C is for Colt

Good morning/afternoon/evening everyone. I hope everyone had a fantastic weekend, and managed to get the “honey do list” done, or squeaked in some quality family time, along with some rest and relaxation. Here we are, rolling into the middle of January already, who knew? Before we know it, it will be February, and it will start to warm up a bit, and be sunny longer (that’s all I care about is longer days. Dark at 6pm should be illegal).

Today I am back on the writing train, and my task is to talk about my animals. I technically only have one animal, but I have many animals that I look after and like to call my own.

As of this moment in time, I live with one animal, and my mom HAHA! I adopted my dog in September of 2016 from a reserve that is close to the town that I live in. He had never been in a house, no one ever cared for him, and all he had was a dog the same age as him, about 4 months old, to get him through daily things. They were like their own little posse. The agency that rescued my puppy had been looking out for him and his buddy, and would make the hour long drive out to feed them and get them water, and make sure they had enough to get by. Once they found a foster home for the little rascals, they were able to take them in, get them vet checked and wormed, and get them into a home so they could be assessed and adopted out.

Growing up, my family and I “adopted” a dog when I was 9 years old. I say “adopted” because we didn’t pick him, he picked us. He literally appeared in the yard one Saturday afternoon, and did not leave. He was a gem. He literally was one of a kind. He was a Dalmatian/ black lab cross, and he was smart, stubborn, and he was very protective of us, and our house. Jerry Lee enjoyed eating everything, chewing my mom’s shoes, and only her shoes, he enjoyed being on the couch, sleeping, not listening, and doing whatever he felt like, but man, he got me through some tough times, and was always so happy to see me whenever I got home. Coming home to tail wags, butt wiggles, and kisses never gets old. He was never fond of the mail delivery people, or the paper delivery people, and he made that known. I think he only bit one of our paper boys though, and the mail people managed to get away without any incidents.

Old Jerry Lee went to the dog park in the sky in the summer of 2006. Believe it or not, he had some sort of event, whether it was a stroke or a heart attack, while my aunt was vacuuming. He never liked the vacuum, and made it his mission to try and eat it every time it came out of the hall closet. Death by vacuum, what a way to go. I like to give my aunt a hard time every once and a while, but I know she still feels bad. I feel bad too, but he didn’t suffer and he went out doing what he did; making sure the vacuum knew who was the boss.

Ever since then, I wanted another dog, but my parents always said no. I understand that, I still lived with them, and I had to follow their rules, and I was going to go away to school at some point, so it was probably for the best that they kept saying no. Eventually I did go to school, a few times actually, and then I graduated my last program in May of 2012. I looked for a job in my field, I worked 3 jobs at one point, I coached and played hockey, and tried to keep up with my friends and family, a dog wouldn’t quite have fit in with all of that right away.

I started my first real “big girl job” in August of 2015, so I quit two of my three jobs, so I was down to only working two jobs, which was a nice change. After I was at my full time job for a year, I quit my second job, and started asking my parents for a dog. If you ask my mom, she will say that is not an exaggeration, and that it is 100% accurate. My dad would probably agree too, but he is up in the dog park in the sky with ol’ Jerry Lee, so he can’t give you a statement. Regardless, they both said no every single time I asked. Too much dog hair, you are busy, we are not looking after it, vet bills can be expensive, etc. Those were reasons that I heard on a daily basis, but that never stopped me from asking.

Finally, in 2016, a dog came up in the local shelter that I just had to show my mom. “Charlie” was a 4-5 month old Great Dane/ Black Lab cross, and he was CUTE! He was all black, with a white patch on his chest, and little white patches on the tips of his paws, and the littlest spot of white hair on the tip of his tail. But that wasn’t the part that got me, it was the ears. I cannot even explain them to you. They are a mix between a Great Dane, a lab, and maybe a boxer, and they are just precious, I can’t even. I think the ears are what sucked mom into his vortex too, because she spoke to my dad, and he caved as well. I was going to get a dog! I filled out the application, but was met with sadness when I found out that someone had a meet and greet with him the next day, and they were very interested. From high to low in about 6 minutes flat. I was pretty sure my hunt for my fur kid would continue for quite some time before I found another one that sucked me in like “Charlie” did.

My birthday was the next day, and at 11:58pm, I got a message from the agency saying that the people did not show up for the meet and greet, and would I like to come and meet “Charlie”? Of course I would! So we mad arrangements to meet him in two days time, and we went, and he was amazing. He was timid and shy, but was good on a leash, and once he warmed up to you, he was pretty damn charming. He was the one.

