Stranger Danger or Drunken Sorority Girl…What Would You Do?

I did something the other night that I never thought I would ever do. I gave a stranger a ride. And my kids were in the car. And now Dave is hella mad at me. I almost forgot to mention, it was 10:00 pm on a Friday night.

Now before you start yelling at me and telling me what an awful person I am let me tell you the whole story…

After a fun night at my kids’ elementary school festival we went out to dinner with my parents. Dave had to work an event so he was not able to join us. The kids and I were exhausted as we headed home and couldn’t wait to hop in bed.

I turned into my neighborhood and stopped at the first stop sign and noticed someone frantically running towards my car. Before I could pull away quickly, without running this person over she was at my window. I rolled it down just a bit to ask what was going on.

Me: Can I help you?

Her: Can you please help me? My friends left me at El Camino when I went to the bathroom and now I am trying to get to my boyfriend’s house and I am drunk and scared. I am in my flip flops, it is freezing and I can barely remember how to get to his house.

I didn’t know what to do. I froze for a second. She was obviously very drunk and was very young. She didn’t look harmful and I felt for her. I remember being drunk and out partying some nights and my friends had left me before.

Me: Ok. Does your boyfriend live close?

Her: Yes, right in this neighborhood. (She named a street in the neighborhood and it was just a few blocks away.)

Against my better judgement and with my kids in the car, I let her get in. I kept her talking the whole time. She told me where she lived and she was just about in tears because her friends left her when she went to the bathroom. It broke my heart because I still remember those days.

drunkgirl

Not the same girl. No I am not that big of an asshole. Image from Total Frat Move.

She turned around and saw the kids in the backseat (who were surprisingly very quiet) and then she apologized again for asking me for a ride. I told her it was fine and that I had been in her situation before and how scary it was. As long as her boyfriend was on the street she said he was all would be ok.

After a few short minutes we found his house and she was off. She thanked me several times and apologized again. I told her she needs to pick better friends. A real friend wouldn’t leave you at a bar by yourself.

And that was the end of it. She was gone.

I went home and put the kids to bed. I told Dave the story and he was not happy. I could’ve put the kids lives in danger…and mine. I knew that, but my gut feeling said it was ok. All that I kept thinking was what if I drove off. What if a horrible person picked her up and did horrible things to her and then we heard about it later on the news. I would’ve never forgiven myself.

So what would you have done?

P.S. If you are a college girl DON’T BE AN ASSHOLE AND LEAVE A FRIEND AT A BAR!! Seriously, what would her friends have done if something bad would’ve happened to her??

 

This Time…It’s Gonna Be Me

Stress. Stress gets to us all at some point in our lives. With me, stress makes me a hot mess. I get the runs, migraines and am seriously nauseated. For a while now this has been me. I worry about everyone else and how they perceive me. Am I doing things to make them happy? Am I being what I am expected to be?

It ends here. Right here and now. This time it is about me. I am going to take care of myself. I am not going to worry how others perceive me. I am going to be the best person that I can be.

Surprisingly enough I had this epiphany while sitting at work one morning. I was feeling sorry for myself about a situation that I was in. I was feeling so sick to my stomach. I started looking through some recent photos on my phone and found one that I took recently in Downtown Toledo that I had forgotten all about.

 bewhoyouare

Be who you are and be that person.

At first I was like, “Huh? What exactly does that mean? Kinda redundant.” But, for some reason I felt the urge to pull out my phone and take a photo of it. Today, sitting here, feeling sorry for myself I get it. I am an amazing person. I am going to be that amazing person no matter what anyone else thinks. I deserve more. I am going to live out my dreams. I am going to push myself to become an even better version of myself.

Once I realized this and told myself that this was how it was going to be from now on it was like a ton of bricks was lifted off of my chest and shoulders. My migraine went away, I wasn’t nauseated anymore, and my stomach was instantly better!

Not being my true self is not good for me or my family. I am ready. I can do this.

Pull up a chair, sit back and watch. It is time.

Have you had any epiphanies lately? Feels good, don’t it?

Essence Of Dave: Cancelled

Essence of Dave is cancelled today. Things have been busy and crazy already this week. So, instead of Dave writing something for you I am going to share one of my favorite songs with you. I just sang it to Paige the other day.

Yes I know all of the words.

Moms Are The New Hotness WINNERS!

Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who voted.  I with that I could give the grand prize to each of the amazing women that made the finals and every woman that was nominated. You all deserve to feel amazing about yourselves.

Now on to the winners.

The grand prize goes to Janee’ with 58.19% of the votes. Congratulations to you!

janee

 Grand Prize Winner: $1, 012 Value

The runner up prize goes to Jami with 30.23% of the vote! Congratulations to you as well!

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Runner Up Prize: $195 Value

3rd & 4th Place goes to …

Jennifer with 8.34% of the vote and Allison with 2.32% of the vote.

jennifer 12166_4906135419044_1091528175_n

 

3rd & 4th Place Prizes: $60 Value

Sculptured Fruit Arrangement in Flower Pot (feeds up to 10 people) – Chef Daniel’s Catering & Private Cooking Lessons

And, our 5th place winner is Sarah!

family portrait (asher's birth)

5th Place Prize: $30 Value

Thank you again to these amazing women, the voters and the amazing sponsors that made this happen! I could not have done it without them. Please make sure to check all of them out. Links to their websites and Facebook pages are listed above with their prizes.

Last but not least I want to announce the winner from the voters that left a comment on the voting page. The winner is Patti Whittington!

winner

 

 

I will be getting in touch with all of the winners throughout the week so make sure to look out for an e-mail from me! Congratulations to all of the winners and have a beautiful Mother’s Day!

 

Essence of Dave: Tales From The Gas Pump

One of my husbandly duties is to fill the cars with gas. My car I fill as needed since I am in it all day and usually one night a week I take Jayme’s car and fill it up for her. The gas station that I go to is right on the edge of a nice neighborhood and a not so nice neighborhood. With this being said there is quite the mix of people at the gas station.

Tonight, gas was at the lowest it has been all week so the station was pretty busy. It was around 6pm, there are 12 pumps and the cars were 3 deep in line. I waited about 10 minutes while watching people stress out about the short wait. Finally it was my turn at the pump. I get out of the car and hear quite a commotion a few pumps down. Apparently, on both sides of the car that was currently pumping two different cars were trying to stake claim to who was next at the pump. The lady had been next while the gentleman was trying to sneak attack from the opposite side.

The lady yells at him “You wrinkled a$$ mutha F’er best not be stealing my spot”.

To which the gentleman replies, “You are spending government money on gas anyway so you should wait longer.”

Lady: “Awe hell no, I work for a living. You’re a$$ is probably on Medicare”

Gentleman: “I don’t need to take this, have your damn pump!”

The gentleman gets in his car and peels out right past my car. As I catch a glimpse of him I realize that I know him. He is a security officer at a place that I go to once a month. As things start to calm down the guy at the pump next to me says “I knew I shouldn’t have come at shift change.”

“Shift change?” I replied.

He replied, “Yes, when us responsible people are getting off work and the irresponsible ones are just waking up.”

Woah.

Disclaimer: I cleaned up the language and the racial slurs. You can use your imagination.

TheEssenceofDave

Moms Are The New Hotness Makeover Top 5 Finalists!

It is finally that time! It is now your chance to vote for who you think should win the Moms Are The New Hotness Makeover Giveaway!  After you vote make sure to leave a comment. One lucky voter will win something special from me! Yes, I am rewarding one of you for voting. I am all about the positive reinforcement.

Here is a reminder as to what the grand prize winner and runner up will win!

Grand Prize Winner: $1, 012 Value

Runner Up Prize: $195 Value

3rd & 4th Place Prizes: $60 Value

Here is a sneaky peaky of one of the beautiful arrangements! Yummy!

chefdanielfruit

5th Place Prize: $30 Value

Now on to the Top 5 Finalists! Ready, set, read!

Finalist #1:  Jennifer

jennifer My name is Jennifer. I am 33 years old and single. I have three beautiful children 15, 12 and 4 years old. As a mother of three (like all mothers) my needs are always last if fulfilled at all. I work 40+ hours a week at a very physically demanding job. I pick up odd jobs on weekends to help out  with our financial situation. I am a very hard working mom and a very prideful person. I very seldom wear makeup and haven’t had a hair cut for three years. My hair is past the middle of my back. Which is sweep up in a pony tail or a bun 99% of the time. The last time we had a family portrait done was eleven years ago, when my daughter was 4, my son was 1 and my youngest daughter was not even thought of yet. I’d love to have a picture taken of me looking all beautify by professionals with my children.

