“Mayhem…”

By candycoatedreality™

Mayhem struck me without warning last night. Well, not ME per se, but mayhem definitely struck my stuff, so let’s just say I found myself mayhem-adjacent. Lady Bugg requires a facelift. Oh, who am I kidding? She now requires a body lift. Lady Bugg is my Honda accord coupe (a two-door, bright red, little spit-fire of a car). She is lovely. Yes, I name my cars. To me, my cars are family members. I even talk to my car. Doesn’t everyone? Ha! More about the body lift in a minute…

My favorite commercials right now are the Mayhem series by Allstate Insurance. Catch the reference? Mayhem? This series makes me laugh every single time. Especially the one featuring the middle-aged man, Mayhem, as a teenage girl driving a pink SUV through a parking lot, texting on her bedazzled jeweled cell phone, wearing pink sunglasses, and “she” is angry because her BFF (who isn’t even HOT) kissed her crush, LOL!!  If you’re not familiar, below is a clip. These commercials are BRILLIANT. Yes, pure genius. They rival my other favorite, the e-Trade baby. What? A baby talking about stocks? Witty! Again, G-E-N-I-U-S!!

Okay, back to my personal mayhem. For those of you who read “A Mustard Seed and Me” you know I’m on a super-power-kill-a-tumor pill that has some pretty nasty side effects. Well, yesterday around 3pm, one of those side effects set in… nausea. It was horrible. I was so sick and I had to leave work. Walking home I couldn’t even muster a smile to fellow pedestrians. It felt like my entire insides were all discombobulated. I never vomited; just felt icky – great medical term, right? Yep, the ickiness was all consuming. Initially, I was supposed to attend a movie premier and I was totally bummed that my nausea was going to make me miss it. I love movies!! I love them even more when they are FREE!!! Once I was home and my head hit the pillow, I slept sooooo hard. I woke up three hours later with drool on my cheek. Attractive!! Ha! Yes I was a new woman and all side effects were gone!! Whew!!

Within minutes of waking, my cell phone rang. It was my friend on the line (let’s just call her Boo to protect the innocent) and she was crying hysterically. In between sobs, Boo managed to get out a few words, “Oh. My. God… I’ve wrecked your car. I hit a deer. It just ran out. I saw it coming. I couldn’t do anything. I just can’t catch a break!” See, I had loaned her my car because I wasn’t going anywhere over the weekend, so of course I would let Boo drive my car to see her family. Her baby niece was turning one year old and who wants to miss that? Besides my parents always taught me to share!! My response? “Awe, honey! Are you okay? You are all right? **sigh of relief** Okay good. Everything will be just fine. Don’t even worry about it – as long as you’re safe that is ALL THAT MATTERS!!!” And then I laughed!!

Thankfully my friend is perfectly fine. She was shaken, rightfully so, but praise God she was not stirred. Humans don’t always come back from stirred, you know? Boo was going 65mph on 275E (a local bypass highway). I’m uber thankful she was protected and no other cars were involved!! Amen!! As for the deer? Well, the doe was not so lucky **frown**

Dunno about you, but I’ve always believed things happen for a reason. Yesterday was case in point. Had I gone to the movies as planned then I never would have heard my cell phone ring… I would have missed my friend’s desperate call, and I would have missed an opportunity to be there for her. She needed me. She needed love, support and care. Above all, she needed understanding and forgiveness!! These things were readily available and super easy for me to give Boo.

Yes, Lady Bugg requires a body lift, but I’m fully insured and as luck would have it when a deer commits vehicular suicide it is considered an act of God, so no deductible is required. In the end… it will be like getting a whole new car… well, really… half a new car because it is the passenger side that is a bit mangled. Soon, she will be good as new!! My insurance agent called me this morning to check up to ensure everyone was safe and sound. He assured me that my 10-year accident free discount remains intact because no other cars were involved. Due to this “act of God” my claim will not cause my rates to increase. All is good in the hood.

The passenger side window exploded and glass was everywhere. I inspected my friend and I saw no bruises, no scrapes and no glass imbedded in her. Thank God!!  There was so much broken glass from one little window; even tiny shards landed in the back window. Boo said it was like an explosion – poor girl. As long as she was safe, I don’t care about a piece of metal… no matter how much I love my car. It can be fixed. Broken people? Not so much!! A deer and cars clearly do not mix – they cause fatalities and Boo is not hurt!!

