Badass

I love the word Badass.  It works for so many things.  My kids give me a look when I use it, and they really shudder when I use it to describe something about them.  Their reactions only make me use it more.  Ha!

Today I want to write about two of the best reasons I know to use the word.  I have two badass men in my life (by the way--I love that spellcheck doesn't even flag the word!  Yay!).  They are my hubby and my brother.  The hubby is a badass no matter what.  He's a loving father, affectionate, and sweet, but he's tough as nails.  LITERALLY.

Last year when he was working on our porch, which he built for the most part by himself (again--badass), there was a day when he was home alone working and I was out at the store.  He called me at the store and told me he thought he might need me to come home.

"I may need a ride to the Urgent Care.  I shot a nail through my thumb with the nail gun."

"WHAT?!?!?!?!"  I felt faint.

"Well I got the nail out, but I should probably go have it looked at.  There's a lot of blood."

"How did you get it out?"

"I went over to the shop and pulled it out with a pair of pliers."

I think I came dangerously close to passing out at that moment.  I ran out of the store and drove home, and it's all a blur, but I remember him getting into the car with a towel around his hand.  The nail had driven through the middle of his thumbnail and out the other side.  Oh.  My.  God.  It's surprising I was able to get us to the Urgent Care without passing out or barfing.  But I got him there, and he got fixed up.  He still has a metal shard in his thumb, and he received a couple stitches, but the doctor was amazed that he yanked the nail out himself.  Badass.  I was impressed and completely horrified at the same time.  That's my man.

And my brother is on the badass list too.  He has a new story this week that renewed his badass status.  Some people would call him a hothead, but I think he's just a -- well, you know.

The other day they were at a local ski hill watching Nephew1 race.  When they went out to their car, the window was busted in, and SIL1's purse had been stolen!  A beautiful new Coach purse with a matching wallet.  And it was full of stuff--credit cards, cash, all that good stuff.  All she had taken out of it were her driver's license and her bank card, so that's at least good.  But yikes!  So they start making the calls to cancel all the cards, and of course it's already been used a bunch.  There are such losers out there.  They discover the card was used at some gas stations, and at a nearby mall.  There was a charge at a T-Mobile store that got flagged and declined, and that was only a few minutes ago!  So instead of driving to the police station, the brother turns around and speeds toward the mall, in full rage mode.  I wish I could have seen SIL1's face, and I bet Nephew1 was nervous.

So they get to the mall and he runs in to the T-Mobile store and asks if they recently had a big charge declined, and they said yes, and he asks for a description.  Apparently he was pretty much shouting and causing a scene.  Awesome.  They tell him it was two women and that one was wearing an Ed Hardy hat (lovely).  So he looks outside, and the woman is sitting on a bench outside the store!!!!  Holy crap!  She had the ugly hat (which wasn't even a real Ed Hardy hat, not that that would have been any better) on the bench next to her and was clutching a COACH PURSE!!!  So he just started screaming at her and yelling bad words and raging in a style only he can pull off.  She kept trying to tell different stories, the security guards ran over, the police were called, and it all ended well.  The cops apparently allowed him to rage at the woman for a pretty satisfying amount of time, and he said he kept making her cry.  SIL1 even felt sorry for the criminal!  Ha!  But they got her purse and wallet (completely empty) back, minus the cash and a substantial gift card, which sucks.  The criminal's partner in crime took off as soon as the brother started screaming at Ed Hardy hat lady, so that stuff is gone.  But they got their cards canceled and aren't responsible for any of those charges, and all ended all right.  But they have to get their car window replaced.  Apparently the lady had a long record and is going to jail, so chalk one up for the good guys.  My brother was a regular Charles Bronson, as the hubby said.  Woohoo!

So I love a good badass, and I love badass stories.  I'm proud of my badass men.  Maybe I've been watching too much Sons of Anarchy.