The “Gunshot” Story Unpacked

SPEAKER_00 0:01

Howdy y'all, welcome to another episode of Contagious Miles Unstoppable with Victoria Michael here.

SPEAKER_01 0:07

You sound like one of those remember the records where you turned it up the notch to go like that's what you sounded like coming on. Everybody, let me go ahead and tell you we have to say a moment of silent prayer for my husband. Let's take a moment. Yes, he was shot at the gun range. So I have to take a moment of silence and make sure that he knows that we're there in support. Okay, now let's really say what happened.

SPEAKER_00 0:49

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

SPEAKER_01 0:50

No, so this is the bullshit. So I get a phone call from Faith, like, you have to say what I did. I did awesome. I did headshots, but not the one on the shoulders. And I'm like, wait, what? So she sends me pictures, and she definitely went after those family jewels. That's no kidding. And I'm so glad she got her shooting tactic ability from me because she's awesome and amazing. And then I hear in the background I got shot. Now, first thing, faith is not in a fury panic. So I know, and I hear your voice, so I know that this is probably a grazing at best, right? And I say, Is everything okay? Because if it hadn't been, I'd have already been in route to you immediately, right? But I hear you, I hear her. I'm worried she's gonna pee on herself because she's laughing. He's such a puss. He is such a puss, mom. It's covered up by one band-aid that's hello kitty, and I'm like, but he was shot, mom. He's gonna milk this for every single thing it's worth. And boy, has he ever so go ahead, babe. Tell the world and all the millions how you are now a survivor of a gunshot wound to the leg. Take it away, babe. Tell us your story. Grab your tissues and your bullshit monitor. Go ahead, babe.

SPEAKER_00 2:26

I love that woman, y'all. So it's no laughing matter to get shot, okay? We're only Grazed! We're only picking on my case, my incident. Grace, okay? It's no laughing matter to get stabbed. My wife can tell you that. Okay? There are some comical moments, but uh, you know, I don't I don't I don't condone getting shot or stabbed. Having said that, my daughter and I went to the to the local gun club here and we went to go shooting. She shot several boxes of ammo.

SPEAKER_01 3:05

My gun! One of mine! Correct.

SPEAKER_00 3:07

She loves shooting my and uh gave me the pouty face when you know she was done with her two boxes and uh a couple targets later. So then I said, well, let me let me shoot a couple rounds and then we'll go ahead and uh head home. So I shot about 18 rounds, and I'm packing up where this fella comes in about three stalls down. Three stalls down, shooting two nine millimeters, and they're all decked out.

SPEAKER_01 3:34

He's shooting two at a time. And like he has a handgun in each hand.

SPEAKER_00 3:39

I wasn't paying attention at that time. I'm packing up, I'm packing up, y'all, and all of a sudden something hit my leg. Was it hot? As he was fired, and I'm like, what just happened? Was it hot? Huh?

SPEAKER_01 3:50

Was it hot?

SPEAKER_00 3:50

You don't realize you're like like, damn, I so something got me. Did it feel like a beasting? No, it it was just happened so fast. And I looked down and there's blood.

SPEAKER_01 4:01

It is not even gushing. Don't even start. You were going to because we're always on the same page. I'd like you to say gushing. My legs bleeding and like a paper cut.

SPEAKER_00 4:15

And so I hollered at the fella to stop shooting and got the attention of the the range masters out there and had them come in and look at me.

SPEAKER_01 4:22

They walked in, they said, Do you want a band-aid? Would you like a little far two character on it?

SPEAKER_00 4:31

They said, Do you want a hello kitty band-aid?

SPEAKER_01 4:34

You know that means hello puss.

SPEAKER_00 4:36

Yeah, so some shrapnel from his bullet did not go inside you. Ricocheted from somewhere along the back wall and uh got my got me in my calf.

Range Safety And Ricochet Reality

SPEAKER_01 4:51

So when he comes home, I'm like, Can I see it? Ladies and gentlemen, children of all ages, I needed a magnifying glass. I'm not trying to take away. So then I'm like, does this hurt? And I'm pushing around the area, all around, not the actual little millimeter-sized graze, but the perimeter of it. And he's like, no, no, no. And then all of a sudden, this look like you, you know, the doctor doolittle when the doctor puts the thermometer up the ass and goes, like, look. He's like, what if I get gun metal poisoning? What if I get lead poisoning? What happens? Oh my god, what happens? Like panic fury. Well, it didn't go in your skin. I need a magnifying glass. And I really, you know, I was like, Do you want me to clean it up? I don't know where I'd clean. A quarter of a millimeter.

SPEAKER_00 5:43

Whatever.

SPEAKER_01 5:44

Even our neighbors were like, it's not even gonna be able to scab. Like, it's not gonna really like.

SPEAKER_00 5:54

So, yes, I did have a band-aid over my gunshot wound.

SPEAKER_01 5:57

You know, the kind when your kids go to the pediatrician and they prick your finger and it's like round, like the size of a dime, and it covers their entire finger when they're that little, and that band-aid comes back off where they prick the finger and it's like a drop of blood. There you go.

