The Brave Babes Battle Bus - Battling The Wicked Wine Witch, One Day At A Time!

[Mouseface]

Hello, I'm mouse, one of the Babes who have been on this lovely, rickety bus called Gerald for some time now!

There's no judgy pants worn on this bus, nor hoking of bosoms!! It's filled with every day life, love and laundry. As simple as that. The rest falls in between.

We're a welcoming, supporting thread, filled with a mine of information from many years of experience, from those who have consumed alcohol day in, day out...hidden the 'habit', the lie, disguised our drinking with many an excuse. So perfected over the years or new to the guilt of drinking more than you think you should.....

Anyway, old or new, lurker or not, come and say hello to us if you feel the need. We'd love to meet you if we haven't already :)

Thank you for reading this, find a seat, hide green opal fruits if you find any, they're like gold dust around here! Aren't they ma!!

See you soon, I hope.

Mouse x

And, if you'd like to see where we all began, sit with a cup of tea/coffee and have a peek at this - the beginning

And our latest thread that will take you back to many others enjoy your read!

Margie

I guess this is one of those times when drinking won't make a difference. It has no place here. Thinking of you x

margie
Did you see my second post when I said that arguments had broken out after I had left ?
My Dsis had managed to piss off everyone who was left. In fact one of my other sisters is refusing to socialise with her ever again.
I think for me alcohol has lost the fun element and I am not so sure I am fun when I am drinking any more. I was uncomfortable leaving but when I came home and spent time with one of my adult DDS ( who's teetotal ) I immediately felt better. I knew that I had made the right decision.
Right off to watch Happy Valley which makes my disfunctional family seem normal

Thanks lovely babes, you are amazing. I've had an AF beer and some chocolate and I've just had a little cry reading your messages.

JWN, your words mean more than you know. Ms McGee, I'm having some nice quiet time now after a crazy day, and you're right, without the alcohol fog I can remember my DS and that time and actually really feel the feelings instead of trying to smother them. Ma, his name was Eric Michael, I wear a bracelet with his name and date of birth on my wrist and it's so precious to me. Faire, you're lovely, have some too.

Margie You are the mother to ALL your children, and always will be. When your tiny baby Eric was born you did what you could do at that time - and that was just right.

I meant JWIM - sorry.

Thanks lovely Venus, you always know the right thing to say.

Margie what a truly lovely name! I love it. Thinking of your son Eric tonight and hoping you feel his presence around you.

Oh Margie big hugs, you are doing so well xxx

f0x Hiya have you spoken to the GP yet?
made how is it going tonight?
Sorry I can't NC everyone yet. I am still moderating. Have had a number of AF nights recently but this week it is not happening.

Bless you margie what an experience to bear. You are a strong amazing lady to address your alcohol use despite a profound pain like this. You can achieve anything and the stars are out for you and for Eric tonight.

The bus is a sad place recently. Hope everyone is keeping as well as possible with all the difficulties you are all dealing with.

My moderating has not gone at all well except tonight I've had an unexpected AF night. I cannot remember the last time this happened! I had to go out unexpectedly and got home at 10:30 pm and I planned to skip beer and go straight to wine but my DH had a cup of tea and a biscuit ready for me so I felt I should settle for that! I'm going to go to bed now before temptation gets to me! Honestly can't believe this has happened!

Margie . Thinking of you and Eric x

elephant not yet, but I have an appointment next week. I've had a couple of af days, but the ones where I haven't I have really overdone it. I don't think I will ever be able to moderate, I need to stop completely,

Morning All.

Margie, you may be a 'tough old babe', but there will always be a warm, soft place in your heart for your little boy .

Morning all 😀😀
I have the best sleep in ages and now ready to tackle the day😀
Have a good day everyone......see you later

Good morning all
Margie, your story humbles me. Thinking of you and Eric.
Claret, hope that you are having a superb time. Quite frankly, Kent has been feeling like Iceland this week ...
made, do you have plans in place for today - can you speak to someone at the university as has been suggested, if you don't feel that you can go to AA? It might make you feel more in control.
sober, glad to hear that you've slept well - it makes such a difference as to how the day starts.
ma, hoping that all is going well with you.
nobody, hope that you are OK. I saw your comments on another thread - I think that if your only experience of alcoholism is living with someone who doesn't want to admit to it or to do anything about it, you're going to feel negatively. It doesn't mean that those posters were really lumping "alcoholics" in as a collective - they were just commenting on their own experiences.
And hi to sober, baby, venus, elephant, cunning, bicycle, faire and everyone else that I've forgotten. I try not to count days but I must be on week six and a bit .... and the annoying thing is that I would be AF this year aside from an irritating slip six and a bit weeks ago.

Hope that everyone has a good day.

Morning everyone. I am feeling ok after my AF night. Am sure my liver is benefiting more than my brain though. I have a lovely long to do list today, which always has the potential to make me feel effective. Hope everyone has a good day.

Babes you are wonderful, wonderful people - you helped me mark my son's birthday in a way no-one in RL could have done, and for that I will be forever grateful.

