The Brave Babes Battle Bus - Turning Over Autumn Leaves In Search For Our Own Personal Sobriety

[Mouseface]

Hello, I'm mouse and my best friend used to be vodka. We were inseparable at the time, such fun! Wild nights out, wild nights in..... danger, excitement, strangers, not knowing where I was when I woke up, oh it was all so fantastic.....

Not the case for the last couple of years or so, since I found this Bus.

Now, we are practically strangers. Don't get me wrong, I still abuse alcohol and use it to self-medicate which completely defeats all of the work I've put in, trying to see my life through sober eyes but that's just how I do things......

Anyway, that's enough about me so why not come say hello to the others on the Bus, we're all at different stages of drinking, not drinking or complete abstinence (of the drinking kind!)

No-one on the Bus wears judgy pants, nylon bloomers, leopard skin thongs? Maybe...... I wouldn't like to ask to be honest! But we are all here for the very same reason, we can't (or don't want to) control our drinking like 'normal' people do.

If you'd like to see how this all started, why not have a look HERE and read about one of the most inspirational ladies you'll ever 'know'.

You can also follow the threads, one by one, by clicking on the links on each thread towards the end, leading to the next etc......

See you soon x

Evening all

Haven't posted for ages and not caught up with the thread yet so I'm just jumping in.

I've heard a couple of people today talking about not drinking this month and having a 'sober October'. Is this a national incentive? Anyone else heard about it?

thanks isinde. drank a hideous quantity of vodka yesterday and have been paying for it today.

feeling far from clever.

not very chatty but thought i better show my face.

hope everyone is ok x

Makes up bed and dims the lamp and waits hopefully for Mr Mouse to drop by...
I am sick of being in this fecking sidecar and have the wine witch in a stranglehold in an attempt to shut her up. swigs tea desperately thinking of you all to give me strength. Could someone shake the pom poms please to keep me going.
Down to last month of fees for dd2 so hope something comes through soon. She phoned tonight to say she has been given the lead in the first production! Not drinking tonight will have saved about a fiver....not enough to keep her there...

Give me an M! Give me an A!

Umm not sure what comes next, do I have to turn cartwheels and stuff?

I did it!
Night all

Well done Ma!

Faire I'm having a mainly sober October - I'm not going to drink any white wine for this month and hopefully November too. I'll still be drinking red in moderation though. I hadn't heard anything about any initiative, just felt that my drinking was creeping up again and want to help my liver, lose some weight and save some money.

A quick google brought up this Faire
www.ocsober.com.au/

well done ma

i did it too. think i'm beginning to finally understand why the ODAAT bit is important and face the fact that the desire to drink will never go away permanently but just have to be overcome each time.

don't know if i can do it. it's easy-ish when i quite like myself but when i go the other way it's very hard because if you don't like yourself or don't think you deserve anything then what does it matter anyway? does that make sense?

not drinking is an act of self care and self preservation and i'm not traditionally very good at that kind of thing. i'm gonna have to learn somehow i guess.

on a lighter note my chickens are arriving on thursday and allegedly at 7-8pmish. it will be pitch black and i'll be handling chickens for the first time in my life trying to transfer them into the henhouse at the bottom of the garden. aargh!

Thanks for that Mia, I might give it a go. I don't have any big social events planned until half term which is four weeks away and I really need to kick start my diet. I've lost two stone and seem to be comfortable staying around that mark but I could really do with shifting another one.

So, going to be extra healthy in October, not drink, eat well, get more exercise and get out there every chance I get to feel the sunshine on my face. Even it it's cold, it's still refreshing and invigorating

Anyone want to join me in losing half a stone-ish?

Ma well done, it's hard to get off that treadmill I know. Congrats on your dd getting the lead, her talent is showing already!

Saf some interesting thoughts there. Considering where you were last year, I think you're doing ok so far this autumn. Have you got one of those indoor sunshine lights? Can you get them on the NHS? Or at least get something towards the cost of buying one, it might help.

