The Brave Babes Battle Bus - Soaking Up The Warm Sunshine, Instead Of The Warm White Wine!

[Mouseface]

Hi, I'm Mouse :)

Welcome to The Brave Babes Battle Bus.

A place for pouring out your heart without being judged, mostly because a lot of us have been exactly where you are right now, or somewhere similar.

We've been around for a while, so there's not much that we've not seen..... or heard.... or been through ourselves.

Some of the Babes are newer to the Bus, some of the Babes have been here on dear old "Gerald" (The name this Bus was given by one of the Babes, I forget who now!I suspect IsinDe or Silver) for a little while longer!

EVERYONE is welcome here. Drinkers, those who are complete non drinkers, and those who are somewhere in the middle of all of the above. :)

Some Babes are in control of their drinking, some not so much. It's dreadfully hard some days, days when there is nothing going around your head except thinking that you MUST have a drink and you sit there trying to work out when, what time you can have that first mouthful of ice cold poison.

Whatever your goal here, or why you're here, we'll all help you along the way, YOUR WAY.

There will be one of us on here that can relate to your life story as if it were a mirror they were looking at, someone to hold your hand if you want it, catch you if you fall, which you may or may not. Positive thinking, just One Day At A Time.

No one Babe is better than any other, we've all been addicts. We've all suffered, yes some more than others but it's not a competition (and no-one gets turned away) but if you rack up shed loads of sober days, you will be a winner on the thread!!

So, if you want somewhere safe to sit and enjoy the warming summer sun, come find a seat, have a chat or just sit and listen to the rest of us yakking on!!

Nice to meet you :) all.

Also, here is the latest thread -

THE LATEST THREAD WE'VE SHARED OUR STORIES AND EXPERIENCES ON

And this is the very first thread -

AND THIS THREAD, THIS THREAD IS EXTREMELY SPECIAL BECAUSE THIS IS WHERE THE JOURNEY STARTED, AND HAS SINCE EVOLVED OVER THE LAST SIX YEARS

Hope to chat soon, Mousey x

ma I have been lurking and following your story. Great news

Thanks sober. Am excited I now have the chance to pull off my new proposal and launch the pilot. Have a lot of meetings next week to try and get all the key players together, including a posh dinner with a couple of rather important chaps where I had better keep my wits about me....
Got some serious soldier ogling to do

Ma my DD is in the armed forces and I get to do some serious ogling sometimes too

Can't beat it as a hobby!

Yes there is something about a fit young man striding about in a uniform isn't there. I now need to go and lie down in a darkened room

Morning all. Gosh the bus is quiet these days. Where is everyone?

Good morning, and nice to see new (or returning) posters.

The weekend looms with lots of work to catch up with and a meeting for Monday to be hastily rearranged. Hope everyone has a good weekend planned.

Phew ! Thought I had killed this
Lots of plans today and might even achieve them cos I am not hungover.
Iwantostaysober are you ok ?
Day 2

Will be celebrating Ds 50th birthday tonight so that will be nice.
Plan to take dad out in his wheelchair this afternoon if it stays dry. Must do ironing. That's about it.

Ooops, by Ds I meant dear sis, not dear son . I'm not that old!

ma I'm here, and reading, but sometimes I don't post because I've been drinking and feel guilty

Yes still here! and am on track with Day 2!
The big reveal will be when I return to work next week and dealing with not having wine to look forward to when I get home.
I have been reading a lot of sober blogs and really like the Mrs D is going without.
Also, the video posted from the guardian is great, thanks for posting that srtajuanita

Hope you are doing well everyone : )

joey that's the best time to post.

Just looked at the clock and remembered that this time last week I was struggling to get out of bed
Had been out the night before with friends and I was still suffering.
It was a good night but I have started to realise it probably could have been a great night if I had been sober. We were with friends who we hadn't seen in a while and I have blanks and half remembered conversations.......such a waste.
This has got to stop

Afternoon, tis me, Mouse

Well, we're finally home from the holiday from hell. We decided to cut our loses and come home. It was raining, cold, foggy and generally horrid the whole time that we were there.

The cold and damp did wonders for my Osteoarthritus. I've just got a letter to go and finally get my 'Emergency' ultrasound scan on my knee. The brilliance is, the request is for the wrong knee and in actual fact, they BOTH require an ultrasound or much more attention than an x-ray!! Another thing to add to my list of jobs......

I've managed to stop drinking like a fish now we're home. I honestly believe I was so down, depressed and hormonal, plus I felt so let down because we'd spent so much money to sit inside for a week, that drinking was the only thing - at the time - that I wanted to do. I cba with anything else. I was sick and tired paying for something that kept us housebound, well me at least.