SPEAKER_00 6:14

So, Faith and I had a good time shooting, and we got to kick out of this later on. The rangebasters, they gotta kick out. They said, Welcome to the club. They've all been shot by raised ricochets. Now, I'm you know, I'm sure that the gun club has all their standards in place, and you know, everything's good. It's just a freak accident happened. So now, yesterday, y'all, yesterday was a nightmare.

SPEAKER_01 6:41

Oh boy, well, no, no, no, no, no, no. It wasn't a nightmare. It was rough on us old folks because we spent the day with our good friend Will and his wife Mindy, and we got to see our puppies that we will have in just less than two weeks.

SPEAKER_00 6:58

So we went up there, two hour drive up to the mountains, a little more than that.

SPEAKER_01 7:02

Oh, no, no, no, no, no. It was a two-hour drive there for me, but it called it took me four plus hours to return to this neck of the woods because my husband put the GPS map on the screen and entered in some wrong address. And I'm driving back, and the hills are alive with the sound of, oh, you got us lost. Now, if you ever listen to Faith, Faith will tell you he gets lost in a Home Depot, which is the men's toy store store, right? In that y'all's toy store. So I'm driving and I'm like, we haven't passed this before. And then I see like these signs that talk about the grade incline that we're about to get to. And my husband's like, why don't they have guardrails on the side? Babe, don't look down to the left or to the right. I'm not afraid of heights, and those things don't bother me at all. But he's worried because the lanes are very narrow. And if a car comes around the corner, you know, we need to make sure we don't bump into one of that.

SPEAKER_00 7:59

I knew we took a wrong turn when it said pavement ends here.

SPEAKER_01 8:03

Yes, and it sure did, it sure did, and it added quite a bit more onto the drive, and then nice scenic route along the rivers. And then my husband, I drove the whole way back, which is fine, and our preference. My husband decides that he is going to get into the back seat, and Faith is gonna get up front with me, and he is gonna go stretch out across the whole back and go to sleep. Wow, that was like a first because he hadn't been asleep in a few hours. Very impressed. So, yes, but we had an interesting afternoon and evening because we had a phone call from a neighbor and we were trying to help our neighbors, and so by the time we got done with all that, it was 2 a.m.

SPEAKER_00 8:55

2 a.m. We started our day off at uh Well, we were on the road at 8 30. I think I got up at 6 30 that morning, let the dogs out.

SPEAKER_01 9:05

Who let the dogs out?

SPEAKER_00 9:08

But yeah. So that was our that was our day before and yesterday adventures. Yeah. Today we recouped.

SPEAKER_01 9:19

Well, it's not just that. Anybody who is not a smoker and gets around anybody who smokes, it well, for me, and I love Will and and Mindy, I think they're amazing, wonderful people. They're so sweet, they don't even smoke in their own home when we're there, they go outside. But when you don't smoke, you can still smell it, right? Which is nothing against them at all. But the neighbor we helped smokes, and she smoked and then got right into the truck with us, and I literally was just gasping, you know, for the air for air, and it gets into your lungs and it gets all over you, and it's just like you know. I mean, it's just for people who you know aren't smokers. I'm sure they can relate to that, and then you just feel like it's hard to catch your breath, at least it is for me with all of that.

SPEAKER_00 10:12

Yeah, I know that's my throat was a little closed up. So excited about my wife and the series of books that she started and completed, most of them?

Mountain Drive Misadventures

SPEAKER_01 10:25

Well, the Stucco Squad series is a series of 10 books for ages four to eight, and they cover really important topics at their level, like from their eyes, like relatable to them. So if they were sitting down, depending on the age of between four and eight, and they were reading it themselves, or they were having someone read it to them, it's at their level of understanding and comprehension. So there's 10 in the series, and there's everything from when home is loud, you know, which targets the situation of abuse in the home, what happens if you see one of the parents grab hold of one of the other parents, and how do you protect yourself and siblings? Then there is uh it there's 10 different topics for each. There's 10 topics for the series of 10. And I'm on book nine right now, and it is talking about the stucco squad and the fading color, and it is discussing being that age and having someone that you absolutely love and cherish be very ill, and they're passing. So it's kind of more on the related, if it's a grandparent, maybe, is how I'm doing it. The main characters, of course, is Captain Courage, who is a curly redhead with glasses. This time, her sidekick obviously always is stucco, but we also for the first time identify her by her real name in this, which we're calling her Rosie. It's Rose, but we call her Rosie because when you're that age, you know, and Grammy, because Grammy is sick, and it talks about you know making great memories and the special bond that Rosie has with Grammy and goes through that as well. So then I'm gonna start the seven to ten age series and creating a series for each age group up to adult, and then hopefully crossing fingers that it goes really well, I'll go back and do the second series set for each age group as well. But there'll be 10 books in each specific age group.

SPEAKER_00 12:49

And your little ones can color it.

