The Brave Babes Battle Bus - Springing Into Spring Like Super Spingy Springs On A Springy Day!

[Mouseface]

Hello everyone, I'm Mouse :)

Welcome to the Bus, Gerald. Of course it's an imaginary Bus, and we're all aware of that, but we've been on this Bus for a bloomin' long time now so this place kinda feels like home.

See, the thing is, we're a mix of drinkers, non drinkers, total abstainers, and also posters that are or have been, somewhere in between, around the block and back again!

There are no hard and fast rules here, just No judging, No bitching about others and most certainly No expectations of YOURSELF.

No-one can say what will or will not happen whilst you're posting here. You just have to take the ride, One Day At A Time.

There are two sayings that we have painted down either side of the Bus :-

1. • The Vulnerable Need Our Support, Not Our Judgement
2. • Alcohol Fosters Inertia

You've started to read this thread for a reason, and you'll either carry on and maybe Name Change (or not) and post, walk away, or realise that this is all about YOU, cry for a bit, and then come and take a seat :)

For those who would like a bit of our almost 4 year history, have a read of THIS TRULY INSPIRING THREAD

- AND THIS IS OUR PREVIOUS THREAD TO THIS ONE

We're not a quiche or a clicky group, four years is a long time and longer when you're pissed for some of it, so whilst the threads may look 'clicky', I can promise you, it's just that we all 'know' one another because we've been here for a bit but you'll soon get to know us all, who loves what (CHEEEEEEEESE), but we were all 'new posters' at one time, weren't we? :)

@socfish
Oh yes, if skilfully manipulated you can get quite a screech tune out of it!

ok, its getting towards going home time and the habitual vision of a glass of wine is calling me already.
wibble

I would like to join the day 1 crowd too. Stubbornly stood on my bit of turf last night ignoring said mountain but need to drag myself back into reality and stop drinking all the time.

Ma tell the wibble to fuck off! just don't send it this way please .

for you rural for saying you missed me, it felt surprisingly nice!

Love to all x

what do tufts have to do with triangles?

Am bored. And a bit depressed. Life seems pointless without alcohol.

Plan for tonight:
Brush dog
Finish crochet square
Attempt crochet flower
Read magazine
Continue online game
argue with child
Do crunches/exercises
argue with husband
Look at Pinterest
Read book club book
Walk dog (if it stops raining)

Hey all,

I'm feeling a good bit better now the hangover has worn off and I slept well for the first time in ages.
ma I can only think one day at a time this time. Last year when I got sober I felt so determined now I have big doubts that I'm going to stay sober for long. I'm not even going to think about it,just do it and see how it goes. Day 2. How's it going ma?

joey I think the problem was I just got bored with it all and jacked it in. Sooo this time I need to have lower expectations of sobriety- I want to be sober but being sober won't solve any of my problems. I have to find exciting things to do to prevent the boredom. I have plans for the future but they will all involve money and talents I don't possess

annie I agree with what you say and it's hard to stay sober day after day. I think we need a list of brilliant ideas to beat boredom. I often don't bother to treat myself to things for boring practical reasons but then cave into the WW instead.Any good ideas to share?

socfish - yes- fixing the head space and finding ways to alter moods - that's why I use booze. Wish I didn't want to use booze like that,dh is happy with 1/2 a shandy once a year but I crave the way booze changes my mood.

beaches how's it going? Hearing from the WW? or are you ok for today?
Loved the video link faire ,you are always so optimistic- thank you!
looking whispers: how is the job? Anyone buried under the patio yet?
70hours the first 3 days suck,but it gets a little better in terms of craving. Sleep can take a little longer, but well worth the wait. I had joyous symptoms such as itchy restless legs for a while and consume my own weight in carbs/chocolate/bloody anything. It does pass and you will feel better after a week or so off the booze.
rural where would we all be without this wonderful bus? I'm ashamed to say that I don't post when I'm drinking but somehow I know that I can always creep back on board for help- no judging. How are you lovely?

I am not good at NC but I can see that a few babes are either away living the high life/ putting the finishing touches to their novel/ sat on their sofa with a bottle please do come and post- just check in.

How about lurkers who have overdone it this bank holiday- don't worry about labels just come and say hi. Everyone here has spent a bank holiday/birthday/christmas/family visit glugging back the vino- this is a great place to get some gentle support.

Sorry for the massive essay- I've got lots on my mind,trying to get a handle on this whole drinking/lapsing/sobriety melarky.

Oh guggen I so do that! Don't treat myself because I have to be sensible and responsible and then I go get wine, usually telling myself I deserve it...