I wish everyone on here who is struggling, be it with booze or with other problems or both, the strength and courage to move forward to a better future because you all deserve it.

Loads of love and hugs to you all.

Hi lovely babes.

Firstly margie you are indeed a tougher babe than you think thinking of you.

ilike great unintentional af night, so thoughtful of your dh to have tea and biscuits waiting for you.

elba talking about your issues in real life is a big step and one you are bound to ponder over. Well done for doing it. You know in your heart it's the best thing for you - planning on a sober/get my eating sorted April over here so we can support each other!

made I hope you are ok. You are doing so well to fight this at such an emotional time in your life...I remember uni very well, it could be a complete bitch.

Still on holiday and moderating. It's unbelievably stunning and great to just be away.

Sorry to not name check everyone; stupid phone lost my post when I scrolled back to read past messages. Big hugs to you all.

Forgot to say lobster well done on your af-ness!! You are doing fantastically well!

Well I've failed again. Had a chat with friend 1 earlier before she went home and think there is hope for us. Friend 2 and 3 do not feel the same and there's still a lot of tension. I'm hiding out in my room more and everyone keeps asking if I'm ok, I want to scream that I'm not, but I just smile and say I am, sure no one believes it though. Went to the shop earlier (all the while knowing I should turn back, but even though I knew I should I couldn't) and bought wine, and I'm drinking back now. Feel such a waste of fucking space, I don't think I can ever be cured.

Sorry for my posts lately being very self absorbed. Hope is everyone else is doing ok

Awh made, don't beat yourself up. Can you take a break from the wine, just for 30 minutes or so - have a bath or paint your nails, something to make yourself feel better? Easier said than done I know. You can definitely do this, it's a tough time of life, my uni days were hard.

Evening all

Claret - it sounds idyllic - glad that you are enjoying and moderating as well - and thank you!
made - my love, you are perfectly curable. You're just stuck in a rut at the moment, not that there's any "just" about it, because clawing your way out can seem impossible but I absolutely promise you that it's not. Apologies if I am making this too simplistic, but wouldn't honesty be the best policy with all three friends? Could you not say to friends two and three that yes, you are really struggling at the moment and that you're sorting out a plan for moving forward in a positive way? As you say, they are aware that something's wrong and they obviously care about you; they feel frustrated because there simply isn't anything that they are able to do to help. It might relieve some of the tension. As for the wine .... is there any way you could chuck some of it down the sink and ration yourself for the rest of the evening, or is that not a space you're in at the moment? I hate the idea of you waking up tomorrow feeling rubbish. Sending you .

Thank you for your kind words babes, but I don't feel like I deserve them. Only yesterday I was swearing off drink forever and look at me now. I'm a disgrace and embarassment. My friends aren't talking to me cos of nasty things I've said recently (when drunk but still), my attitude and mood lately and my unwillingnesss to ask for help. If anyone, I'd reach out to friend 1 who said before she left that I could message her if I really needed to, but I cant. She's got her numeracy test on saturday and all this stress isn't fair on her. I feel like I've got to deal with this on my own, well apart from my counselor. Friends 2 and 3 I'm not that close to, and I really dont want to worry friend 1.

I am such a mess. I make all these big promises and I mean them, I really do. But it's SO hard not to drink when I'm stressed/emotional etc. I fear it's tougher than I am. I don't think I can beat this. I am so weak it's pathetic, I can't even control one aspect of my life.

I really thank you babes for trying to help me, but I think I'm beyond that. Even though I dont want to, I still find myself buying booze in secret in shops and drinking it even though I know I shouldn't. This resisting booze when stressed/emotional is so tough and I haven't managed it yet - I've been doing it when emotionally hurt for over 10 years and I dont think I can break the bloody habit. I'm so fucking pathetic.

Evening all. Hard to keep up with all the babes posting so higs to you all.
Tomorrow we hear if the new contractor is going to TUPE over the staff. If they do, we can maybe restructure. If they don't, we are bust! I am off to Inverness to do some hard core soldier ogling at Fort George...

made am I right that your in your last few weeks of uni? If so, and this is just a thought, would it maybe be better to set a time in the future when the stress of uni is done to properly tackle your drinking? Maybe in the meantime work out a 'damage limitation' type moderation strategy that you can realistically stick to, even if that means you continue to drink over this period. Big lifestyle changes are near on impossible to achieve and sustain at times of significant stress.

claret glad your having a lovely time, just getting away can make such a huge difference can't it? I definately need to tackle my eating and replace some alcohol calories with actual nutrition, so let's aim for a healthier April!

margie huge hugs to you, you are clearly so so strong.

I'm stuck in a kind of weird apathy at the moment, and feel a bit bad posting on here as I seem to have lost all motivation to sort my drinking. So much going on at the moment and struggling to work out what's mental health related and what's alcohol related. Just feel stuck really, demotivated and a bit hopeless.

sorry not to name check everyone, but big hugs to you all and thanks for being lovely.