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!

Knackered and in bed but wanted to say way to go soecial so proud of you. And joey it's ok darling we have your back right here

Much love, pop! How are you??

Special

Pop I hope your flu's gone and you feel rested and refreshed today x

Elba have a good day today, can you have a bit of a pamper before you go into work tonight? Be kind to yourself x

Have a good day y'all.

Feeling a little anxious, as I wrote a statement about a colleague last week (basically whistle-blew) & I know the shit will hit the fan & I'm a bit nervous but I know I've done the right thing. It's disturbing my sleep and I feel knackered this morning

Claret Northern Lights twice Keep going lovely, you know the drill, distract, distract, distract

Love to you all and hugs to those that need them xxx

cunning well done on day 9!!! Keep going, one day at a time. When the cravings come, take it one minute at a time. And remember however strong the temptation the feeling does pass. I know exactly what you mean when you say you are happy you managed to resist on one hand but sad that it was so hard to resist on the other hand. I think you did amazingly, that was a tough one to pass up. Bet you are chuffed this morning though!

nobody you are incredible, you have done so so well and i am so very pleased that you are doing this and feeling good for it. Well done you.

elba do you think the best way for you to do an af day is to cut slowly down to nothing? Or just grit your teeth, go for it and do an af day? You asked if i enjoyed my weekend away despite the drinking episode, sadly no. Once i have done that i spend the rest of the time being ultra kind, over the top helpful and just not relaxed because i feel so guilty. I called in sick to work today as i just can't face going out just yet. Plan to relax in bed and eat chocolate (another of my new rules is to eat eat eat as that helps so much with the cravings).

spanna hope work goes ok, quite often the worry over these things is worse than the reality. Horrible that it disturbed your sleep though.

Having had over a month dry at the beginning of the month i definitely second the notion that the first few days are by far the hardest. Once i'd done a week it definitely got easier (not every day but most days) I'm focusing on one day at a time right now but I am painfully aware that it is easter this weekend which is a big drinking weekend in our family. Last easter i got totally obliterated in front of my husbands family and it was massively humiliating. Perhaps i should learn from that and not drink this easter. If only it was that bloody easy!

Feeling a lot better this Monday morning then I did last Monday despite having wine last night.
Waves to all babes x

claret big hugs lovely. I completely relate to how you feel and the need to just hide away. Hope you are having a relaxing day and starting to feel a bit brighter. I think I am just going to have to bite the billet and go for an AF day. My plan of gradually reducing is clearly not working. Work will keep me in check for a few days, but my plan is to not drink on Thursday morning after my last night. Sounds like a little thing but for now that's my goal. I think I have to go with one day at a time.

spanna well done for whistleblowing. I hope work can manage the situation well and support you. I've been there too and it's stressful.

I'm having a lazy day. The only positive side of nights is the excuse to lounge around in my pyjamas all day without feeling guilty. Going to try and have a couple of hours sleep now, and have resisted the lunchtime glass of wine I quite often have to help me get off. So kind of an AF day I guess, except I will have a couple of drinks when I get in in the morning (my excuse is that it's my evening ).

Hope everyone's ok and having a good day. Sorry not to name check but big hugs to you all.

elba that sounds like a good plan for Thursday, although like you said today has been an af day if you think of it as a calendar day rather than your shift work day. So well done for resisting the lunchtime wine!

I am still pretty low but have eating a lot which has curbed my cravings. Worried already about Easter but am just going one day at a time. Day 2 almost done as I'll be off to bed shortly.

Hope you're all ok babes

Elba (and others) many years ago , when Gerald the bus was just a twinkle in somebody's bud depot, the most successful approach I took was to only drink one day per week.

I absolutely couldn't contemplate never drinking again, but I was in a bad way and needed to do something. The ONE day a week really helped me to have control over some of the small decisions. If I was trying not to drink during the week then my Friday and Saturday night would extend to include Thursday and Sunday, and then sometimes a Tuesday too. But I told my friends I was limiting to one night a week, and then their persuasive "oh go on, just have one" didn't tempt me - why waste my only drinking opportunity on one or two drinks!!

I would choose which day was going to be the special one - obviously the one when I had the longest time to drink the most - and once that decision was made the rest of the week seemed easier. If I was tempted to buy a bottle in the shop, then by the time I'd got home I could resolve to put it away for my planned drink-fest.

It was undoubtedly horrific binge drinking, but for a while it worked to make the rest of my life manageable at a time when I risked toppling from a 'functional alcoholic' (if there is such a thing) into something much, much more unstable.

