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!

elba ditto with big event on Friday...it's my first big test since dj and I'm equally keen for tips. I'm desperate not to be the drunken over sharing idiot for once!

Currently thinking: delaying first drink, perhaps a soft drink first?

Having regular sips of water

Eating lots of food (a big downfall of mine when I drink is that i don't eat!)

Drinking slowly

Having a set time to leave

Remembering all you lovely babes and imagining how proud I'll feel if I can report back that it was a success!

....all so easy to put down on paper, in reality? Well, we'll see.

A juice diet is either 4 juices a day or 3 juices a day and soup...they can be tough but do make me feel good. And the sheer volume of fruit and veg I go through doing them is incredible!!

I think eating is the most important thing for me too. Planning on lots of snacks getting ready, as I know I'm not good at eating a proper sit down meal in front of lots of people, especially if I've been drinking!

Three of us have a lovely girly day planned, but already talk of sharing a bottle at the spa and I'm sure there will be another whilst getting ready, then there's bubbly on arrival etc etc. I'm thinking if I then restrict to one glass with the meal and try and fit in a soft drink too it will help, but there really will be unlimited alcohol and glasses being topped up all the time. It should be a lovely day/ evening if I manage not to ruin it, but I so want to be the one that remembers everyone else's embarrassing moments rather than wake up cringing yet again!

Hi babes,

I have had the shittiest day at work - too long and boring to go into but it finished up with me having to bring my DCs to a work because I didn't have anyone to leave them with so I left them in a room with Peppa Pig while I went into a meeting then I had to leave the meeting because they were screaming because they couldn't find the loo!

Don't want to drink, just want to cry and also want to quit my job.

Margie Babe you did what you had to do and you got through it and no drink is worth that feeling you'll have in the morning Watch the film through to the end.....

margie oh no that sounds horrible, hope you are managing to have a nice relaxing evening - it's good that you don't want a drink even after an awful day!

elba that sounds like you have a lovely day out planned. For you and me both its now in our hands how we feel when we wake up on Saturday. We have the power to control that. We can do it!

It's freezing in my house tonight, dh and me keep battling over what's a suitable temperature - he likes freezing, I like toasty!! Off to bed with a hot water bottle soon.

Hugs Margie . bad day at work for me too. Emergency board meeting on Thursday to stop trading I think. We have fought so hard and for so long to stay afloat and suspect we are only months away from turning the corner, but we can't trace with no money and we can't pay the staff. Or me. Which means I can't py the mortgage. Too sick to even contemplate drinking. Every cloud huh?

Oh ma that sounds rubbish to you

Morning,tis me,Mouse

Welcome to all new and returning Babes :)

Oh Ma :( I'm so, so, sorry too read your last post about your job. You've fought so hard to keep your job, keep going, even when the Company was teetering on the edge on more than one occasion, you managed to keep it together of late.... xxx

Life here is awful, those of you who know me elsewhere will have seen the sh1t I am having to deal with, I've lost almost a stone in 3 weeks because of all of the stress....... And I'm worried about my best friend who's DH is a lying scumbag. She's filed for divorce, which is all very, very sad.

Sorry to be a moaning mouse, I'm just that way out xxx

Lurking in the sidecar, and {{t'interbosies}} Mouse and Ma

Oh mouse and ma, hope things start looking up for you guys soon.
Hope everyone else is doing ok.

Things are starting to look good for me. The cravings have stopped, despite having wine in the fridge I don't want it, so that's definitely a good sign. I think that it's my drinking when stressed that's the issue, not just drinking. I think if I can manage to stop myself drinking when I'm stressed I should be alright to drink at parties etc.

I've been applying for jobs for after uni, and have already got an offer for an assessment day for working as a childcare rep abroad! So happy. I can't do any of the dates they've suggested so will ring tomorrow and see if another date can be arranged. All the assessments are in London, Glasgow, Belfast, Derby, Birmingham, and I'm in West Wales so will probably end up travelling whatever date I get! I don't mind though, it'll be an adventure and I can always travel the day before the assessment, stay a night in a hotel and do the assessment then travel back. Have other jobs to apply for, one is in my uni town and working with vulnerable adults and children. Pay isn't fantastic but is better than nothing, and I wouldn't mind staying in uni town. If I did get the job and had to find a flat or flatshare, my parents said they'd help out financially with getting a deposit etc.