SPEAKER_01 12:51

Yes, I did the insides in black and white because, like, for instance, if you're one of the books that I just finished is all about safety and knowing when you're safe, like going to the fire department or the police department, or who are safe people you can talk to when you're scared about something. And so when you're looking at one of those pages, it says stuff like circle the people here that would be safe. And it's very interactive. And you get to color them and make them your own so that you feel an attachment to that person. So if you're like a cute little boy and you and you're doing this book, and you and it says circle who you think is a safe person, then you can make the fireman your fireman by coloring him how you want him to be, how you see him. So then, God forbid, you have a situation where you have to go up to a fireman. The little boy is gonna remember how he created him and he's gonna feel more safe going up and having a conversation and being more open with that person. So that's kind of also what that book is. So they're a lot of fun. It's a little hard to do some of them. I think that the one about having a loud home was really hard. And the one about Rosie I'm doing now with her grandma's hard because Captain Courage is a character based on faith. I switch it in and out with a girl and a boy, so that depending on the reader, they can, oh, why is it always a girl? You know, so one page might be a girl, the next page might be a girl, the next page might be a boy. But in every book has a certificate and a badge or something in the back saying that you completed this and how proud you should be of yourself. And it's really uplifting. The one thing I did do different is the community book where it's about fire department, law enforcement, school staff, people like that that you can go and talk to, counselors and things like that. There's five chapters in this book where most every other book is not chapter-based, and every chapter, like chapter one, is like law enforcement, chapter two is fire department, you know, like camp counselors. Uh anyway, so when you get done with that chapter, there's also a badge for that and completion for that particular chapter. So by the time you get done with your little one with this book, they have five or actually six uh certificates of completion and they can put them on the wall, and it's a psychological reminder that that firefighter is safe, that police officer is safe, and then they can color in each one along the lines of every page, as well as the certificate, and put them up, and then they can remember that is a safe person. And it's also really good if they're in a non-safe environment at the moment, or they don't feel that they're safe at the moment, then they can put up the wall of protection, is what we call it, where all of the people they've colored are those, those are their choices, and they've put them up on the wall, and that's their their wall of protection. So they can uh decorate with that too.

SPEAKER_00 15:56

And our kids definitely need protection out there. I don't know if you saw the school shooting over in Texas.

SPEAKER_01 16:02

Which one? The recent one here 19-year-old did it, or 19 kid passed.

SPEAKER_00 16:11

Dead.

SPEAKER_01 16:11

What age was the school?

SPEAKER_00 16:13

They were they were elementary.

SPEAKER_01 16:15

Well, you know, not that long ago, an elementary school kid brought a gun to school and shot somebody.

SPEAKER_00 16:24

I I don't understand how he got I didn't read the article of the the uh the um the story, and so I don't know much about it. I figured you were up on it. No, I've been so busy. I just that's just to think you know, one one stupid ass punk into the life of nineteen precious souls that was just starting out in life and did absolutely nothing. It just is it's monstrous.

Smoke Sensitivity And Recovery Day

SPEAKER_01 16:53

And what I don't understand in so many times, I've read so many of the biographies of the parents and the manifestos of the individuals who committed the acts. But you know, parents say the the I I just specifically one of the first ones I read was the Columbine shooting parents and the two parents from the shooters, right? From their point of view. And they tried to say they didn't have any indication of that this was going on and they didn't know about the manifesto. I agree that you probably might not know about the manifesto as a parent of that age child, but how do you not see any kind of signs that your child's in complete distress? I mean, your child's in distress, and you need to talk with your kids, see what's going on with your kids, you know. Like, and and I know not every family is gonna do what we do and have family night, you know, where we you guys have your movie every Saturday night, but every time we're at a table, there is no electronics, there is conversation. How is your day? What's going on? Talk to me. You know, that's what we do. And I love that. And I know not everybody does that, but if you don't do that, you don't have meals with your family, you don't have interactions with your children, how I mean, you see them every day. You you can at least see their demeanor and disposition. They're still a child, and no matter what, even if, and I'm trying to put my mindset into that of one of the parents of the kids that did this hellacious event. How do you not know that something's going on with them? How do you I mean say you don't have a meal with them? Say they don't talk to you. That's a key right there. Say that you know they don't want any interaction with you. What about how they're dressing? What about who they're hanging out with? What about, you know, their phones? What about their room? I mean, there's so many key elements that I think are being overlooked that I would rather err on the side of caution and say, hey, I mean, what's the worst that's gonna come out of it? Hey, I'm sorry that you may think I'm invading your space, but at the end of the day, I want you to know that I'm doing it because I love you. I want you to know that I care. And if there's something going on that you want to talk about, then let's talk about it, right? Let's figure it out. Let's see how can I help you? This is a really hard time for kids your age to be growing up in this world. And it's not like it was when we were young at your age. So let's help each other. Let's talk. Do you want to talk to somebody? Do you feel like you have somebody? Do you want me to find you somebody? Right? These are all really important things that I think so many people just overlook. We have become so much of a only about me society that it breaks my heart. It really does. Like so much, so many kids now get a controller or phone or tablet. I mean, we've gone places before and these young kids have phones. They have phones and tablets. And, you know, they're not sitting there playing educational games. If they were, more power to them, I get it. But I mean, they're playing like Minecraft, which has so many sexual predators on it. They have so many things on there that are blowing up things that are destroying things. People think it's just a you know, a game of building, and for a long time I did until I got to learn more about it. So some parents might be as naive as I was, because I really believe that Minecraft in the beginning was a building of homes and and stores and schools. And I didn't know you could go in there and you know, barter and and blow up stuff, and they I had no idea. And you know, when you research it now, Minecraft is one of the highest rated games that has pedophiles in it, posing as kids, and these kids swear up and down. I would know if it was, I would know if it's a pedophile. They come in there, make you believe that you're they're around your age, and they lure you in, they're very good at what they do. They are, and then they get your trust, and that is so scary. These pedophiles out there have your kids' trust when you don't have your kids' trust. And that's something that you know you need to take two seconds and think about. These people on the other end of that electronic device have more of my own son or daughter's trust than I do. Let that resonate for a second. I mean, that's harsh, but that's real. And in one year, two years, five years, do you think they're still gonna know the other person that they're quote unquote chatting with in that game room? They're not. But right now they trust them to tell them things that they won't tell you as their parent. And that is scary.