Tried to tell myself today - fake it till you make it. Did the house work, shopping, took the dds to the park, made a proper meal for dinner. I can't say I wasn't still bored but it was an improvement on yesterday when I spent most of the day pratting about on the pc and stuffing my face. I'm going to try and get to the gym in the morning - it's the only me time I get - and then somehow occupy the dds in the afternoon.

Made it through day 3 :). I am going to treat myself - have decided that I deserve it - :). As I have already said if I make it to next Friday I am going to get eyelash extensions - hope everyone ok - this Steve best I ave done in six months.

this Steve best I ave done in six months. oo er missus Sorry, it was too difficult to ignore!

joey tufts and triangles are childish smut references to pubes!

Well, I only bloody did it. Went out for a walk for an hour, had salad for healthy dinner and NO WINE, even though there is some in the fridge. Spent the whole evening muttering, get off the tuft, get off the tuft,like a mad woman! (Venus you have created a new motivational image with that one).
So, off the tuft and a mountain to climb.

Have also decided I can't wait any longer for fecking summer to arrive in Scotland, so have looked out my sandals and painted my toenails regardless.
I know I won't sleep well tonight but will feel virtuous tomorrow.

lurker in the sidecar is motivated by the brilliant posts and inspirational day oners
Keep posting beaches you are brill. Keep going SOC bL88DY sanctimonious awesome.
guggs we first posted at much the same time. You have kicked that WW much harder than I have. You can do it again, finish her off
Will be back to kick that ww.

Morning mad women. Tuesday here. Always easier at the beginning of the week.

All good. Life is awesome without a hangover and all that other shit.

I'll check in later. Stay sober. Xx

Wow soc in awe well done you
Go girl !! Respect!!
Truth is I am soooo

Join me rural. I'm in such a good space right now it's fab. Those first few days are a killer. But head down and keep reading. I find all those blogs online so helpful. Xx

get off the tuft

Truth is I'm not looking forward to work tomorrow, and would normally block it out with wine. I feel like a fraud at work, not coping with the job & one day they will find out, and then I'll be on a disciplinary or worse.

Have had a hot chocolate (real proper chocolate powder, none of this low-fat stuff)

Hope everyone has a good night's sleep.

Day 4 here - but last night was the worst nights sleep so far - hoping I am on the cusp and tonight will be better - don't feel 'better" yet but certainly have no feelings of guilt, self loathing etc !!!
Soc you are awesome - I bet you must be buzzing - Well done Ma that is fab especially when you had the WW whispering in your ear on the way home. Hot chocolate alias yum yum !!! Good luck Guggs, Annie, Beaches - lets do this - kick the WW into touch forever !!!!

Good morning and 'Hello' All you lovely Brave Babes

I've been lurking and drinking . We've moved into flat and I'm still slightly squashed in with boxes. But we're in and finally here Only just sorted my internet connection and it's still shite. Seriously I could murder BT, twunts

I've got myself into this '2 tins of cider a night' habit and then last night it was M&S £10 meal deal and of course yours truly glugged all the red wine

Beaches my little peanut I have missed you. Sounds like you need 'Mrs Motivator' - I'm here and back, providing I use my computer in bed, I have a strong enough signal seriously BT need to shove their service where it don't shine.

Ma glad to hear that sandals are coming out and triangle being polished

Hope glad you had a good holiday, must seem like a million years ago now. Hopefully you're planning your next one x

Nuff hope all good in Nuff world x

I'm glad you're doing OK honey x

Baby hope you're ok xxx

Rural waving hello x

Soc you are amazing Babe - such a huge motivation for us lot here across the pond - keep going Babe. I don't feel strong enough to even get passed Day 2 let alone going into double figures.

Hugs and motivation to you all. Waves at isinde Why 70 Mouse Joey Venus Anneis Guggs and everyone else

Joey I can really relate to that feeling of boredom and depression without alcohol, my 'get up and go' seems to have got up and gone. I need to get motivated.

Have a good day y'all

Hi babes, so nice to wake up with a completely clear head. Went to the gym this morning and hopefully got a shot of happy hormones :) Housework this afternoon...I think this is sort of my danger time. It's not that I'd drink whilst doing it but once it's done I feel like I deserve a 'reward', need to somehow 'mark' the evening spent in the house as somehow different to the day. Of course that is a stupid excuse if ever there was one!

Spanna great to see you honey! you are like a little ray of sunshine, even without your va va voom you brighten the bus. I have vague memories of a Mr Motivator on breakfast tv, a brightly coloured Lycra man bouncing around. Should I picture a female version? . Hope BT sort you out soon treacle.