Try anything that you think might work, and then keep trying and trying until you find something that suits.

venus very good plan. Plans are there to follow. If there's no plan or no rules then they can't be broken etc etc. Elba your lifestyle is particularly difficult. Shift work days and nights switched around. The rest of us can say no drinks before 7 or no drinks mid week. Or no drinks at lunchtime whatever our rules are for us ( or the rules we'd like to follow). Our weekly structures are normal.

It will be a lot more difficult for you Elba but a diary as someone suggested before is a very good start and maybe you should hatch a plan for your own rule book.

I'm just recovering from my weekend and had 2 really good night's sleep. Did drink Sun and Mon but not much. And now it's Easter coming up but not going anywhere special so I'm planning (???) an easy weekend.

I've also started a diary and although I thought I knew my triggers, but actually writing down times, feelings etc really helps. And usually I'm just hungry for food not alcohol. But of course alcohol has been winning the fight. Forcing myself to eat is changing the game.

Here's a little poem from the Wine Witch just so you know how evil she is:

One day you love me
The next you hate
But you never resist
The hook and the bait
You cry for escape
But what do I care?
The net that I cast
Is a permanent snare

Good luck to you all and have a good week

Claret good luck to you too for Easter xx
And meant to say Special what an achievement. How's DH?

Good morning campers!!!

(Remember hi Dee hi)

Hope everyone's week is off to a good start. It's sunny in Scottyland which a rare but welcome treat.

elba I'm really enjoying reading your posts, you came to us in a kind of blind panic but your doing really well at starting to visualise your life with less alcohol. I hate the cliche but this is s "journey" for all of us, sometimes we need to play the long game. I remember I once did 1 week AF and promised myself u would donate the money saved to my local hospice, this was

The thing about Easter is that there will always be a 'something' that we need to drink for because we always have. There's always a reason. Those are the habits that we have to change if we want to get out of the drinking cycle. Keep doing what we've always done and we will keep coming back to the same place.

Drink. Regret. Shame. Horror. Drink.

Break the cycle. Do something different instead. Elba what will you do differently at the end of your last night shift? Are you going to leave it to chance, when you're tired and hungry and have a day off the next day? Because if you don't plan how you are going to not drink, there's every possibility that you will drink. Out of habit, to help you sleep, put it off til next time.

There's always a reason to drink. There's always a reason not to. We just have to decide which is the most important to us. Make the decision and stick to it for just 24 hours.

Even if it is Easter, so what. Who made 'Easter' the boss of you? Why does 'Easter' get to decide if you make a tit of yourself?

Wish I love the poem.

wish love the poem.

faire you make a great point - I enjoy Easter because it's when I can 'guilt free' drink. But my guilt free drinking (which only lasts the first couple of drinks) is quickly followed by days of anxiety and low mood. Not worth it. now I just need to figure out how to cope with what will be a very boozy few days but without taking part.

Thank you everyone for being lovely, and for your very wise words. Sorry I'm not much of a support but I truly appreciate everyone's care and advice.

wish I also love the poem, so apt. I know a diary is a good idea, I just struggle to write my feelings etc down...weirdly it's easier typing it out and on here (so much more public than a diary!) but then i guess there's a lot I can't say...

claret really hope your feeling a bit brighter today,.

baby thank you for being such an inspiration and for all your support.

faire I don't know what I will do differently to be honest. But I've made it a decision rather than a 'I could' sort of plan which I can back out of/put of to the next time. It remains to be seen what will happen, but I'm telling myself it's a choice I've made.

venus thamk you for sharing that. Never drinking again scares the crap out of me, but so does carrying on like this. Hopefully that may change in time.

Stupid thing is I'm genuinely terrified of going to bed without drinking (or something else to knock me out but don't want to swap one thing for another), I'm also terrified of what will happen if I don't try to. But the idea of going to bed however tired I am really scares me if I can't anaesthetise myself to some extent. So Thursday morning may be a challenge, but I'm going to do it this time.

Oh thanks Babes it's so scary to know so many people in the same situation.

Yes it would be so much easier to quit completely. At the moment I have loads of rules which just about manage to keep things under control (not always...)

Only drink max of 500ml wine that is 2/3 of a bottle
Since I can't trust myself to only have that, I have to make sure I buy only those size bottles
Only waitrose and m&s sell them, so I have to make special trips
If they don't have them in stock, I'd panic so prefer to buy in advance just in case
But can't have it in the house (I'd end up drinking it) so leave in the boot of the car
Can only drink in evenings
Can't drink in pubs or restaurants
Can't drink in front of inlaws
Only drink white wine (the incident with the Baileys shows how this can go wrong)
Don't drink 2 nights in a row

So many rules - I've probably forgotten some. It's exhausting.

How much easier would it be just to have ONE rule - don't drink

joey your list is so similar to mine. At the moment, despite all that's happened I'm still debating whether to make my list stricter or to go for the simpler 'one rule' list. How are you feeling about things now?