SPEAKER_00 21:57

So I'm gonna step on some toes here.

SPEAKER_01 22:00

Be careful with your leg and all.

Introducing The Stucco Squad Books

SPEAKER_00 22:02

No, my gunshot wound. I'm of the mindset these are my children. Okay? They lived under our roof. Alright? They don't have any privacy. Okay? Other than the bathroom. And you know, if they're changing clothes. Now what I mean by they don't have privacy is if I bought them a phone, I have every right to go through their phone. I have every right to put an app on their phone to keep track of what they're doing. Okay? That's what I believe. All right. That's keeping my kids safe. That's keeping the the the wolves out of our home trying to get access to my kids and my kids' information.

SPEAKER_01 22:51

Okay, but what about the fact that you have no problem with them playing video games? This is my husband and I are always on the same page about 99.999% of things. This is the one percent we are not. I am total and and and it's just me. I am on the very far side. I'm not even in the middle about it. I'm okay with learning apps, I'm okay with educational games on devices. I'm okay with that because I my daughter and I spent so much time in hospitals and doctor's office and doctors' waiting rooms and things like that. Like, and I was homeschooling her. So a lot of times we would do things on educational apps, but they weren't where she was able to correspond with other people involved in it. And so that was the difference. I am so anti-video game because of what I do and who I speak with and the families that I work with and the families I speak with. And I've been so blessed to talk to all these people, but all of them have that I've talked with in this genre, all talk about the fact that their kids were obsessed with playing these games, and that is their reality. And when they take the VAHR, whatever it is, headset off, or they put the game controller down, they feel like they don't fit into this world because all they know is that world. And that's scary. And I'm very much against all of those games. I mean, like when we were young and it was Atari and Frogger and you know, things like that, but now these these kids who are so young are like blowing up stuff and learning how to shoot things and and killing and maiming and dismembering and amputating, and you know, and they think it's fun and hilarious and nothing is gory. And you know, I've talked to kids that you know are younger and they're you know 10 to 14. And I said when I was young, silence of the lambs was like ungodly scary, and they're they think it's like a cartoon because back in the day, think about it, when we were young, Disney was Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck and Goofy, and and now you know they have the LGBTQ families inside of Disney movies, and they have on Disney, they had Deadpool on Disney, Walt Disney is you know, I'm sure turning around. Deadpool is an adult movie, it's hysterical, but it's hysterical for age-appropriate individuals.

SPEAKER_00 25:22

Yeah, he is uh Ron Will Romney, right?

SPEAKER_01 25:25

But then you hear, like when we were growing up, think about it. Did you ever hear the F bomb in any of our TV shows? We watched it when we were young. I never, if I heard the word hell, I was like, oh, you said a bad word, you know, because that was basically what you hear now, it doesn't matter. You hear every word that's possible. But I'm totally against the video game thing where you aren't. So, how do you explain that you are so big about governing the electronic devices of children and checking in on all their privacy, but you're okay with them playing with other people on video games?

SPEAKER_00 26:10

So you and I we teach faith.

SPEAKER_01 26:15

Well, okay, but we're not just talking about teach uh faith. We have two other kids, and they both talk to everybody online too.

SPEAKER_00 26:20

Well, these right, we do, but we only we have access to faith. We teach her, we tell her these are how the predators are accessing little kids, right? These are the the tactics that they're using to gain their trust, as you put it, right?

SPEAKER_01 26:41

And she's great, and she actually defends people when she sure does people are getting bullied, like and she gets wow, she gets worked up about it. She'll come in and be like, Mom, it doesn't matter what I'm doing. Mom, I know you're writing a book. Hold on, listen. This person in there started making fun of this person in there, and then I had to get into it, and this is what I did. Okay, I love you, bye. And like she walks off. But how do you justify knowing that those creepy, eepy people are out there that you would still be okay with her playing certain games?