Love to all x

i would love to join you faire - bit more than half a stone to lose though. i have one of those sad lamps which i will remember to use daily. i guess it is partly that but also loads of stuff happened around november years ago. i don't consciously think about it or remember it so it's hard to believe it's to do with that.

it's endless bloody cycles i go through - come first signs of spring and i'll be full of life and enthusiasm. no matter how great the year has been or how happy i was feeling just a few weeks ago without fail everything goes tits up with the onset on autumn. this year it hit so fast and hard here - it was like overnight. ridiculousness! when i was younger i dealt with it by always going away in winter but that's not an option now really

i'll be fine, sorry for all my moaning and self indulgence.

morning lovely babes,

Only just made it last night, think i was physically hanging off the edge of the sofa for a bit.

ma good for you! Yay, you did it Day one sucks. You sound fed up of drinking and ready for a few af nights. Sorry, what was that you said about mouse's dh?

isinde I love the role play. Playing babes and husbands sounds much more fun than having to play with trains. maybe I could (mentally) re name some of Ds's trains. 'Oh look- there's Guggs, headed for the wonky bridge of booze yet again...'

Saf look after yourself. Get rid of all the booze in the house, probably doesn't mix well with chickens anyway. I can see in your posts how Autumn effects you, you sound different somehow. Come on, you gave up alcohol for ages and gave your body a chance to heal. Please don't give in now, it's hard get back on board after a lapse. Anyhow, what are you going to call your chickens?

I'm going to have a look at the sober October site now. Have a good day babes

Hi kotinka

How are you doing?

Yeah I feel quite good at the moment but I sort of know that the wine witch will get me sooner rather than later.I've tried working out how much i used to (sometimes still do) spend on wine- it's a horrible amount! I deffo can't afford to drink.

koti thanks, a lot better. My gut is still painful, but I assume that is because the spasms on Friday/Saturday were so powerful my insides are 'bruised'. Paranoid about eating anything now...

Just found out there is a 4-year waiting list to get a car parking permit at my work I thought about bribing the parking officer, but my sole assets consist of a moody 10-going-on-13 child, and a small yapping dog.

How are you?

Ladies, I so need this thread! Wine o'clock, wine witch, this all sounds horribly familiar. I stayed off the drink for all of January and felt so much better but little by little I have slipped back into my old habits and now I am downing a bottle of red a night. My blood pressure is up as are my anxiety levels. And the guilt! So, sparkling water only tonight - wish me luck

witco welcome! there were will be some clever babes along shortly with advice and support and stuff...

kotinka I don't think I'd qualify for disabilty, if I still feel rough next time I see the GP maybe I'll mention it, but I'd feel guilty about it if there are other genuine disabled people.

Sexual favours? Now there's a thought. Although the dog might attract more interest... 'Pimp my Poodle' ?

Afternoon, back at work yesterday after a weeks holidays, haven't had time to catch up with the thread as judging by the amount of paperwork etc on my desk, everything was just left for me to do when I got back .
Still haven't had a drink since 4th/5th August:)

Evening babes and welcome witco you have come to the right place, this bus is a great place for support, advice and just sounding off if you feel like it.
obrigada well done on staying AF
koti great news re SS and not relapsing after your half bottle Sunday. Always seems to set off cravings with me if I relapse. Keep going you are doing brilliantly and now the sugar cravings are going sure to lose weight if you are not drinking
gugg keep it up, you are doing so well
saf so glad you are getting a handle on things, what you said regarding the onset of Autumn really resonated with me but for odd reasons. My NSDH is much more difficult to live with between autumn and spring, he almost certainly suffers from SAD and TBH as much as he is not a dream to live with in summer our worst times are the autumn/winter months. Hence possibly my needing to sound off about his recent behaviour, its the start of his worst time.
Well enough about that.
Faire with you on the weight loss and so jealous of the two stone loss, but well done I need to lose more than half a stone but that much would boost my morale because I seem to just put on weight at the mo.
mouse hope all is well with you
isinde hote DTs past the worst, been there , not with twins but 14month gap on my first two children long ago and they seemed to have all manner of childhood ailments together, chickenpox being one.
bye for now babesxx

forgot bl*y well done ma go girl.
you too joey and love the "pimp my poodle" idea

Evening, tis me, Mouse

Saf - you know where I am. xx

IsinDe - Ma has coveted (sp?) my DH for years

Nemo is full of a cold so is in with me, I better. Fucked up with my pain meds, so off to the GP AGAIN tomorrow to see how much longer they can prop me up with until I can even think about surgery.

The moon is an odd one tonight, will explain why I'm feeling a bit 'off'..... hard to explain.

Anyway, to those who are going well, get in! You are doing great and long may it continue.

I have to go and look after Nemo, temp, cough, terrible breathing, he just can't get through a day without a vomit currently. Reflux x 100,000 when he's ill.

So, hello Babes to those I have missed, will try to be back tomorrow.

Night Babes, stay safe. xxxxx