Looking at the damage, I know my angels were protecting my friend. I’ve always had a little angel pin on the driver’s side visor as a sign of protection. Friday I showed it to Boo and told her that she would be safe… my angels would look out for her. Immediately after the accident, Boo sat there in the driver’s seat and cried. She remembered our conversation about my angels and she looked up, rubbed the pin and said thank you! Boo also believes she was protected. Indeed, divine intervention played a part in her safety!!

Boo doesn’t know this, but when I gave her my car I touched Lady Bugg and said a prayer, “May the white light of the Lord surround and protect this car and all inside it! Please God ensure safe passage for my friend.” I asked that angels travel with Boo all weekend to ensure her safety. These were said not because I worried about my car, but because only a few short months ago my friend was in a car accident and she was a bit squeamish about driving again.

All weekend long, Boo travelled with her boyfriend and she had just dropped him off. OMG, I shudder to think what would have happened had he been in the passenger seat!! After the accident he rushed to her aid **smile** and followed her to my parking garage. Thankfully, Lady Bugg was/is drivable (minus the missing passenger side window). I’ve heard such wonderful things about her boyfriend, but last night was the first time we met. As I surveyed the damage, I laughed and told my friend she was actually helping me out. There is a scratch on the passenger side where I may have gotten a little too close to a concrete pole in the parking garage and the pole won – now that blemish gets fixed for FREE!! Her boyfriend laughed and said, “WOW, you are the most optimistic person I’ve ever met!!”

Go figure Lady Bugg wanted to get in a little hunting season action because she certainly got herself a deer!! Either that or Lady Bugg was PISSED I loaned her out to a “stranger” for the weekend! Ha! Never knew my car to be so testy!! Free rental car. No deductible. Boo wasn’t hurt. No other cars involved. Lady Bugg will be good as new soon! AND, I walk to work. No harm. No foul.

I sent my Daddy a text this morning with a picture of the accident and assured him everyone was okay. He responded, “So does this mean you’re having venison instead of turkey for Thanksgiving?” And then he called it an “Act of Bambi” – LOL!! Oh, how I love that man… he always finds the humor in everything!! When times are rough, laughter truly is the best medicine. As for me, I always look for the silver lining in everything. Combine the two and it is a pretty powerful one-two punch. Lucky for me I inherited his keen sense of humor!!

Not to be selfish, but I’m glad it wasn’t me driving. If it were me I would have been going about 80+ mph and may not have been so lucky!! Whenever someone is in the car with me, I resist my lead-foot ways. I’m pretty sure God is telling me, through this experience, that I am just as precious of a cargo as those who travel with me and I need to show myself the same respect. If I slow down for others, why don’t I slow down for me? Ultimate lesson here is that there is no destination important enough that I need to risk my life just to arrive a few minutes early. It is time to slow down, so that I do not find myself in a similar situation, but with much different results. Okay, I get the message!!

Rest in peace our little four-legged friend.  I’m sorry you committed vehicular suicide!!

© Renae Rossman and Candy Coated Reality™

86 thoughts on ““Mayhem…””

  2. Nae-Nae, I’d wreck your car any day to have such a calm and supportive positive person to calm me down like you. What an experience after only 2 months to almost the day when I totaled that rental. I hope everyone in the world has a friend like you to share life with. You are the most optimistic person and last night I was not only surrounded by it because of you but because of those you and I both called. I am sorry we can’t have venison for Thanksgiving, but I did try! 😉 Thank you for your angel prayers. I was thankful for them as well. ❤

  4. It’s a good thing Boo is survived and that you can now fix the scratch on the passenger side…..By the way I love the Mayhem commercials….lol

    • I praise God that Boo is safe & sound!! Lady Bugg is off to the “spa” today for her body lift 🙂 LOL!! Yes, aren’t those Mayhem commercials the very best?? Oh, how I giggle everytime I see them. Love. Love. Love!!!

  5. Talking about beauty for ashes! God has a way of showing his hand in our lives – only with Him can we be faced with possible destruction and come out smelling like roses. Your friend is truly blessed to have someone like you in her life, not only because of your optimistic out look but most of all because of your faith. There needs to be more like you m’dear. I’m sure Boo will join me in saying I’m so thankful God made you!

