Brave Babes (Hygge) Battle Bus: Snowed in and Drinking Hot Chocolate instead of wine

[SweetLathyrus]

Hi, I'm SweetLathyrus, Sweet for short, and I've been on and off Gerald the Brave Babes Battle Bus since 2014. Over the years, lots of us have maintained the thread, most of all the lovely Mouse, who has been here since the early days, and still scurries onboard when she can.

The bus is a place of support, safety and occasional silliness for those of us struggling with our relationship with alcohol. Some of us are sober, some are trying to be, some are moderating and aren't ready to give up alcohol just yet.

So whatever your reason for questioning the whys and WTFs of your drinking, hop on board, make yourselves comfortable and join in. Driers and Triers, all welcome.

2018 has been a busy year so far, lots of new travellers as well as old faces; if you want to read back on the journey through Dry or Dryer Jan and Feb so far, here's the link to the last thread

And in case you want to know how it all started, here is the link to JWN's original, inspiring thread

We've donned the snow chains, topped up the antifreeze, and turned the heaters up to loud, so even though it's cold outside, our welcome is always warm, so hop on and join us.

Afternoon all - just doing my daily check-in. Nothing really to report - have been WFH today so super organised and productive.

Am about to brush teeth (I am obsessed with flossing since my last trip to the dentist and there is no excuse given I don't drink other than on 2 nights now - and I still do my teeth if I'm having beers)! Then shower, pjs and bed at 5pm (not sleeping - only lounging with cat and tea).

duchess - I think a lack of booze can bring the work situation into stark relief, it certainly did for me back in 2013. I'm a firm believer that something will always come up if you put in the effort and keep a positive mental attitude!

xxx

Hello babes, sorry about last week. I was cross because it was mid-afternoon, I should have been working and instead I was on my third large gin for no other reason than that the sun was shining. What a FUCK UP.

Anyway, finally made it to day three. I've bee AF for 10 days in total this month, but when I've drunk it has been far more than ever before, and the thing is in the past, there has been a reason that I could rationalise, stress, evil abusive ex, celebration. This month the ONLY reason has been that I have a drink problem. I've put on a stone and I'm feeling really disappointed in myself, so, her I am Hope give it all you've got with Barry!

Morning all - jeez having major issues this morning waking up, despite the best efforts of the cat and the alarm. Was in an amazing deep sleep.

I am in the sidecar as planned tonight - total dry days for May is 21 and only one implosion a couple of Tuesday's ago at the pub (which was a planned night but I didn't want to go). This is my best result since January. We will see what the scales say tomorrow as well.

I am feeling much, much better in terms of the moderating mojo - I will just keep on in this fashion until my holiday in September.

sweet - thanks for sharing. Well done on pulling it back a bit this week. What is Barry?

xxx

Morning All.

Well Done for the month, Twattage. Barry is the bus squid, who exists solely for delivering slaps around the chops to Babes who are wallowing (not those with genuine cause).

I'm feeling groggy this morning too, I've been existing on about five hours of fitful drunk sleep for much of the month, add humid nights and I really need to catch up.

Sorry if there are new Babes I've not yet welcomed. "Welcome" all.

Hope {{{{{t'interbosies}}}}} for you, it's good that at least WB can be civil, evil if others can't. In the long run, this too will pass. Stay strong - you know you are - but never to strong to ask for help.

Lots of work to get done today, last push before I have four days of leave next week (first apart from bank holidays since last September).

Hi everybody

Thanks so much for stopping this bus for me to climb onboard
I am just going to get comfy for now if that is alright and take in all the amazing other passengers . Good looking lot you all are

I have started reading some of the posts
Got a bit teary so putting my headphones on now for a while
I have a very big problem with the wine witch .. I keep inviting her over most evenings .. single Mumhme alone who has had a fair bit to contend with lately

I did jump on this bus breifly nearly a year ago . Didn’t last many stops though
I am ready for a road trip this time
My first challenge is going to be a month without the wine witch coming round mine .