We brought him home 4 days later, and it broke my heart because he had no idea how to get into the house because he had never been in one before now. It took my mom and I about 5-10 minutes to get him into the house and up the three stairs to the main floor. From that point on, he never looked back. First thing was first, he was no longer “Charlie”, he became Colt, and it suited him just fine. He was really easy to crate train, he has had 3 accidents in the house in 3 years, he slept all night right from square one, he listens and doesn’t need a leash, he is so well mannered, he’s great with young kids, and older adults, and he’s probably one of the best shot gun riders I have ever had in my truck. I could not ask for a better companion even if tried.

Colt has been with me through a few family deaths, including the passing of my dad, he’s been with me through two major knee surgeries, a few road trips, some really hard times, and some really good times. Not once has he wavered. And for that, I am forever grateful for him. I gave him a second chance at life, and he has given me a better outlook on life. I 100% believe that everyone deserves a second chance, because everyone makes mistakes. It was not Colt’s fault that no one looked after him, and I wanted to give him the life he deserved. Little does he know that I could never repay him for all that he has done for me ever since that day we brought him home. I love you, bud.

Photo credits go out to Beamer and her new iPhone ESP12 or whatever it’s called.

That is it for me today, I hope you guys enjoyed this as much as I did. Colt and I thank you very much for popping in and giving this a read. Please leave a comment or a thumbs up if you feel like it.

Song of the day? Tonight I am really digging “All I Want” by Staind. Give it a listen, see what you think, leave me a comment on your thoughts. I’ll be back.

Cheers,

K

What’s in a (blog) name?

Hello everyone, welcome back to all these words I’m about to spew out on this screen. I hope everyone is having a good day, even though the weather isn’t that great. Stay warm, and stay out of that wind.

My topic today is “what is the meaning behind the name of your blog”? Odd question, and one I have never really thought about, but I will try and explain what I can. I guess I should start by letting everyone know what I call my blog, or this would be pointless, haha. The title of my blog is “I’m bad, I do what I want”. Why did I name my blog that? Honestly, I don’t know, it just kind of happened.

A handful of years ago, when I started this blog, there was no meaning behind the name. It was just me, just something cool that I thought was catchy, and might get me some views. Looking at the title now, it actually means something. It sounds a little bit abrasive, and harsh, but realistically, it’s not. Looking at it now, it is me. I’m a grown up, I’m independent, and I can do whatever it is that I want to do. I have the same rights as everyone else on this Earth. I can write a blog, I can apply for jobs, I can apply for a loan, I can play sports, I can do just about anything, within reason, of course.

If you had asked me if I felt like this when I first started this blog, my answer would have been different. I didn’t have the knowledge that I have now. I also didn’t have the life experience that I have now. A lot has changed, most of it for the better, some things, like people passing away, are for the worst, but all in all, I think that I could be like a good old bottle of whiskey; I only get better with age. Just kidding, but not really. It’s true, life will teach you more lessons than school or a textbook. I can learn about parabolas, and parallelograms from a textbook, but they don’t teach you how to do taxes, or where to go if you need some sort of government assistance with anything; life teaches you that, people who have had to figure that out on their own can teach you that, you learn from experience. I have learned a lot of things from a lot of different people, and that is something I will never forget. My mom and dad once told me “education weighs nothing, you can always carry it around with you”, so I try and take in as much as I can.

I listen to people when they talk, I ask questions, and I do a little bit of research. I have worked in customer service and with the public since I was old enough to work, and I can’t tell you how much I learned while I pumped gas for 11 years. My dad used to tell me this if I was being bad as a young gun; “God gave you two ears and one mouth so you can listen twice as much as you talk”. He was right. We don’t listen enough. Everyone wants to have the best stories, be on their cell phones, social media, be all absorbed in themselves, but not many people will just sit there and listen. I am that person. I will sit there and listen to whoever, whenever they need. I will listen, I will not judge, I will give advice if you want, or I will keep my mouth closed, either way, I’m taking in information, and chances are, I am also helping that person, which is also a goal of mine. I could sit and listen and talk with someone for hours, I have done it on more than one occasion, and I am sure that I will do it until the day that I die, it’s my thing. Everyone, at some point in their lives, needs someone to listen to them, just to get things off of their chest. Be that person for someone, let them know you are there for them, and you have their back. I will always have my friends backs, always. Make sure you hold those people close.

At the end of the day, I guess my blog title can be “inspirational”. Be yourself, do the things you want to do, and live the life you want, and the life that you deserve. No one should hold you back, and nothing should hold you back. You’re all bad, you all need to do what you want. Go out and live it.

My song of the day is “I Am Here” by P!nk. It’s a great song, great title, and it kind of sums everything up; I am here.

-K

A new challenge for 20Nineteen

Hello friends, family, people of the internet, it’s me again. I hope everyone had a great Christmas, or whatever you celebrate, because it doesn’t really matter, as long as you do whatever you need to do. I also hope everyone has had a great start to 2019, and it continues on into the coming months ahead.