    Blessings,
    Rebecca

    • Thank you (I’m not sure if this is Barry or Jill, so thank you gegebearbear!!). WOW, in reading your “About” pages the two of you have been through so many challenges!! In my post “A Mustard Seed and Me” I write about my challenge for nearly a decade, tests, bloodwork, 5 doctors… to finally find the benign tumor in my pituitary. To read all the medical challenges you’ve both faced… so brave… wow… you give me such strength!! Wishing you the very best!! God bless you both!!

    • Thanks again Barry and Jill 🙂 I’m thankful it is a pill (I’m on 4 different daily prescriptions) and luckily not surgery!! In the grand scheme of things I’m truly, incredibly blessed!! May angels watch over you both!! xo

  8. That’s my favorite Mayhem commercial too! My second favorite is the one where he is a woman jogger and the guy driving is checking out her sweet…headband. 😛

    Glad everyone is okay! I’ve often wondered the same things about myself…why I do things for other people but find it so difficult to do them for myself. Not necessarily driving fast…but it’s strange how much easier it is to do something for someone else you’d never do for yourself. I think we all need to learn to take care of ourselves better.

    • Oh yes the “workout girl” is great too… and the navigation one and OMG there are so many that I love 🙂 Yep, we often have to sit back, take a moment to reflect and figure out why we treat others better than we may treat ourselves… in many aspects!

  9. Omg, reading your blog IS an absolute pleasure and yes, your sense of humour is absolutely entertaining. I admire your care and concern shared with your friend, in times as such, support is key, so it’s great you managed to calm her down. As for her boyfriend, Praise God he was not in the vehicle, in the midst of tragedy, God is right there protecting us, your Angels, your blessings clearly helped a great deal!

    • suth2, THANK YOU 😉 I simply love hearing from fellow bloggers around the world. Ya know, I have always pictured kangaroos out in the wild… no where near civilization, but just like the deer they have found their way around everywhere!! xo!!

  12. I have had to learn some very tough lessons over the past year…it is absolutely true that the Lord will use everything to bring growth in our lives if we look to see what He is saying. Thanks for the perspective check!

  13. Hillarious account
    this little tale ….
    One to hear and inhale …
    Act of help and goodness
    sprinkle of godliness
    wrapped in good intentions …
    I wonder how we establish
    Magnetic connections ….

    God bless , boo , lady bugg and you too ….

  15. Hi! Thanks for stopping by my page. I like the way you write. It reminds me of me 🙂 This was a great story by the way. I love seeing how God does totally bizarre things to achieve one simple tiny act. The story of my life!! lol

    • Thanks, David 🙂 I started Candy Coated Reality a little over a year ago and I still feel like a newbie… not sure what blogging advice I could offer – besides the simple, “Write what is in your heart… write for yourself… and you cannot go wrong!!” xo!

  17. Thank for sharing this story. My car is also lovingly named and talked to constantly. I’ve only had one in my life so far and he is my man, my rock, my Pete. My stepdad, a mechanic, hates that I consider him a boy, when all cars are *supposed* to be girls, obviously!
    I’m so glad your friend is okay- I know your reaction is exactly what mine would have been if either of my close friends were driving my car and got into an accident. As much as I adore Pete, I’m aware that he’s a hunk of metal and my friends are humans and irreplaceable.
    So glad that everyone ended up being all right!
    The universe works in such beautiful and mysterious ways 🙂

    • Yes, penpaperandcrazy, the universe does work in such beautiful and mysterious ways!! Funny, I wonder who decided cars would be or should be female? Ha! And, I’ve always given them girlie names too!! Oh, how I can’t wait until Lady Bugg is back with me next week (Mon, 11/12 – she is supposed to be all fixed and like new). I’m happy to hear Pete has a good home with you 🙂 Thanks for your kind words of support & encouragement!! xo!!

      • I’m not sure who decided that, but they certainly are silly.

        I hope Lady Bugg comes back to you in a happy condition. I would miss Pete if I couldn’t drive him as needed.

        Your angel charm made me smile too- I have a small stuffed fox hanging from my review mirror that I consider a sort of “guardian good luck charm”.

