The Brave Babes Battle Bus - Off To Find The Summer Sun and Sobriety!

[Mouseface]

Hello, I'm Mouse :)

Welcome to the Bus, take a seat and enjoy the ride. We're a Bus full of drinkers, non-drinkers, those who are trying to give up for life, those who are giving up for a few hours because that's all that they can manage (which is fine!) or quitting just for today......

We don't wear Judgey Pants (they're far too last year darhling ) but we have hugs a plenty and tough love when it's needed. Which isn't often!

So, what have you got to lose? If you're reading this, you're thinking that you are no longer happy with the way you drink, which tells me that this is the Bus for you. :)

If you'd like to see where we've been so far and what we've been up to, take a peek HERE

And if you want to knnow why we're here in the first place, take a look at THIS THREAD RIGHT HERE :)

See you soon x

Guggs I like that idea!! Can I go first.....

If you have a sober winter......

You don't wake up and realise that once AGAIN you have not done the amazon ordering for Xmas because you had too much wine and fallen asleep.

Disclaimer: I have never done this. Obviously. It just popped into my head out of nowhere

Back in a jiffy X

Thank you, I have a lump in my throat just from that. Signing off now but will be back soon goodnight all.

Good night neon
Tomorrow is another day.

pink I'd forgotten about bloody christmas..

Yes- actually enjoying bloody christmas would be a huge bonus.

Mulled wine is,in fact,fucking foul.

There must be more reasons for a sober winter!

Off to bed with kindle and history book. Will be able to follow what happened in pasttimeland since I am not pissed.

Night all x

I have another good reason for staying sober in winter

I will be ale to watch and them at the next day at work discuss all the good new series - as I will have been able to follow and understand rather than fall asleep pissed at nine o'clock :)

As an aside I have noticed that there are a few teachers/people who work in schools on here - is there a link between alcohol consumption and the teaching profession ?

Funny you should mention that lon I work in nursing and there deffo is in the nursing profession so there could well be in teaching too

Ps end of day one feeling tired hope people are not struggling too much tonight x

Evening, tis me Mouse

Yep - just think how you'd feel if you managed to be AF for a week? Thing is, you CAN have that, you just have to plan for it, make sure that you have fall backs, like sweet things in, lots of food, nibbly things in so that when you get an urge to drink and drink a lot, you can walk away and go get some yummy cheese on crackers, chocolate, and I mean nice stuff, not Tesco Value, the money saved on wine would get you some serious treats!

Every week, keep a diary of how much £ you spend on alcohol. Do it for a month and then look back. BE HONEST.

I did this when I first stopped and the fact that my poison was vodka, costing at least £11 a bottle if I didn't want petrol, once you see those figures in black and white, you see just how much you are wasting puking it back, giving yourself headaches and shakes and sweats and broken sleep and feeling like Deep Fried Dog Shite......

Instead you could be treating yourself to a nice warm cardie ready for Autumn, a new lippy, a new face cream for your gorgeous skin that you'll have.....

It IS worth it but you need to plan how you are going to get there, you really do. Having that bottle of wine in the fridge taking the piss out of you will NOT HELP and will take the piss out of you, it really will.

Just think about what your goal is, if you want to stop then do it. Stop fannying about, putting it off til after Christmas/New Year etc and take control of YOUR LIFE and YOUR HEALTH.

YOU are important, YOU matter, YOU are wanted and needed and cared about because you are here asking for help. So that says that you care about yourself or at least others......... and that is reciprocated.

All Babes on this Bus are welcome, loved and valued! Every post helps someone, every word posted about how you're feeling, about your troubles or why you drink is really helping someone else, one of us, someone lurking to get a real handle on their own drinking and maybe, just maybe get them to reduce what they drink or stop altogether.

It's not easy, it's not overnight and it's not always going to happen on your first attempt BUT............ if you are honest with YOURSELF and your GP/support group/us/family/friends, whatever your support source is, you WILL kick this habit that takes so very much from you, you really, really will.

And, if you fuck up? Well, you pick yourself up and you start again, just like riding a bike of learning to bake, over time, you'll become a perfectionist and nail that sucker!!

I'm off to bed after a lovely day at the beach with my gorgeous boys (DH and *Nemo) and I'm looking forward to some more sunshine tomorrow.

Night Babes - take good care and again, sorry not to read back fully and NC but I wanted to post just to give you all a virtual hug!!

Mwahs xxx

PS - sorry for any typos, I'm shattered!

Hi Mouse, Inde, Green, Guggs, Lon, Faire, Ma, Joey, Babyjane, Venus, Thurso, Obrigada, Purps, Pawprint, Sylvana, whatever, Pink and Tanggo, Jango, this is, annie and LRD and Pervy and bobbly, welcome neonladybird ((phew)) We've got a pretty full bus at the mo
Lon My system is ok ... yours is bloody fantastic, keep it up! I remember your first posts and you've come such a long way.