So day 2! Getting that first one out the way is always a bit of hurdle. So grateful to wake up and remember I didn't drink.

Guggs great post yesterday! you seem a bit worried that you haven't got the same determination as last time. I feel a bit half hearted compared to my initial few determined bouts too (although you were in a different league) I think Anne's fake it till you make it approach could be applied in the hope that we reach that space Soc is in. From there things may look different. Keep going, you have lots of inner strength in there.

Rural so glad you are coming out of the lurkness, today is the day to kick butt!

Joey I bet you are better at your job than you realise, we all tend to underrate ourselves. It wasn't long ago they asked you to do more hours.

hope it is interesting how the low carb diet has shifted your focus - instead of denying yourself the wine it is part of a bigger plan and doesn't feel so difficult. Well done on the 4lbs! I have been trying to low carb but having more and more mishaps, yesterday just couldn't resist 4 chocolate hob nobs.

Waves to all babes and lurkers

spanna good to see you again!
70 you are doing really well. nearly over the worst and then you will start to feel great.
alias hope you have a better day at work today
annie the evenings are a bastard aren't they? Between 6 and 9 pm is the killer time for me, every single fecking night!
going for two in a row.......

ma do you know, somehow when I was writing tufts, I knew that it brought up those smutty thoughts!! How are things on the job front? Would love to meet up if talking it all through would help?

Some of the recent posts have got me musing about mood and boredom and drinking.

..... I found that drinking took up a lot of time (or at least all the ways to hide it and normalise it did) - so planning to drink, buying drink, hiding my drinking, hiding my empties.. and so when I wasn't drinking I felt bored in 2 ways - one because I wasn't doing something that I wanted to do, and another one because actually there seemed to be an awful lot of evening to get through (and I had no useful habits or mind-consuming hobbies to help me get through).

For me what helps best is planning to combat my boredom in the same way as I wold plan my drinking. So in the supermarket, instead of buying a bottle of wine to keep me company I would buy whatever I fancied that caught my interest. Some bubble bath and nail polish, a magazine (or any type), a craft magazine with a tapestry sampler, a ball of wool to knit with, even once a kids colouring book and some crayons. It doesn't matter at all if the 'project' gets finished - chucking it out was less wasteful than getting pissed again, and if it cost less than a fiver, it was still saving me money.

I also planned 'real' activities that I could re-engage in, a drumming class with a friend, dusting down my old piano and music books, an agreement with dp that we would go for a stroll after dinner.

And occasionally (very occasionally) I would tackle things that needed doing - a bit of ironing, sorting out old clothes in the wardrobe, a 15 minute burst of cleaning or paperwork. I never did any of these things for long - usually half an hour, because otherwise I found that I'd feel resentful as well as bored.

Another tactic I used at one time was to decent wine into tiny bottles like THESE so a bottle of wine would fill 15 of them!

Then if I got to a real 'fuck it' moment I would put one of the tiny bottles into the fridge, go off to do an activity for half an hour while it cooled down, and then if I still felt so desperate I gave myself permission to drink it. 90% of the time, the urgency had passed, and I took it out of the fridge. Sometimes I just chucked it away. This also had the advantage of the wine usually tasting really rubbish, so it stopped me from wanting to open another little tiny bottle. It also made it obvious, the ridiculous lengths I had to go to to try and control my drinking. But at that time I WAS in an extreme place with drinking, so extreme measures felt better than boredom, misery and depression leading me back to the insane cycle of drinking.

OMG venus I feel like you can read my mind

Seriously, I was thinking about something last night (just chucking out a piece of crochet that I'm making no progress with) and it's like you've just given me permission to do it.

Seriously, seriously that's so woooo. If I just start again, I could get excited about new wool, new patterns and it would take my mind off the alcohol.

I mean, how freaky is that, I'm feeling the tingly spookiness of it...

Spookeee alias

Go ahead, and get excited about the new wool I think it is easy to get weighed down by guilt about 'unfinished' projects, when honestly once the energy has gone out of them, they are just taking up space (in your head and your house).

Can you tell that I've got a short attention span?

Now I've got the hang of it, I sometimes do something, just for the sake of doing it. Dp asked what I was knitting one evening, and I said "nothing, I'm just knitting". I didn't want a project, I didn't want an obligation to finish something, I just fancied knitting.....

And knitting and drinking really don't go well together.

venus I love that reply “nothing, I'm just knitting“ !

People are always asking what I'm crocheting, and usually I don't know what it will end up looking like... I like the idea that just doing it is an end in itself.