        Seems like we have many car-things in common 🙂

  18. Renae, what an awesome post. What I loved was the intentional way you responded to the news that Boo had a wreak. Your first concern as it should have been was Boo. Then you showed the most remarkable grace you could have and laughed and said no problem instead of getting angry. I think I can honestly say when we live with joy in our lives and understand how much God loves us we can be very grace giving. You’re awesome, keep writing great stuff. 🙂

    • David, what a very nice thing for you to say!! What a pleasant surprise to ready your comment today!! Thank you so much for your kind words of encouragement 🙂 I love writing… so I’m sure when inspiration strikes… there will be more, Ha!

  19. I’m pretty sure we were separated at birth. First, I’m really glad your friend is ok. Now, onto the other stuff – ‘Mayhem adjacent’ lmao. Love that you name your cars and speak to them (my last cars name was ‘Daisy’ I’m trying to come up with one for my current car). Love those commercials too – had a little crush on Mayhem. Love love love your optimistic view point. There’s nothing more unattractive than sitting in pity ‘poor me, poor me’ (I discovered after looking at myself a few years ago lol). Life is just too amazing to mope. 🙂 Pretty web page too. Love and light to you.

    • Amanda… after visiting your About page and reading, “There will be misuse of ellipses and hyphens because I really like ellipses and hyphens and there’s not enough proper uses for them – in my opinion … (See what I did there?)” I would totally agree that we were separated at birth… ellipses are my FAVORITE form of punctuation… next would be the exclamation point – obviously!! Ha!!! Thank you for checking out Candy Coated Reality and leaving such an inspiring comment 🙂 Love and light right back at’cha!!

  20. Those commercials have to be my favorite and that one in particular because it is too funny. God bless you and your friend how amazing everything turned out so well. I too am a bit more swift when driving alone. Definitely know what you mean about be so careful with others and I often question myself on why I put myself at so low a priority sometimes.

  21. Wow! The Angels were REALLY working overtime in this scenario! So glad everyone came through this experience as well as they did — you and Boo and Lady Bug. I once worked with a lady who had a big rig tractor trailer truck literally drive over her car while she was driving on the freeway in California late at night. The truck crushed the trunk of the car, popped back down to the pavement, then crushed the hood of the car. When I looked at it, I told her I could literally see where the angels wrapped their wings around her and protected her in a little bubble of Light. The spot where she sat in the car was the only area that was untouched by the truck. Truly, a miracle like the one Boo experienced with Lady Bug. Thank God for the Angels! ():-)

  23. First time reader of your blog and I’m hooked!
    I had my experiences with pills side-effects and car wrecks. I had bronchitis once and was given a 3 day pill and let me tell you, all the side affects written on it, I had them. From vomiting to painful stomach cramps, it was a horrible day.
    I’m so glad your friend came out well from the wreck, it’s a miracle nothing happened! It’s like God put a bubble around her and nothing could touch her! I guess this accident, although it was horrible, worked for good. You’re friend survived, your insuresance covered the damaged for no extra cost, and you got a lesson from it as well! Good thing you got the hint, because then it would be debastating that after such big sign, you didn’t do anything. (I’m not saying you’re a bad driver or anything, but if you feel that’s a sign, then it’s a sign!) Oh, and you get to tell your readers how mighty powerful God is! (That’s another big blessing from this accident!) In all, sometimes bad stuff happen to us, but for a good reason. Thanks for sharing! You got yourself a new suscriber! :3

    • Thanks, OmoDomo!! Yes, I certainly believe in signs… first God whispers, then He taps you on the shoulder and when we don’t listen… then He knocks us down!! Thanks for following Candy Coated Reality!! Happy to have you join us 🙂 xo!!

  24. Of course, it would have been nicer not to have happened at all – or would it? There was a lot of life experience there – including the final one, for the deer.
    We don’t have deer here, of course. Only buck. A friend had a similar experience with one of those. He had just been promoted into the top spot at work, so I told him it was a sign that ‘the buck stops here’. He had a bit of a sense of humour failure.

    • “The buck stops here” now THAT is funny!! Can’t believe he didn’t at least laugh??? Yeah, I would prefer the accident didn’t happen, but I figure our experiences carry our lessons 🙂 And I feel it carried lessons for Boo that she needed!!