It was all about ME and MY constant pain and if any of you suffer from Osteoarthritis, then you'll know what I mean :(

I was so selfish, Nemo loved every day and DH made his holiday the best he could whilst I spent most days in bed, then got up and started drinking, staying up until way past DH had gone up.

I did not like who I was. What I saw, what I felt. DH and I came very close to the edge but it was all due to me, and how I was, he reacted to me. As you do, don't you?

If there's ice, at some points, it's thinner than others and I decided to test just how thin we were. So I asked him if we could talk...... and take everything One Day At A Time. Me. Not just the drinking.

Me. We have to take my pain, my knees, hips, back, pelvis, the lot One Day At A Time. And we're both happy with that. It was almost like there was a sign on the ice say "The life you want and need is this way >>>>>" pointing to the thinnest part.....

So, now we are finally home, I'm going to start looking for next year's holiday, we were thinking of France and driving - stop over - ferry - drive - stop over - home. :)

A year in the life of our family can change into anything. Nemo might be eating food and not be tube fed in a year's time, a month's time, a week....

I might have been given a wonder drug to cover all of my pain or surgery that isn't going to paralyse me for life.....

You never truly know what your life holds for you. The obvious stuff, work etc, meetings, sure.....

The rest? Who really knows. One thing that I do know for sure is that my life won't change for the better looking for it at the bottom of a bottle of alcohol.

Ever.

Mouse xxx

Oh mouse you lovely, wonderful brave soul - to post with such honesty about your drinking, your relationship, your fears..... and your hopes. What a great perspective to look at that week and see that drinking didn't really help. Each moment is all that we can enjoy and celebrate, or grapple with and survive.

Hey mouse a very honest lost as always. Glad you and the lovely mrmouse talked things through, and you are right. We don't know what the future holds. We have to live in the here and now as best we can. Although, sometimes it isn't easy!!!
Gerald has been pretty quiet these last few days, not sure what all the babes are up to.

Right I'd really really like to jump on board and would appreciate any support and advise .
I've been separated from my ex husband of over 25 years 18 months now .
Drinking propped me up in the last ten years of what can only be described as a nightmare marriage .
I am now well out which I never thought would happen .
I have the chance of new start and a much happier life .
Unintentionally I've met a gentleman who is also separated after 25 years and we are enjoying a beautiful if not doomed romance ( he will be mostly based 3500 miles away with his job BUT has managed to commute for 12 years so as he said if it's meant to be ... suddenly were planning on meeting family ect so god knows but yes I adore him )
During the last ten years I've not gone many nights without drinking 3/4 bottle of wine or equivalent .its the first thing I do when I get in from work.

I've seen my GP and all my blood tests were normal which prob didn't help . Almost gave me permission to continue .
He said at the moment it's a habit not an addiction but I'm not convinced .
I have just 3 weeks before my gorgeous man comes back to the UK and is taking me away for 9 days . It's a journey very personal to him and I feel blessed he's asked me to join him . We are so looking forward to all that time together after snatched dinners and one short weekend away .
Anyway by then I really need to be on a good journey to cutting down .
He can very much take it or leave it , and while we are looking forward to a couple of evenings of fabulous bubbly and getting a little silly together I want to be comfortable again not drinking on a few nights of the week.
For me this is a new start and if I can get past cooking dinner tbh I'd rather have a cup of tea anyway .
Any tips on avoiding pouring that first drink on the first night would be very welcome .
Any apps, esp hypnosis ones I can sleep to ?
Does anyone want to buddy up maybe ?
Happy Sunday x

Hi all - I am in a mess :( Drinking a bottle of wine a night. I also cannot go out with my friends without getting wasted.

My dh is worried about me and I am too :(

Last night, I got drunk with friends and cannot remember getting home.

My little son has seen me drunk at least twice - I feel so guilty.

The evenings are triggers for me - I get bored and drink seems to make life brighter for a few hours.

Hugs to all you Babes who are struggling.

Hi throughthestorm and petridish I have just rejoined the bus so probably don't have any great words of wisdom.
What works for me is planning and distraction. My trigger times are between 4 pm and 7pm so I plan to leave the house even for a short walk around 4pm and when I get back I have a list of jobs which I MUST tackle. Last night I emptied the dishwasher folded washing and paid some bills. I find if I can distract myself the urge gradually goes. I also NEVER just have one because I can't.
Welcome and I will be around later for hand holding ????????
Mouse hope today is a better day for you

Forgot to add DVD box sets are helping me also. I find if I can get absorbed in something the urge also passes I know that others have used adult colouring in books . I have 6 hours of Nurse Jackie to look forward to and I won't start watching it until I get twitchy tonight

Thanks all - I'm so glad I'm not alone.

Not alone at all Petri. Welcome and welcome to storm