One of my biggest regrets is not doing a Social Work degree, and I always thought that was it, I couldn't retrain. I've been looking online, and talked to parents, and have a plan. I'm going to take a year or two out to work because a) I don't want to rush into anything, b) I want to save and c) I'd like a break from education. If I still want to do a Social Work degree in a year's time, I'll apply for an MA in Social Work to start in 2018. In Wales the givernment funds 4 years in HE, and as a MA in Social Work is 2 years, my first year would be covered. The Care Council for Wales gives social work students between 3 and 6 thousand a year to study, and as the course cost is 7,500 I'd need to pay between 4,500 and 2,500 myself. My parents have generously said they'd pay this if I did get onto a course and do it, and that's so nice of them because although comfortable they're not well off. I asked if they would let me open my savings for it (they control it until I'm 25) and that's when dad offered. So I have a plan, and I feel happier for having one.

Feel like things are getting better

Well done made what an uplifting post . you sound like a new person
sweet thank you for the t'interbosie. I miss wry
mouse I ve seen your stuff on FB so know what you have been dealing with. Total shit!
Work is heartbreaking. All my soldier ogling is just about to pay off, new referrals coming in, local Govt starting to take notice, good PR about it. I need another 6 months. I need some capital. I need a fairy godmother...and a miracle. Cant bear to see it all fail after so much work . Have a Sergeant Major working with me just now on work placement. He makes my coffee and does anything I ask him to.....
I'm going to miss my soldiers. It's all in the hands of the Board now....

Checking in.....back later x

I've another 2 mins before I can have my first drink of the day, under my new regime.

I've fuckd up this taper totally.

Oh Ma, oh Mouse, big hugs to you both. Ma, DH's company is about to close, if they could only get some investment or at least get paid what they're owed then they could survive, but I don't think it's going to happen. I know how shit it is my lovely and I really feel for you.

Nobody, are you ok?

Dame, how are you doing?

Thanks so much for all the support on Monday, work has got a bit better since then thank god! And I've managed not to drink even though we've got people staying with us who've been on the wine with DH every night!

Big love to all Babes, have a happy Thursday. Waves to Claret, Pop, Elba, Made,Spanna, Faire and Baby.

Just checking in, my heart breaks for all those struggling, It may take 1000 attempts but we will all get there. There are millions of people out there in the world trying desperately to stop this horrible addiction. IT IS S DRUG, A POISON, just happens to be legal. No one on here is weak, to have the courage to post your innermost feelings and fears is super brave.

I've been invited to a party this weekend but still feel sick at the thought of going and not drinking, I feel so sad that I still dread "a great night out", the things that take life from the mundane to fun still terrify me and probably always will. I can just about handle day to day issues but the big stuff is still too big.

I can't stress enough how much of a habit alcohol is, it has been marketed as being synonymous with relaxation and fun and we've bought into it hook line and sinker but no matter how many times we fall, and got knows I'm battered and bruised from falling, each time we do we gain a little more knowledge, we make it a little further and every day, hour and minute we succeed is a victory. I went from thinking about alcohol every minute of every day to nowadays it doesn't really feature in my radar of life because thank god the new memories push away the old ones, the horrible ones and although my life is now definitely more limited, carefully structured to keep my sobriety safe, that's the story so far and it's a very fair trade, I promise xxxx

ma willing a lovely miracle your way lovely lady xxx

Morning all
Good luck today ma fingers crossed for you.
Mouse I only follow you on here so don't know about latest problems but you have always been so supportive of others....hope things improve for you soon
special how are you this morning .....I am still following you on your other thread and I am amazed and a bit teary at how strong g you are.......keep posting
Waves to everyone else

My only support is mumsnet. And that makes me so grateful to you all.

I've been too sick on just a pint of gin a day, so had a few more drinks. I think I'm going to need a medical detox.

Thank you for being here.

Delurking. Sorry to hear bad news all round I reckon. I was going to proudly announce that I am on day 6. However I am a sleep depraved, hallucinating police botherer since early this morning. DM was so worried about me she has ordered DS to come and stay. The police got an ambulance driver to ring and see if I was ok.

Brave ladies one and all take heart , may the bus and the sidecar carry you on in your journey. Waves to all.

nobody what is your next step? Have got support ? Will you contact your GP about a possible detox? Please keep us posted. elephant welcome glad you have some support. Have a think what your next steps might be.

Should have read have YOU got support nobody

Margie well done. You've come a long way in such a short time, I do think things are changing for you

baby don't go to the party if you are worried that it will be too stressful. If you think you can manage it, have an excuse ready in case you need to suddenly leave (migraine?) and make sure you can get yourself home.

On the plus side you might really enjoy it. I've had sober nights out and they've been great actuallly. But I don't have social anxiety so it might be easier for me.

ma so sorry that it's come to that. You've worked so hard I know

ATM gin but I can't as I am off to the GPs soon so the feeling will probably pass. However after this morning if I am more dangerous sober.

*I think if