 

Finalist #2: Sarah

family portrait (asher's birth)So now, here I am at 4:09 PM on May 2 trying to figure out why I actually deserve this.  I am a mom of five.  I have four children of my own, 3 girls and a boy. Their ages are 1, 3, 5, and 7 and I also have a stepdaughter who will be 16 next week.  I became a stay at home mom when I only had one child and then we planned more and more and now here we are with five kids at home.  My life is quite hectic from morning until night, each child with specific demands of their own and because of that I slack on myself. My husband works twelve hour night shifts and sleeps days and his schedule varies from week to week, there is no semblance to the scheduling. To keep things short and to make the deadline, I usually don’t wait until last minute because in our household nothing ever gets done last minute and there is always so much to do at that last minute that I cannot rely on that last minute so I try to plan ahead.

In short…I have only had one night away from my children and that was only when I had one child.  Any other time that I was away was when I was giving birth and hospitalized.

I have had my hair cut four times by a professional in seven years, and that was not even in a salon setting, but that was by my niece on vacation in her home!  I cut my own hair and that of my children’s. (That is the main reason I am entering this, I want a real haircut, with no kids running around!)

My house is clean at least once a day, but of course, never when my husband gets home from work or comes down for an afternoon snack or even when he wakes up for dinner.

Our front door is constantly revolving, four of the five children are in school, pre-school (a cooperative one in which I need to volunteer to keep the school running), grade school, and high school, and each child with after school activities of their own.

I am always active and sleep well at night, did I mention I run a small business where I make custom children’s clothing and accessories out of my home.  I stock four local area stores and take online orders.

For some of my sanity, I work at a local restaurant…but only on Mondays and Tuesdays, and only when my husband’s schedule allows for it.  If he is working then I am not. Baby sitters for four children are tough to find and expensive. We only have one local grandma and she just had her hip replaced on April 12, when is someone else I am taking care of…

Finalist #3: Janee’ (Nominated twice!)

janeeI nominate my daughter, Janee’.  Janee’ is an incredible wife, mother and business owner.  She has 7 children and is the owner of 7 Little Cupcakes.  She is a Board Member for Elias Aiden’s Comforting Hearts and donates cupcakes to all charity events (Race for the Cure, Juvenile Diabetes, MS, etc)  When a 3 month old baby girl’s mother was murdered in a domestic dispute, Janee’ contacted the family and is providing a free birthday cake every year until the child is 18.  She gives back to the community and organizations selflessly and never asks for anything in return.  All this while taking care of 7 children and running a full time business!  Let’s give this wonderful woman with a generous heart a much deserved pampering!

Janee’  is an extraordinary young woman. She is an example to anyone who has a dream of achieving a goal. Janee is especially an example to other young women who are working moms and think how impossible it is to be a great mom, and wife plus a successful business owner. Janee’ is a supportive wife whose husband is also a Marine reservist and they are the parents of seven children ( Seven little cupcakes) Janee’ has built her business from  the ground up in the kitchen of their home in between kids activities, husband at drills or working shifts at his regular job and working hard to discover the best flavors of cupcakes for her customers. Janee’ is very giving and helps out at charity events and goes over and beyond for her family and her customers. I have known her to work 24 hours and more to make sure her customers are taken care of and so she can go to girl Scout camp with her girls. Janee’ deserves this makeover not only because of her hard work ethic and good example to others. She also deserves it because of how special a person she is and I am so proud I am one of the 2 women she calls Mom.

Finalist #4: Alison (Nominate by her sister.)

12166_4906135419044_1091528175_nI would like to nominate my sister, Alison. Ali is such an amazing mom, sister, friend, daughter, and wife. She works full time as the Vice President of Client Development at Signature Bank, has 2 beautiful daughters (ages 3 and 6) with her husband Greg, is involved with numerous local activities such as the Perrysburg Rotary Club and serving on the Mobile Meals of Toledo board, and in her spare time (ha!) helped launch a moms ministry at CedarCreek Chuch called MOMentum which, many can attest to, has been a HUGE success and a saving grace for many moms in the area over the past few years. Ali is creative, genuine, personable, caring, kind, and generous. She works her tail off; she is always giving 150%. She goes above and beyond for many people in her life. I would love to see her spoiled by winning this contest — she deserves a little pampering for all the amazing things she’s done in other people’s lives!