SPEAKER_00 27:12

I justify it because we we educate her, we teach her, right? And she knows the the difference, she sees the difference.

SPEAKER_01 27:20

But like, for instance, I'm totally against playing any video game with violence, and you're not, so she sees you playing it, right? And she knows how I feel about it and my stance about it. How do you explain that?

SPEAKER_00 27:33

I am a grown man, I you know that's questionable. Uh yeah, it's questionable. Hey, watch A, easy on my gunshot wound. I know. I should be in a recliner right now. Didn't you just come out of it? Ice cream. What didn't you just come out?

SPEAKER_01 27:51

Are you kidding me?

SPEAKER_00 27:54

This don't don't even open your mouth. This coming from a woman who gets served breakfast every day. Every day it been.

SPEAKER_01 28:02

I get a frozen ego waffle that's dropped into the toaster and brought into bed. But let's talk about this for a minute. When I okay, let's talk about this. When I became an amputee, right? Three and a half years ago, I can't believe it's been that long. But I became an amputee, my husband took off work, and he said, I'm gonna take off two weeks, I'm gonna wait on you hand and foot, no pun intended. Ha ha ha ha. And I came home and worked that night. I came home and worked after I went in the bathroom and took off my dressings because I wanted to see what it looked like, and it was, you know. But you slept, and I will call Faith in here and have her most of that time. What what time? When I came home from the amputation. Now I did not stay overnight in the hospital, did I? I came home the same day of my amputation. That's correct. Never took a single pain med. Correct?

SPEAKER_00 28:51

Correct.

SPEAKER_01 28:52

Never took anything for pain.

SPEAKER_00 28:53

I love how you're leading me.

SPEAKER_01 28:56

But I also but I also, you're like, I'm gonna stay up with you, and the pain was unbearable. Like I was shaking in pain. The pain was so bad. And you're like, babe, please take something. No, babe, please, no, because I just I'm not that person. But my husband decided I'm not only gonna sleep for myself, I'm gonna make up for all the sleep that my wife, he's crackling up under his milk over here, that I'm gonna take make up for all the sleep that my wife is not getting. So with my husband snoring, I end up going downstairs and laying on one of the recliners because I can't sleep, watching TV all night. Now, my husband who swore to me upside down, left and right and center, I'm gonna be right there by your side, baby. I'm gonna be right there with you every step of the way. Whatever you need, I'm gonna be there.

SPEAKER_00 29:42

What is that? My medical condition?

SPEAKER_01 29:44

You don't have a medical condition. You slept through it. And like that, so don't say you should be lounged up with being served ice cream, because when I had my amputation, you the only thing you stirred up was a bunch of Z. I'll call Faith in here. Tell me I'm wrong.

SPEAKER_00 30:04

Breakfast and bed.

SPEAKER_01 30:05

I get a freaking frozen ego waffle.

SPEAKER_00 30:08

Okay, dear listeners, how many of y'all get brought breakfast and bed?

Interactive Safety Lessons For Kids

SPEAKER_01 30:12

Okay, when we first got back together, I made you breakfast and lunch every day when you went to work at the other house.

SPEAKER_00 30:20

Wait, you made breakfast for me?

SPEAKER_01 30:22

I did. And I saw you off every morning at the other house with sperm and egg donor.

SPEAKER_00 30:30

Okay, yes.

SPEAKER_01 30:32

And I had dinner ready. And when we first moved in here, amazing. You worked every day. I I got it most of the time.

SPEAKER_00 30:41

I worked every day.

SPEAKER_01 30:43

Okay, you drove the van and slept in parking lots. I had dinner prepared all the time. I work seven days a week.

SPEAKER_00 30:53

You did.

SPEAKER_01 30:54

I still do, I still work seven days a week.

SPEAKER_00 30:57

But now who does most of the cookie?

SPEAKER_01 30:59

You defrost. What? I'll ask Faith. Can we ask Faith?

SPEAKER_00 31:03

No, let's shut the door. Uh-uh. Yes, leave her out of this. Our our our daughter, God bless her, thump a gizzard in the other. Y'all, she has busted ass today. Take note. What?

SPEAKER_01 31:15

Because she's done so much. No, she has gone above and beyond today. She's done so much work.

SPEAKER_00 31:22

It's like somebody lit a fire in her ass because she was nonstop energy, energy, energy. I don't even know where it came from. All I know is she opened the refrigerator and then started cleaning. Everything came out of the refrigerator, everything came out of the freezer. She cleaned everything, got all the expired stuff, chunked it away, and she's on to the refrigerator downstairs.

SPEAKER_01 31:45

Like she was no joke today. She after she got done with that refrigerator, she went to the first freezer, second freezer, and the third freezer and the fourth freezer.

SPEAKER_00 31:54

Like she oh my god, I mean, just one after the other, y'all. She knocked everything out.