I know what you mean about being AF and not falling asleep in front of the tv or being able to remember what you read on your kindle We are an hour ahead of you here and on Mondays the second Corrie doesn't come on until 9.30 our time and I can't tell you how many times I can't remember what happened in it! I have to re-read so much of my kindle as it just didn't sink in.

Day 2/7 and I WILL NOT BE DRINKING

Mouse Fantastic post xxxx Glad the weather is looking up!

Have a good Monday everyone. Someone once said 'If you can't be a good example, be a terrible warning'. No, no and no. All of you be as good as you can, for you, today! don't make me come over there, well actually I wouldn't mind, I could pop to M&S and have KFC where I would think I had died and gone to heaven

BTW where are Clutter and Curry?

Hi - lots of debate on another forum I am on ( Digital. Spy) about Celeb BB.
basically carol McGiffin has been drunk every night and lots of conversations about her having a 'problem'/being an alcoholic - also Sophie Anderton drinking but she is a recovering addict (cocaine and alcohol) - have any of o watched the show ?

Glad weather is improving mouse :)
Ladame Corrie o. At 9.30 - far too late :).

Going to cinema with son today :).
Laters L x

Day 1 again. Had nearly half a bottle of red wine last night. Compared to how I was drinking having 5af days last week is a massive improvement. However this morning I feel like I am sliding back. Like it's inevitable that I will drink tonight and I really don't want to.

Sorry not to name check, I'm on my phone. My pc broke yesterday, or rather was destroyed by my youngest, just one of .any things that went wrong yesterday!

Hi all and welcome to newbies. Keep reading, keep posting - your thoughts, feelings, suggestions, questions - it's all about touching base, keeping in touch with each other

Maybe we could have a 'why a sober winter would be good' list smile

1. Saving money ready spend on Christmas presents
2. Early nights curled up with a good man book in bed
3. Early nights curled up with a good book man in bed
4. Spending time cooking proper, warm, filling, healthy meals
5. Eating properly, fueling the body with nutritious veggie soups, mmmm

For me, I gain a tremendous sense of achievement just by going from morning to night without a drink. Sounds daft really but just doing that makes me feel happy with myself.

Even now, hardly drinking, I still love waking up with energy and that kind of 'I did it!' feeling. Nothing beats it. Sometimes we take not drinking for granted and feel like we're missing out on something better. But what are we really missing. Really?

I feel like 'NotDrinking' is an old faithful dog, always there, always pleased to see you, waiting patiently for you to embrace it. Just in the background, quietly.

We can take it for granted but when we turn to it in despair, feeling all beaten up and ragged, we wonder why we ignored it for so long. That lovely, kind, gentle 'NotDrinking' which does us the world of good, heals us and comforts us.

OK, mad dog analogy which probably makes no sense. I sometimes wonder what goes on in this head of mine

Have a good day Babes

Isinde how are you getting on?

Afternoon babes, I did drink at the weekend but didn't overdo it, met a friend for lunch on Saturday and we had a glass of wine at lunch and then retired to a local pub for a couple more drinks. We were so busy catching up that the alcohol was secondary (if that makes sense). So thankfully no hangover and no regrets this weekend.

Fantastic posts from Mouse and Fairenuff there. You've both really helped me today as I'm struggling this afternoon so thank you. Just been to a beer festival and BBQ with DH and friends and it was so tempting just to give in and have a pint. I didn't, but my god, if I hadn't have driven I don't think I could have resisted.

I know what's triggered it today - I got my period, which means TTC didn't work this month, which usually leads me into a "what's the point of not drinking, I might as well have a few pints" spiral.

I'm reminding myself of all the positives of giving up drinking and thinking of how much better I'll feel if we have to go down the fertility treatment route if I can say hand on heart that I've taken it as seriously as I can. I've made it to just over 5 weeks now, just need to keep going a bit further. Then a bit further again.

On the plus side both my mum and a friend who I've known for a distressingly long length of time were both astounded that I've lasted more than a month without drinking. They know I drink too much and I think it was starting to worry them too so they've incentivised me to keep going for a little bit longer too.

Hope everyone is doing ok today (waves hello at new babes). Now where's my emergency bag of maltesers?

Hi everyone

Just checking in to see how everybody is. I need to go back and catch up on the posts as been busy past few days. Welcome to all the newbies ( even tho I'm still technically one as well )

Evening babes

faire I like the dog analogy too,make me a bit sad to think of a faithful old dog though! Could never get through a episode of 'Lassie' without sobbing. like how the list is coming on.

lonnika Teachers drink? nooooooooooo not at all. Ahem. Let's face it, who wouldn't want to drink when faced with the responsibility of 30 kids? Then there is ofsted,made up targets etc etc.

I bet that there are hundreds of nurses,dr's health workers any public facing job really who drink just a little too much,a little too often.

pervy well done. Telling people makes it harder to go back on. 5 weeks is great. Ok ttc hasn't 'worked' this month but getting your body ready to conceive by abstaining is a good idea. Good luck.