  26. I’m so glad your friend is okay! My husband and I hit a deer just last month. I felt so bad for the poor thing. Luckily, we hit it with the front of the van, so no one was hurt. The van (Shaggin’ Waggin’) even made it home. I name my cars and talk to them, too. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with that! 😉

    • Shaggin’ Waggin? Oh, how I ADORE that name!! LOL!! So happy to hear everyone was okay in your accident (well, except for the deer?). Yes, I believe we should do what brings us joy… including naming our cars… and talking to them!! Ha 🙂

      • I named it the Shaggin’ Waggin’ because I got it to transport our herd of dogs around. We only have three, but they take up as much space as each of their little bodies will allow. And, no, the deer did not make it. Poor little thing. Luckily we saw another deer cross almost immediately before and we’d slowed down considerably. I can’t imagine what the damage would have been like if we’d been going full speed. I think I may even write about our little deer and subsequent insurance disasters now. Thanks for the blog post idea!

  27. Hi,thanks for stopping by my page.I have only started blogging and i am humbled.
    You write beautifully by the way and i enjoyed reading this too.I am catching up on your past blogs.
    Stay blessed.

  28. I know an Edem in Togo! hmm,but then again there are probably a million Edems. :-).
    Thank God i finally have some time off,well sort off.Like you Renae i am corporate trainer too,so this time of year is a bit quiet,so perfect timing to follow you and say yes to a doses of positivity and more inspiration! I thank God for your life!

    • Awe, thank you!! Well, I when I picked up Lady Bugg yesterday (she still needs more work… parts are ordered) I cried like a baby for an hour… big crocodile tears… so maybe I just had a delayed reaction!! Ha!! My baby is hurt… Lord help me when I actually give birth… I will be a complete mess whenever my kids are hurt. LOL!!

  30. First off, Hello… I wanted to check out your blog since you were so kind to stop by mine. I am so sorry you were not feeling well. What you described sounded horrible 😦 I do hope you are feeling better today. Thank goodness your friend is okay and that your car will be taken care of.

    BTW…I love Mayhem. My son was going to dress as him for Halloween (the version with the pink headband and dumbbells) but he didn’t think high school kids would know who he is).

  31. How very blessed you bot were! It’s nice to hear that everything turned out well – even the insurance situation. I think I would have been like Boo and cried in the car too. But after 2 accidents like that, I don’t know if I’d be able to ever manage to get in a car again!

  34. Wow! PRAISE GOD!! It is so incredible that all of these good things happened so that the only damage was that your friend was shaken up.

    I have just found your blog and I already love it. You are a very optimistic person, and you should be proud that you work hard to keep this positivity. It’s so easy for us to think that that sort of mindset comes naturally when actually it’s about making daily choices, as you said on your Gravatar profile.

    I am so glad I have found your blog because this is the sort of thing I need to be reading, right now especially. I’ve read that being around positive people makes you more positive, well perhaps reading blogs does the same thing. This post has certainly reminded me to see the good side of bad situations and thank God for what He does to protect us.

    I look forward to reading more of your posts.

    Love Katie x

    • Thank you so much, Katie!! I’m so happy to hear that Candy Coated Reality is of help to you!! It certainly is a blessing for me. I couldn’t agree more… great minds think alike… it helps to be around those who inspire us to be better, do more, and live our truth day-to-day!! So happy to have you join us 😉 xo!!

  35. I came by here to thank you for liking a blog post of mine and instead, you gave me a laugh. You are one of the more optimistic people I think I ‘ve even read about! I can’t begin to say how sorry I am you have to endure side effects from a pill like that but you seem so graceful about it! May the White Light of the Lord surround you and give you strength and humor always!

    • Lipstick and Chaos, reading your prayer at the end of your comment brought tears to my eyes (happy, grateful tears of course). Thank you from the bottom of my heart!! I’m happy to report my side effects are getting MUCH better. Luckily, a “happy” pill (Wellbutrin SR) has helped. One of the drugs depletes my happy hormones while the other drug boosts happy hormones, so they balance each other out – I can never remember which does which function. THANKFULLY, no more wondering who I will be each day 😉 Ha! God bless you and yours!!!

  38. Hey! I found your blog after you looked at mine, and I love it! It’s adorable! I look forward to reading more of your posts. I’ve been working on writing more often, and I have to say it has brought me a lot of happiness! 🙂

  39. Always nice to see the Good Lord receiving positive press. Glad your friend is OK. Truly, that phone call was a prime opportunity to show love to your friend. Here’s to carpe diem. Blessings.

  42. You are a wonderful writer. Every word in this post kept just captured my complete attention. I admire your caring and positive outlook on life’s unexpected situations.

Leave a reply to Saint In Training Cancel reply