SPEAKER_01 31:58

And then she was like, I'm cleaning the kitchen, I want it all clean, I'm doing the dishes, I'm laundry, one piece of paper. Ooh, wait, she come after you, and she let me know real quick. Oh, and then let me tell you, my husband made a don't even think about it. My husband made a gorgeous cuff bracelet. He's he's starting to make jewelry. I wouldn't know because he's giving them to everybody else, but it's a gorgeous cuff jewelry bracelet, beautiful. Faith comes in here, doo-doo doo, mom. Look, and then she just looks at me. And see, the thing is with Faith is she's such a smart ass, and I love everything about that. I do, but she looks at me with like the straightest, cutest little face because she is like stunning, and goes, Look how gorgeous. Wait, where's yours? That's what she did. And I said, What? And she's like, Mom, where's yours? And I was like, Oh, I have no idea. It's next to I don't know and never got it. And she's like, Oh, it I think it goes with my set of the other bracelet and the ring and this one. And I'm like, Oh, go tell your dad I said to go to hell. And it it's I haven't gotten one yet. I mean, he made one for our good friend Will, and he has made these others. He did make me one for my birthday that didn't fit and fell right off of me and said, I'm gonna fix this. You're gonna get the new one right away. And I still don't have it. But we all know who the favorite is. It's not me. I get it, it's fine. I understand.

SPEAKER_00 33:42

Yours is coming, woman.

SPEAKER_01 33:44

I'm not holding my breath because it's been a long time since you took one of my CPR courses. So I don't know if you remember it.

SPEAKER_00 33:50

Holy macro, it has been easy greasy. Good night. How many years? Twenty eight, maybe. Holy macro world.

SPEAKER_01 34:07

I'm not the one with gray hair.

SPEAKER_00 34:08

It's got it's it's over twenty five. I would say around No. No, no, it's about twenty-five. About twenty-five.

SPEAKER_01 34:21

And you thought you could flirt your way into an A. It didn't work.

SPEAKER_00 34:26

Anyway. I did see some new members join up uh on the Academy. Thank y'all for joining. I hope y'all are listening to the podcast as well.

SPEAKER_01 34:39

We have our very good friend, my very good friend Joshua, who I have coming on the show. I'm so excited.

SPEAKER_00 34:46

Is that the one with the foot fetish?

SPEAKER_01 34:49

What are you talking about? The foot fetish, the one who keeps saying you're pregnant with quadruplets.

SPEAKER_00 34:55

Doesn't he buy those pictures with feet? No.

SPEAKER_01 34:58

What are you talking about? You're weird. And you know he listens to the show. I adore him. He is a good friend. And I Joshua, and he just moved and he's trying to get acclimated. He's not a podiatrist.

SPEAKER_00 35:12

He's a foot doctor.

SPEAKER_01 35:14

No, he's not. He he needs to be an OBGYN because he swears up and down that you're pregnant with quadruplets.

SPEAKER_00 35:24

Stop calling me fat. I just got shot.

SPEAKER_01 35:26

Oh my god. You know he's laughing profusely at this, right? Because he he does. He's so funny. I mean, he's just a really great guy. He has the perfect radio voice. He really does. And when y'all hear it, very sexy. Do you have a little man crush? When y'all hear it, you'll have to check out. I'll make sure he mentions his podcast. He's just starting. And he's awesome. He's awesome, awesome, awesome, awesome person. I love his podcast. He is so much fun. I can't wait to have him on. And it'll be very, very soon. And then we have Amir coming on. I'm so excited.

SPEAKER_00 36:06

That is an awesome dude, y'all.

SPEAKER_01 36:08

He is so stand-up, like awesome, amazing. He has a birthday coming up. So welcome to the club of 21.

SPEAKER_00 36:16

Amir starred in everything. No, everything. Black list that I saw. What? And uh that's where I was introduced to Amir.

SPEAKER_01 36:25

He's been on Law and Order, Law and Order SBS. Oh, he's been in everything. He's been in everything. And he is so big about animal rescue. He is just a genuine stand-up nice guy. And there's not a lot left out in this world. And I got two of them coming on in the next 30 days.

SPEAKER_00 36:45

Didn't we see his dog in one of the videos? He said, he did.

School Violence, Parenting Cues, And Presence

SPEAKER_01 36:48

And he was like, I'm not very big fans of the collar, but you know, because there was a uh specific collar on, and he didn't like it, but it was very, very cute. His dog is super, super cute. So I'm very excited about we have two other gentlemen coming on in the next couple weeks, and I'm so excited. So very, very excited.

SPEAKER_00 37:09

So y'all be sure to go over to victoriacure.com and pick up some of those books that she has so diligently worked hard on. And look out for the Stucco Squad series coming up.

SPEAKER_01 37:21

Book one is out. Book one is on Amazon and offered through the website.

SPEAKER_00 37:25

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 37:26

Book one is out.

SPEAKER_00 37:28

You got www.acatagesmile.com is our main website. Y'all check that out. You can get access to the academy and see who we are. Instead of just listening to us.