 

Finalist #5: Jami

419637_262376563894410_1976908684_nFirst of all, it is hard for me to nominate myself for the Mother’s Day Makeover because I know there are many beautiful mothers, grandmothers who fully deserve this wonderful gift. I feel a little guilty nominating myself because I am far from perfect and made many mistakes but I am a giver and I always put my needs or wants aside to provide for others. Although, I am this time. I am going to think of me for once and tell you why I believe I deserve the make-over. I have four children that range from teenager to baby. I am a single mother and I work a full time job. I never have the extra money for hair or make up or anything considered a splurge. I never have been pampered.  I am 36 years old and have never had a mani or pedi! I get my hair trimmed twice a year and colored twice a year. If that doesn’t tell you what it looks like right now! I would love more than anything to have all my children photographed together. My children range from 15 to 1 and I have never had a professional photograph taken of any of them. I feel like a cook, nurse, teacher, house-cleaner, lawn girl, coach, cab driver and bank for my children and feel like a farmer to my 6 animals! I spend my life cleaning.

I truly believe I am a good person. I am very loving, honest and try hard to please and do for others when I can. I have been through some really hard times the last couple years but I have pushed through to where I can at least breath now. I cant say that I am volunteering here or a member of the PTO or the mother at every single sporting event. I do though, make sure my children have every opportunity and are pushed to achieve all they can. I Show up at any sporting event I can and make it to their school activities and programs. Time is my enemy (I say with a smile).  I work hard every day to support my family, show them love, and teach them all the need for the future. I love my children and my home and I appreciate all I have. I am not saying I need pitied or a medal for what I do every day and the responsibility that is put upon me but I am exhausted! (I laugh) I believe I do deserve something for me for once, something to make me feel appreciated, and special and something to make me feel beautiful again.

Now it is your turn! Who do you think deserves the makeover?? Vote Below!

Voting ends Saturday, May 11th at 11:59 pm.

 

Essence of Dave: Sweet Sounds of Spring

There is nothing I like more than being able to open up the windows and air out the house. One thing that I look forward to every year is the first few nice days of the year. The windows are open and the neighbors begin to emerge from their winter hibernation.

They are all making that mad dash to get some outdoors things done. It begins with a few of them sneaking home from work early to get their lawn cut before the others. Then there are those that are out till 10 at night stretching the daylight in order to be productive.

The sweet sounds of spring are the vacuum cleaners humming, the leaf blowers blowing, the dogs barking, and my one neighbor a few doors down blaring Barry Manilow like he has the system from Madison Square Garden in his garage. The sweet sounds of springtime are upon us and apparently this year’s theme is the Copa Cabana. DAMN IT!!!!!!

TheEssenceofDave

10 Things To Smile About in April

I just happened to see a status update from Emmy Mom yesterday about her monthly meme 10 Things To Smile About and I figured that I have had a lot to smile about lately, even though life has been CRAZY HECTIC. So, I should share some of it with all of you! You ready to start smiling along with me?

1. I have been struggling with my weight loss lately and I have been feeling very defeated. I feel as though I have hit a plateau and the scale has not moved. The good thing is that it hasn’t moved up, but still it hasn’t moved down either. Today I went shopping for something to wear to the Bags, Baubles and Baskets – Ladies Night Out fundraiser for the American Cancer Society. I was so excited that I fit into a size 8 Petite skirt! Defeated no more!

2. Dave and I had a quick little date night this past Saturday. We went to the Cupcake Showdown which was a fundraiser for the Children’s Theater Workshop. We didn’t stay too long so we decided to head out and have a quick dinner with some drinks. It has been way too long since just the two of us have been out together.

3. We are going to Disney World in July!

4. I am DANCING IN DISNEY WORLD IN JULY!!

When I was in high school I danced in Disney World all 4 years. It was an amazing experience. The dancers that went to Disney were hand picked so it was quite an honor. I am even more excited that my old ass can still dance well enough to be asked to go back again! Woo hoo! I promise to give more details as soon as I know more. The most that I know right now is that it will be the last week of August.