I am sure there is lots of info contained in the posts that could help me
But may I ask if anybody can give me any information about aa meetings
Do you just turn up , is there a protocol ...?i would like to go along to see
Anybody able to share any experience ....? I don’t know if that is appropriate or I am being intrusive .. I just am a bit scared

Welcome Bumbelinadance can we call you Bumbe (Bum was too much for a newbie, we might scare you off, and Bumbel just sounded wrong!

I know the evening afternoon invite all too well. Being a single parent is a tough gig without the rest of life having a go.

I'm afraid I can't help first with AA (too much of a coward to have been) but you can google local meetings and I think there's an option to contact someone before you go so that there's a friendly face at the door if that's what you want, but you can just turn up I think?

Hi bumbelina welcome aboard.

You can turn up or you can phone the helpline and they will connect you with someone who can take you. Whichever you prefer - I think I spoke to someone on the helpline and someone on the phone who was local to me. In the end I didn't go but I try another meeting a while later.

I was very well acquainted with the ways of the WW up until April 2013. I knocked her on the head and haven't touched any wine, spirits or champagne / prosecco since then. It is possible to do it and your life can be amazing afterwards.

I'm off to the hairdressers in a minute - my hair is like a straw mat that hasn't been trimmed since Jan.

xxx

So, day one I toughed it out minute by minute.

Day two I had to have stern words with myself at lunchtime (but was fortunately not anywhere I could have done anything about it anyway.

Day three, I just kept my mouth full all day (and felt fat).

Today, day four, 9.30am I was looking at the fridge longingly wondering if it was ok to have a Becks Blue? (No, of course it bloody wasn't, but I'm not sure why). But for the rest of the day, my blood sugar seems to have evened out, and I've got through PM (Damn you Eddie Mair, you ARE the Wine Witch!), and I'm looking forward to an early night.

Hi yes of course you can call me bumble
I can’t work out how to highlight your names on my iPad sorry

Well done on getting to day 4 it’s So,so,so long since I went 4 days without wine sweetlathyrus
I wonder how it is going to feel

Thanks for the welcomes

On the ipad, Bumble press the .?123 , when the number keys display, it changes to Hash (which I can't find on the lap top!) +=. Hit that and it takes you to the additional symbols where you'll find * .

I went years without having an AF day unless I was ill. Day 4 is when I start to notice the benefits. You can do it, but sometimes just getting there involves sitting on your hands and gritting your teeth minute-by-minute.

I'm on Day 3! My trigger time is always 5pm, while I'm cooking dinner. I don't know why. Anyway, tonight I had the pang for an icy glass of wine, but I had a Diet Coke instead.

Last night I got really angry, at my teenage DS who had two enormous teenage friends over for a sleepover. The 3 of them were being really boisterous in his room at 10.30pm, and he came swaggering out all cocky, and I lost it. I was probably within my rights to be annoed, but I was surprised how ragey I felt. I wondered if it's a booze come-down?

Hi @Bumbelinadance! I've thought about attending AA meetings too, but I'm too scared! I know the long-single-mum-nights though. I was there for 5 years. If you can refocus your energy, it's actually a lovely time to get things done. Baking, blogging, craft stuff, beauty treatments, YouTube exercise/yoga workouts... Can you reconnect with any of your old favourite hobbies/passions that you haven't pursued for a while?

I used to bake cakes at 11pm and annoy the neighbours with the sound of my electric whisk.

I've been fine not drinking the past 3 days, but I am a bit worried about the coming weekend. And next Friday I have an after-hours work meeting which is always fuelled by pizza and beer. I'm genuinely scared of making it through that without a beer.

To get through the weekend, I'm going to stock up the fridge with lovely no-alcohol drinks, and ice and lemon. So I can have that lovely chilled-glass experience, without the booze.

It's really lovely to be clear-headed all evening. I just need to remember that somehow, when it gets to Drinks O'Clock. Eeek.

One more thing (sorry for barrage-posting)...

Lately, I've been really crap at doing my work stuff. I'm a freelancer, and I've really been crap at finishing projects and handing things in. I've just realised - it's probably because I've been on the wine every evening! I had LITERALLY not made that connection. I always thought my two glasses of wine (that sometimes became 3 or 4) were fine and normal. But my period of work-crapness directly corresponds with my recent increase in drinking, so I bet they're connected.