SPEAKER_01 37:45

And then we have all the other things. Like I've been asked to do my social media links, and I was like, holy Toledo, like I have so many. They're crazy, crazy, crazy, crazy. And I wish that we could condense because there's so many out there. And like I apologize for all the people that have been looking on IMDB Pro because I just thought, oh, it's great. I'll just leave it. And it was set up, and next thing I know, it hasn't been updated, and I'm updating it. I have updated it. But there's a lot to add in there. There's a couple hundred different pictures in there right now. And I asked my husband, who is too busy covering and wondering if he's gonna lose his leg. Yeah, we could be an amputated married couple, I guess, if it you know continues to uh give him lead poisoning. But we I asked him to help me pick the ones for the carousel and IMDB, which we haven't gotten to that point yet, so I've got to get to that. And I keep trying to tell my husband that he needs to write some books, he needs to write a book. Let's start with a book, and I just can't get him motivated. I think he would be fantastic writing a book. I mean, seriously.

SPEAKER_00 39:02

Title of the book would be How to Survive Your First GSW.

SPEAKER_01 39:08

And then there'd be a bucket with someone puking on the side, and not due to the injury, probably be the spouse puking on the side. Seriously.

SPEAKER_00 39:18

My wife and my daughter are the writers of this family. I am not.

SPEAKER_01 39:22

But you could write, you really could. I think you'd be really good at it because there's so many youngsters that you could get to relate to and talk to and help with and and get them to see you. Could be the country boy writer.

SPEAKER_00 39:38

This is how you properly catch eat a snake. Is that what they want to hear?

SPEAKER_01 39:42

Hey, you shouldn't have said what you said to Faith yesterday. So he tells us that one of our other we're we're we get along really well with all but one set of neighbors. And one, the reason we don't get along with that set of neighbors is because that neighborhouse said something rude and disrespectful to our child, and that's all it takes, basically, right?

SPEAKER_00 40:04

That's correct.

SPEAKER_01 40:05

Yes, so yes, that was that. So that stop it. My husband's making these faces at me. Well, we got a text from another neighbor yesterday that there was a friend in the neighborhood, and of course, Faith is like, What friend? What are you talking about? Who's there? What's going on? And my husband, who has zero filter, shows her a picture of a big snake. And my daughter proceeds to lose her shit.

SPEAKER_00 40:36

And our daughter.

SPEAKER_01 40:38

And well, she'll tell you when she's good, she's mine, and when she's not, she's yours. And she was, she wouldn't even get out of the vehicle until you checked around because it was a I don't know if you magnified the picture, but you made the thing look like it was 15 feet, and she's not very fond of them. They don't bother me, but they bother her. She can't even look at one, right? So yeah, thanks for that.

SPEAKER_00 41:05

It's kind of normal. Guys take pictures of things and magnify it by like a million, kind of like you did with your wound. Whoa, my wound. Yeah, that's genuine. I don't even that is bona fide GSW shrapnel.

SPEAKER_01 41:19

But hold on, we you wear regular glasses, then you have bifocals, then you have trifocals. Maybe I need quad focals to see if I can see that thing.

SPEAKER_00 41:27

You ain't right.

SPEAKER_01 41:27

Hey, y'all are the ones who magnifies all of the sizes of everything. And I just want our listeners to know that we asked about 15 people about the two scenarios. One, is faith right or wrong about charging him rent. Here we go. She talked about it last week. Charging rent, and every single person said, absolutely, way to be an entrepreneur. Everybody sided with faith as we expected. And number two, that men, again with the Hello Kitty, are pusses when it comes to pain. Everybody, even men, said, Oh no, women are the pain holders. No doubt. If that was so, oh my god, I got shot. I'm not a man imagine what I went through being stabbed over and over again. Why? You're the man. You can't handle pain.

SPEAKER_00 42:22

No, I couldn't imagine that.

SPEAKER_01 42:24

But why do you again think men have a higher threshold for pain than women do? Because that's a lot of malarchy.

SPEAKER_00 42:33

Thank you all for listening.

SPEAKER_01 42:35

No, and one last thing. Faith was so cute. You know, you can go, I can't say her name, it's A-L-E-X-A, and ask her to play the latest podcast for a contagious moment.

SPEAKER_00 42:46

She hates me.

SPEAKER_01 42:47

Oh, tell them what she did last. I can't wait to see how you dance around this one.

SPEAKER_00 42:53

How did how was it worded?

SPEAKER_01 42:55

My husband informed me of a dream that he had.

SPEAKER_00 42:58

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 42:59

And it wasn't nice.

SPEAKER_00 43:02

It was a sexual dream.

SPEAKER_01 43:04

And involving my wife and two other women, which would absolutely never, ever, ever happen. And so uh A L E X A was asked, why does my husband have this dream and why does he feel he needs to tell me about it? So ALEXA says, Oh, Victoria, I'm so sorry that Michael feels the need to share that with you. What an incompetent turd. I mean, basically, what did she say? She was like, he's obviously trying to make up for some kind of incompetence or something. Like, she just berated him about it and said, That's horrible that he would do that and share that with you. That's the worst. He shouldn't do that. And why is he dreaming of other women anyway? Maybe it's something subconscious or whatever. And he's like, Hey, easy greasy, what? And she was like, Maybe he needs somebody, you know, maybe he, you know, and then she. Like, this is why I'm single.