I’m not one for New Year’s resolutions, because, honestly, I never follow through. I give people credit who do make resolutions and stick to them; hammer down. This blog is not really a resolution, but more of something for me just to keep up, and to talk about things, and to keep sharing my weird, boring, funny life. I found another challenge thing, and it is called “30 Days of me”, and it looks interesting, so I am going to give it a go. Some of the things may be repetitive, so just ignore those parts, and read the new stuff.

Today I am tasked with providing everyone with 15 interesting facts about myself. I don’t normally talk about myself, or think about myself, so this could be a bit of a challenge.

1. I am a registered dental hygienist, which I don’t know if a lot of people know. I went to college and completed the two year Dental Hygiene program, and graduated on the Dean’s list. Those two years were hard, but I met a lot of wonderful people, and we all had good times, and some terrible times, but we all stuck it out, helped each other, and made it to graduation.
2. I am very superstitious, with literally everything. When I am playing sports, I have to do things a certain way. If it’s hockey I have to tape my stick before every game, if my team is winning I can’t change my socks, and if we do really good I don’t wash them for the whole season. If it’s baseball, I sit in the same spot in the dugout, I wear the same socks, and shorts, I wear my lucky tank top during warm ups, and don’t put my jersey on until just before the first pitch, and I will either chew the same piece of gum for the whole game, or get a new piece after every inning. If I have an interview or a presentation happening, I will usually have a pen cap in my pocket so that I have something there to keep me focused and less anxious.
3. I don’t watch movies that often. I would rather read. You could give me 100 movie titles and I would maybe have seen 10 of them. I get a lot of flack for this, but I have always been the kid who would read into the early hours of the night, and tell her parents “just one more chapter” when it came time for lights out.
4. I usually only like ketchup on left over mac n cheese. I don’t like it on fresh stuff, but as soon as it’s like a few hours old, I will only eat it if it has ketchup on it.
5. I used to live down the street from Duncan Keith of the Chicago Blackhawks when we were younger. We would play road hockey with the other kids in the neighbourhood. He gave me a black eye once during a heated game, I didn’t get to finish the game.
6. I am bi-lingual. I graduated high school with a bi-lingual diploma in english and french. I have forgotten a lot of it, but I can still follow conversation, and I could hold my own in a conversation if I had to.
7. I have always wanted to write a book about things, and life experiences I have had.
8. I want to help people. I have always been the girl to give you the shirt off of her back if you need it, and I think it’s one of my strongest traits. Sometimes I struggle when I can’t help someone, or if my advice doesn’t work, or it makes things worse. I have a big heart, and sometimes that works against me.
9. I am a cancer survivor, which isn’t really new, I have posted about it a few times. I was diagnosed with stage 3 Hodgkins disease in 2005.
10. I try and keep my closet organized by colours. Blacks, blues, purples, greens, reds, oranges, yellows, and whites. I was very set in my ways when I was in school, I have since let it slide a little bit since moving back home.
11. I am very much a home body, but I want to travel. I want to go to Europe, Ireland, Finland, Sweden, New Zealand, the UK, the East Coast, and many other places. There are a few things stopping me, but one of the main things is anxiety. I am not a very good plane person, and I’m afraid something will happen and I will get sick or die on my trip, and that would be the end of it.
12. I have always wanted to be left handed. I still sometimes write with my left hand if I am taking notes, or only writing something for myself and no one else.
13. I don’t like to give myself a label, but I just recently told my mom, brother, and close friends that I am bisexual/gay/whatever you want to call it. I was worried people would hate me, my friends would bail, my family wouldn’t love me, and so on. But with the support and love from my people, I did it, and in all honesty, it was like a pretty decent weight was lifted off of my shoulders.
14. I can fillet a fish, I can bait my own hook, I can gut a partridge, I can clean, load, and shoot my own gun, and I can back up a trailer. I also posses both a non restricted and a restricted gun license.
15. I like watches. I don’t have a whole bunch, because it’s not a cheap item to collect, but I’m always on the lookout for a new one, and like to check out everyone else’s watches.

Yeah, that took much longer than I anticipated, but there it is. Some are old, some are new, some are deep, some are just average. I’m sure there is more interesting things that I could have come up with, but those are the ones I picked.

Thanks again for clicking on the link and reading, feel free to leave a comment, or a like, and come back next time.

Before I go, I will leave you guys with a new song to check out because I think music is important, and it can help with just about everything. Tonight’s song is “The Greatest Show” by PANIC! At the Disco. It’s from the Greatest Showman soundtrack, and I quite like it. Give it a listen, you might like it too!

Good night,

K