This is genuinely eye-opening! I'm starting to feel quite excited now at everything I can achieve without alcohol.

I've had crazy dreams the past 3 nights. Like when I gave up smoking.

Hi and welcome bumble, I find posting on here very therapeutic in my quest to conquer my alcohol demons.

whats I had crazy dreams too... including one particularly nasty one lately. The Wine Witch up to her dirty tricks no doubt, it gets better.

I’m not drinking in the week anymore, instead I’m working out and feeling pretty pleased with myself. Starting the 100 a day squat challenge tomorrow, hopefully I’ll have buns that could crack a walnut by the end It’s also helping that I go to bed tired, then I sleep through which I rarely do otherwise as I’m a terrible insomniac at the best of times. Even worse when I’ve been drinking yet I always ignored the connection before

Hope you all have a lovely evening and that your Friday workdays go quickly xxx

Just want to say how much I love the idea of Barry the slapping squid
Genius

Anyone here tried OneYearNoBeer? It sounds great but it's expensive. £42 for a month, or £109 for 90 days.

Morning all babes.

Well done on the exercise duchess. I was wondering how you were getting on!

I can report progress - I have lost a pound today so that takes me to 4 1/2 down for May (well the last 2 weeks). I have finally broken through the yo-yo of going round the same 3 pounds for 2 months. I am exceedingly happy on all fronts - booze in control and moderated to 2 days, food in control and losing weight.

Aim for June is to lose 3 pounds - I can do this!

whats - I have heard of it but I'm not paying money to stop drinking. I find the whole thing counter-intuitive TBH. But them I'm v binary in most things so I'm either on or off. If I'm on a motivated, then there's no stopping me!

x

Morning All.

I went to bed at 9.30 and slept right through until 6.08 . Only thing is I now have that too-much-sleep feeling!

What'sGoing, I feel your teenage fame - we're in the middle of GCSE hell here, and DS seems to have become mostly nocturnal over the half-term. They take up so much room, don't they! As for work, I'm the same, things don't get finished when I drink, I'm not self-employed, but it is self-directed and time sensitive. Just four full days (today is day five, and I'm out of the hangover and whizzing through the work.

Duchess, squats are the queen of toning exercise! I'm all flabby and wobbly at the moment, but I found a combination of running and pilates was good for me, but best was having a personal trainer who made me do endless squats with weights. (But I could only afford her because I had a stupidly cheap PureGym introductory offer).

Bumble, you have no idea how crowded the bus really is with creatures; there's Spirit (a wolf), a camel (mostly hides until Christmas), a horrid baby doll (don't ask! Well do, but that's one for the longest riding Babes), there were some baby pandas, (but Ma made me put them back), and of course, all of Mint's wonderful beasties.

WhatsGoing, I've not, Club Soda Together has lots of materials for voluntary contributions if that would be a substitute?

Twattage, how was the haircut? I hope they do good firm massage when they wash.

Sorry, X post, *Twattage. Brilliant weight-loss.

Hola sweet - the haircut is actually ok. I have brown hair but the colour they put on is dark blonde otherwise my hair starts going darker and darker. As it fades out it goes blonde on the ends so that's all be chopped but she said it will start to come back again in the next few weeks as it lightens. And yes she did a good, firm massage ;).

Glad you got some sleep...

Feeling very twitchy. Going to take SweetDog for a walk and hope it passes.

That worked for a while, then the craving caved back - filled with two haloumi salad wraps. Seems to have done the trick.

Hi babes

So day 2 for me
Drinking a lot of tea

It’s wine o clock now
Am going to take Ds to park instead

I hate that I have often been a crap Mum because of drinking .. ie grumpy in mornings and just leaving him to watch tv alone in the evenings whilst I sip away in the kitchen

Oh I love this board
I hope it’s ok but I have been using Barry the squid at home

Whatever gets you through the day, Bumble, just don't let him dry out (the slaps aren't effective if they're not revoltingly slimy )

I like being able to use the whole day, not just sliding onto the sofa glass in hand. Hope the park was fun.

Getting through was tough tonight, but pjs on, and I made it. Corrie and bed for me.