantime.

I've been trying to tidy the garden in between the showers; having some order in my surroundings is very important in me being in the right frame-of-mind to be in control, not just of my drinking, but life in general.

Happy Saturday to everyone, sober and struggling x

Arse! I'd just written a long and marvellous,ahem, post. Then I lost the sodding thing! it's all farie's fault- I wanted to look back to read that poem again and lost my post.

Well the short version is : I'm on day 2,waving at rural and kot I said hi to lots of other lovely babes and I've forgotten the rest of it!

It is your fault faire ;I know that poem but can't remember who wrote it. If I can't find out in the next hour then I'm just going to decide that you wrote it yourself.

Seriously, I wanted to say how sorry I am to ma and I wondered if there was any chance of you visiting your friend?

mouse I'm glad to hear that you are feeling a little better even if it's just for today.

nono you sound happy to have your children back

Copied and pasted from Wikipedia:

Mary Frye, who was living in Baltimore at the time, wrote the poem in 1932. She had never written any poetry, but the plight of a young German Jewish woman, Margaret Schwarzkopf, who was staying with her and her husband, inspired the poem. She wrote it down on a brown paper shopping bag. Margaret Schwarzkopf had been concerned about her mother, who was ill in Germany, but she had been warned not to return home because of increasing anti-Semitic unrest. When her mother died, the heartbroken young woman told Frye that she never had the chance to ?stand by my mother?s grave and shed a tear?. Frye found herself composing a piece of verse on a brown paper shopping bag. Later she said that the words ?just came to her? and expressed what she felt about life and death.[1] Mary Frye circulated the poem privately. Because she never published or copyrighted it, there is no definitive version. She wrote other poems, but this, her first, endured. Her obituary in The Times made it clear that she was the author of the famous poem, which has been recited at funerals and on other appropriate occasions around the world for eighty years.[3]

The poem was introduced to many in Britain when it was read by the father of a soldier killed by a bomb in Northern Ireland. The soldier's father read the poem on BBC radio in 1995 in remembrance of his son, having been left it in an envelope addressed 'To all my loved ones' in his personal effects. The authorship of the poem was established a few years later after an investigation by journalist Abigail Van Buren. There is a short illustrated book of the poem sometimes to be found in small-town bookshops with ink drawings for each line that includes this story in the inside dustjacket, written before the authorship was confirmed and therefore stating that the authorship is unknown.

carrie you have made a bookworm very happy!

You are awesome

Have a good bank holiday weekend

Good afternoon babes,
nono hope you have a lovely time with dc in mid-wales.
I forgot you lived in South Wales when I posted that the sun was shining there this morning . At least my relatives were telling the truth as you said sun had come out later. My tiger balm suggestion might have sounded a bit odd but when I was in Asia everyone carried it around all the time and it really did reduce itching and shrink bites
Also you can use it whatever else you are taking etc.
kot well done and good luck on day 3.
gugg day 2 for me as well, and nearly drink o clock, hope you are doing well with it.
carrie thanks for the info on the poem. It is a beautiful poignant piece.
Hope you are having a lovely time with dc now.
mouse funny you should mention thinking more about AA, I have been too.
I live really out in the sticks, many of my family who are country people say its a bit tooooo country for them. I looked up the nearest one some time ago. and its in the nhs hospital in the nearest town (18miles away). where my dsd and 2 other family members work as well as several very local people I know
agh sudden visitors finih this post later

Mouse squidges back. All this talk of Wales has got me reminiscing. I was engaged to a man from Carmarthen about 3 years ago and used to travel exactly 219 miles to meet him once a month (I live just north of London). I loved crossing the Severn Bridge going into Wales but I hated coming back because I knew I wouldn't see him for ages. It didn't work out but at least I discovered a lovely part of the UK.

I've been thinking a lot about temperament. I'm basically an introvert (an INFJ if Myers-Briggs means anything) and I can now appreciate that I started drinking because it made me feel less anxious in company. Being an introvert doesn't have to mean you're shy or don't like being around people; I often strike up conversations with strangers, people find me warm and I speak my mind but I prefer 1:1 company as opposed to big social gatherings and love being alone. Too many people deplete me and that makes me feel uncomfortable, hence the need for booze. I wonder if any of you can relate to this?

Good evening babes,
Visitors just left. All I didn't finish in my last post is to say my nearest AA would be anything but anonymous for me. However if it was I would give it a try so thinking of looking at AA meetings further afiield so I can give it a try.
ds calling,
bye for now babes

Rural, hope you manage to find something which suits you.

Take care all and lovely evening x

I think you sound lovely Kot, would love to talk about facts and stuff with you. You're just mixing with the wrong people :)

I've just come back from a really nice meal out, my friend had two large glasses of wine, I had a lemongrass and ginger presse. Felt a pang of envy but I've never been a two glasses of wine type of girl and that unfortunately is never going to change.

evening babes.

To those who are enjoying their kids I say huh? My DD is driving me potty; she never stops singing/talking but not just quietly to herself, no she needs feedback, an audience. Since I am a real introvert (at her age I would just take myself off for hours with a book) I find it baffling! Bless her, she is sweet though.

kotinka my DH bought me flowers to apologise (and I secretly wished he'd bought wine too!)

I nearly got some wine today, I figured this would be a 'normal' relaxing weekend... but it is only 2 days since I almost fled to Sainsburys in search of alcohol after a bad day, I think it needs a bit longer. It's difficult to explain, its just some instinct tells me its too soon. I don't know if it will ever be the 'right' time.

soma lemongrass and ginger presse? that sounds lovely. Did you manage to get that in a restaurant? Is it fizzy?

Yes, Raymond Blanc has opened a brasserie in my town and they're doing 3 courses for £14.95 if you order before 7pm! The food was absolutely divine. You can buy the drink in supermarkets, here it is www.bottlegreendrinks.com/products/presses/sparkling-presse/ginger-and-lemongrasse