5. I have 2 awesome giveaways going on right now on the blog with local companies. You should really check them out!

Moms Are The New Hotness Giveaway & Mother’s Day Tea w/ ComplEvents

mommy makeover

mothersdaytea

6. We went to our first rodeo! It was not something that I thought that I would like but it was actually very entertaining. I was surprised. The kids had a great time too!

Yes, those are cowboy butts and FIRE! Yee haw!

cowboybutts

7. I was finally able to go hang out with my friends that I have not seen in FOREVER due to crazy schedules and just being plain tired. We played Cards Against Humanity which is my new favorite game. If you haven’t heard about it, you need to check it out. I promise you will not be disappointed.

cards

8. My kids have actually been getting along lately. This has been such a relief for us. They even decided to play a new game. T-Rex arms. Hey, at least they are having fun together and not fighting!

trex

9. I got my new favorite t-shirt from Lovebian! One of my long time Blog friends, Erin Margolin is one of the co-founders of The Gay Dad Project. I was looking at their t-shirt selection but I don’t have a gay parent or a gay sibling. I do have a gay cousin…well actually 2, so I asked Lovebian if they could make me an I heart my gay cousin t-shirt. Within an hour it was up on the website and I ordered it immediately! Dave will be getting one soon too. How much do you love it??!!

gaydad

10. I WAS ON TV!

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Do you see me?

What do you have to smile about this month??

Have you entered the Moms Are The New Hotness Make Over Giveaway?

 

Mother’s Day Tea Giveaway w/ ComplEvents

ComplEvents knows how treasured mom is and they want to give you or the mom in your life something special! ComplEvents would like to give you 2 tickets for a special tea party for you and a guest to the Stonehouse Tea Room in Oregon, Ohio. I am jealous!

Stock Images: Tea Cup Picture. Image: 239794© Photographer Tammy Mcallister | Agency: Dreamstime.com

You and a guest will receive a three course proper tea at the Stonehouse Tea Room in Oregon, Ohio.

It is super easy to win too! Just leave me a comment below telling me who you would take with you for your own personal tea party.

That’s it! Giveaway will end on Mother’s Day, Sunday May 12th at 5 pm.

Stonehouse Tea Room
3104 Starr Avenue
Oregon, OH 43616
419-691-5367 or cell phone 419-346-8979
Bob and Betty Metz, your hosts

FTC Disclosure: I did not receive anything from ComplEvents for this giveaway. They are just an amazing company that wants to help brighten someone’s Mother’s Day and I wanted to help them too! Winner will be chosen randomly through And The Winner Is…

Weekly Healthy-ISH Meal Plan 4/28/13

The weather is FINALLY turning around in Northwest Ohio and we couldn’t be happier. Let’s hope that it sticks around for a while. I love when the temperature starts to rise, but I hate trying to figure out meal plans for warmer weather. Heavy meals are too much, but we don’t want to eat salads every day.

I really have no idea what we ate last year when it started to warm up so I headed over to Pinterest and started my research. That damn Pinterest. It just sucks me in and I end up looking at all of the pretty home improvement pins and the yummy desserts which is NOT good for my healthy eating. I did find a few new recipes for all of you!

The Random Blogette  Weekly Healthy-ish Meal Plans

Monday – Cheesy Pizza Pasta Bake w/ Salad and Garlic Bread

We are doing a slight variation on this. Since the kids are not fans of pretty much anything, we are going to only add the mushrooms, onions and peppers to one side of the casserole. Crossing my fingers that it works. I swear if my kids even see me preparing anything with mushrooms they freak out.

Tuesday – Chicken Fingers & French Fries

Tuesdays are my dance class night and I prefer to drink a Visalus Shake instead of eating any real food. It helps me get through my classes without a stomach ache from heavy food.

Wednesday – Slow Cooker Balsamic Chicken w/ Diced Potatoes and Green Beans

This is a new recipe that I found and it looks awesome. We would usually eat this with canned green beans but after reading this article I don’t think that I can eat them anymore.

Thursday – Brats & Hot Dogs w /Salad

Simple easy grilling meal. Not exactly the healthiest but a little indulgence won’t kill ya!

Friday – Chicken Salad

This is an easy and quick meal. We use frozen chicken strips, (breaded or grilled, your choice)  lettuce, bacon bits, shredded cheese, hard boiled eggs, or really anything that you want. Make it your own.

What do you like to eat once the weather warms up? Or if you live where it is warm all of the time, what if your favorite warm weather meal?