I'm really excited by a blog I've just read. It may belong to one of you lovely babes, I dunno. It's one of the mumsnet bloggers called 'gappy tales'. I followed her blog because I liked her style about something or other and when I looked today her blog was all about giving up the sauce. It's an excellent post and gives a link to a bus we all know and love.

I tried to think if her writing style reminds me of anyone but I'm not that clever. Gappy tales, if you are on the bus then i loved your post today.

BTW where is joey? Has she fallen off some where?

mouse you drank petrol?
And greedy of you to be going to bed with two lovely chaps. I'm sure you could spare mrmouse.....
Anyway day 1 done and dusted,AF and low carbed, if I am doing it right. Having turned down offers of an ice cream, a bar of chocolate, a fairy cake and of course most of a bottle of wine, I can see where my weight gain has been coming from.
I absolutely agree we should take le bus to France. For God's sake don't let Indie drive. She's bad enough over here. Kills rabbits and everything.
I have had a massage tonight with the lovely Derek...mmmmmmHMMMM and am now tucked up in bed with a cup of tea. A good day all told. Here's to more of them.
Oh and speaking of missing babes, check in please rural

Evening babes

Day 8 completed here. Happy and fairly content although the descriptions of cold lager in some posts (even weak cold lager!) are potentially enough to undo me. So still remembering not to be complacent.....no booze in the house at the moment which is the only way for me to be really sure I won't crumble.

Some really great posts lately and so thought provoking. I loved the bit in Mouse's when she talked about becoming practised at resisting the WW and eventually beating her completely. I would love that. Imagine it? On the bus forever, no falling off, I hope I get there one day. Controlled drinking will never work for me and also I hate the brain space it would take up. I think I would rather not bother. (Hope your holiday has improved a bit btw Mouse)

Lonnika I think there are various professions which have high numbers of drinkers; Doctors, journalists and airline pilots spring to mind. Not sure about teachers though......you sound great, hope the cinema was good. Someone said the other day they remembered your first posts and I thought oh I don't know 'that' Lonnie I only know the sober bouncy one!

Hello to the newbies, well done for boarding and stick with us. We will help you, as we all help each other here. I certainly need help as I have forgotten all your names, sorry but a big welcome and I look forward to getting to know you. I must get a bit of paper and write down what everyone is up to quickly before I post as my memory is hopeless once I start typing.

Anyway babes must go, love to all and strength to every single babe, on the bus, in the sidecar or just lurking......

Pink X

Hi all
Mmmmm boingy is not how my husband would describe me at the moment -

Can't do controlled drinking either Pink - all or nothing girl me

I kind of wonder sometimes about people who post a few times and then disappear - Chippit is one of them. - hope you are ok if you are lurking still?

Hope all babes are ok a have wondered about Alias as well ? Hope all good and your children have settled back into school.

Goodnight all x L x

Evening, tis me, Mouse

IsinDe - OH MY DAYS, YOU HAVE MADE HAPPY TEARS COME TO MY EYES!!! - well the Jeff done for not giving in and being that pissed up parent :) You sound so upbeat. I want to hug you!! Fab, fab, fab. You really are :) xxx

Ma - If I told you that MrMouse had a wetsuit on today, a short one, in the sea and you could still see he was a man, would that help you sleep at some point over the coming nights?

Pervy - huge around of applause for kicking ass too! I'm loving the vibe as we head into Autumn just now on this Bus..... Autumn? It was 27 degrees in the sun on the beach today and I'm as brown as a little mousey can beeeeeeeee!

Seriously thought, Annie - your day 1 again posts don't make you a failure, they make you a FIGHTER! In my book anyway. You are still here and still trying, day and day and day after day.... bloody good on you lovely. xxx

Lonni - keep fighting the fight! Hope you had a great day. :)

I too wonder where Curry and Clutter are and Purps and others................. I guess it's the last week of the school holidays for most, including us and we're away! So maybe people are busy sorting stuff out?

hello lovely :) xxx

Right, night shift time.

Bye for now, I think we are going school uniform shopping for DD tomorrow if the weather is shite, on our hols and her friend who is with us is poorly again Luckily, we have 2/3 days left....

Sleep well Brave Babes - You can be the person you want to be, the drinker who no longer forgets what they've done, the drinker who gracefully accepts one glass/beer/drink and moves on to soft drinks...... THAT CAN BE YOU!!!!!! I promise xxx

I'm so sorry Isinde. That's awful news. Would you like to tell us a bit about her? X

MOUSE ! .....faints clean away.

indie ah, sad news my friend. My thoughts are with you. And while we are being sombre could you please find a wee bit of space in your day to remember my friend Stef, whose daughter Alex hung herself last year. Today Alex would have been 17.

Life is too short to spend it drunk, babes. Day 2 begins.