Isn't it truly incredible what a strong hold this horrid poison has on us. And we are far from the whole story...just a simple Google can find endless blogs, sober websites, forums etc just like ours. I started listening to the bubble podcast yesterday....it brings a different slant to it for me to actually hear people talking about it out loud.

Sitting listening to the news about the Brussels bombs, how dreadful. And makes me annoyed at myself for being miserable when life is so very precious, those poor poor people.

Evening, tis me, Mouse

I'd be surprised if any of you remembered me by now it's that long!!

A HUGE hello and welcome to those who I've not met before, and a huge SORRY to those who I've not been in touch with on here for ages.

I'm okay, still managing to drink in a very controlled manner. I'm doing a 5K Race For Life in June, swim twice a week and manage 1km each time as the water aids my weight and stability.

I love life and yet I need something more. Since being hit and left for dead in the road by that bastard in December, I've felt the need to volunteer more..... I can't work because I'm not reliable due to my disabilities.

But I'd love to volunteer for the Police, Victim Support or The Samartains... that sort of role. What do those of you who know me think? If anyone knows of anything, can they please PM me? :) Thank you.

Now, how are all you gorgeous Babes? I have really missed you xx

Aaaaargh, I typed a humongous post earlier, NC'd everyone I could think of and lost 90% of it, only elba got a bit of a post. Spent bloody ages and wanted to cheer everyone up with lovely wee NC cos i feel all warm inside when I get one and it's all gone gone gone. Will try again tomorrow when I simmer down.

Needless to say you are all bloody brilliant!!!

ma I'm totally rooting for you and your job, using all my positive thoughts xxx

Thanks baby. Had a board meeting today. Directors not happy to continue as things are. Understand ably. We are supposed to get decision from contractors tomorrow which will determine the future...and on Thursday the big business awards event with over 300 guests. Boy, going to be tough to get through it all.
On the plus side, I have a lovely dress to wear....

Hello Mouse. I've never really chatted to you before, but have followed the thread. Good to hear you are back again. I don't know much about the Emergency services but I do know a lot of Primary schools who would love volunteers to listen to children to read.

Hey mousey mouse lovely to see you posting.

I think with volunteering you have to do something that you love doing, something that you have a passion for. I volunteered with a homeless cooking project (because I love cooking). But after 4 years when things in the project changed I stopped doing it. Then I volunteered with an elderly advice project - something very important when my parents were ill and dying.

Now I volunteer with a housing charity because when I'm old I'll need one of their houses because I think it is such an important issue.

Choose something you love, something that makes you get out of bed in the morning. And don't stretch yourself too thin, you have to look after yourself as well xx

Hey venus

Thank you for your advice..... I want to support people who are like me, or people who have been through the same life events that I have too. That's why I thought of the areas that I did. We'll see xx

elephant - nice to meet you lovely, where I live is a small village with one school where my little chap goes to, my name is always down to help and I'm also the Vice Chair on the 'Friends' charity that the school have put together. We are a voluntary aided school so have the Friends charity who raise money as best we can :) Thank you xx

I'm not sure if I posted that we have a new dog? He's called Samson and a lovely, VERY gentle German Shepherd Dog, who we think is about 3.5 yrs old, but as a rescue dog we can't be sure but he's chipped, neutered and has only 1 last jab to have so we've got him booked in for the 1st of April. He needs feeding up too but until we know his weight, we've kinda got to wing it. He's on dry complete food like Sethy was and he seems happy with that, as long as it's wet! Go figure :)

Nemo loves him, as do I because he's not as big as Seth RIP, I can walk him slowly, and he seems to understand that I can't walk well at all, and is learning to my heal, my speed and being very well behaved. :)

I might just love him to pieces because he's so utterly fabby but ssshhhhhh! It's a secret!

Hopefully, this upload will work and you can all meet him but for now, I need to go back to bed. Fibromyalgia is hard work to work out and I'm trying to get used to the day by day symptoms this disease throws at me!

Lots of love to you all, Mouse xxx

Hey mouse sorry to ignore you last night! Samson looks great, I bet he is sweet with little fish boy.
Has anyone heard from indie at all?
hope you OK? Will email you
Venus a mwah, mwah from this side of the water...
Please all send positive decision making vibes today.

Hey, mouse, this thread is a life saver! Thank you! Samson is lovely. I'm picking up my new boy hopefully tomorrow.

Pop, how are you?
Joey and claret do you think total abstinence would be easier than all those rules! It sounds tiring!
Wish, I love the poem!
Venus, I know what you mean, never drinking again is so daunting.

Thinking of you today ma