SPEAKER_00 44:06

So that's another thing about you know, we we sit there and mess around at night with uh her, yes, her A L E X A. This little purple thing over here, and my wife will get you know jokes going and insults.

SPEAKER_01 44:20

Oh, faith does it too, right?

Predators In Games And Digital Boundaries

SPEAKER_00 44:22

But the damn thing remembers your name, Michael, and and starts it it's almost like it's profiling me, right? Yeah, and and it has this figure of Michael in its databanes. Why are you laughing?

SPEAKER_01 44:43

Not that it's hilarious. Okay, something funny always go ahead, but it's hysterical when she was like oh no, she's like, Oh, Michael, Michael, Michael. It's wrong, I'm telling you. She absolutely hates me. She does, she does, and she was like, now I understand why I'm single. Yeah, she was she was not a fan.

SPEAKER_00 45:06

She said some hurtful things, she's she's always jawing on me.

SPEAKER_01 45:10

Well, we only tell her the truth. Uh what we do. Well, your daughter likes to go in there and wrap her up to go on to you, which is kind of fun. Yeah, it's great.

SPEAKER_00 45:25

Yep. Basically, she said Michael's cruising for a whooping one night.

SPEAKER_01 45:30

Kind of.

SPEAKER_00 45:31

Yeah, kind of.

SPEAKER_01 45:32

Yep. And I really like the shirt. It's not a dad bot, I am a father figure.

SPEAKER_00 45:38

Well, Victoria, since you asked about my father figure, are you ready to talk about that? Trying to lose some weight.

SPEAKER_01 45:44

Oh, that I thought you were talking about the other.

SPEAKER_00 45:47

So I did take our dog Stucco out for a walk the other day.

SPEAKER_01 45:50

Steve, my rusty, comes in. He's like, in a whole conversation. And I was like, What? And I'm standing up doing something, and he just pushes me down to get with me to like get me to cuddle him, and he's just having a like he's making sentences like non-stop. And I realize he's telling me that Stucco is outside with you, and it was the cutest, sweetest thing ever.

SPEAKER_00 46:18

Yeah, I failed to let my wife know that I was going for a walk with my dog until I was done with the walk and back at the home.

SPEAKER_01 46:26

So, what's making you decide to uh to do this? I've never asked you to. I did not ask you to lose weight.

SPEAKER_00 46:34

I said I want us healthy during my therapist session kindly informed me the facts. The facts, and that's all I'm gonna say because I love you and I will never put you down.

SPEAKER_01 46:48

How would you put me down?

SPEAKER_00 46:52

Uh see, I'm not gonna say it. I'm not gonna say anything.

SPEAKER_01 46:54

Oh, you should. I want to know because No, I'm not saying anything. No, seriously, I want to know how I I would never I've never put you down. I've never put you down. My weight was brought up. Okay, and because she asked if you were eating more, had you gained weight, were you sleeping more, and were you playing more? You want me to say? Yes, 70 pounds. 70 pounds. So, how is that me putting you down? Because I answered the questions that you asked me to be in there on with the therapist.

SPEAKER_00 47:24

When you say 70 pounds, that is a lot.

SPEAKER_01 47:28

Yes, for some, every okay, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 47:32

That's not just a slight double chin toddler, that's not a little bit of foopa. Fupa, that's not you know, a smidgen of love handles, that's 70 pounds of fat or muscle, whatever.

SPEAKER_01 47:48

Okay, but all I did was answer the question. I have never, and what did I say after that? I said, I have never told you you were unattractive. I've always told you I love you unconditionally, and you said yes. I have never said anything to put you down.

SPEAKER_00 48:00

But when you when you stated he's gained 70 pounds, asked the question, you told me it was okay to answer it. Since we've been together, okay.

SPEAKER_01 48:08

Did she ask me a question?

SPEAKER_00 48:10

That put it in perspective for me.

SPEAKER_01 48:12

Okay, but she said let me ask her a question, let her answer it. And I said, You want me to answer this? And you said yes. So you know I'm a brutal to a fault honest person. And I answer the question to which I was asked.

SPEAKER_00 48:23

And that's when it made me realize, hey, I don't look that great in my wife's eyes.

SPEAKER_01 48:29

I have told you from days one. Okay, so then I'm unattractive because I put on weight. I put on weight after my amputation. So all the better. You don't like heavy women.

SPEAKER_00 48:43

I don't like any woman but you.

SPEAKER_01 48:45

That's I don't know. You dreamt about two others.

SPEAKER_00 48:47

Oh shit.

SPEAKER_01 48:50

Damn it.

SPEAKER_00 48:53

So I'm just saying So why did I tell my wife that I had sex with other women in the dream? I was about to ask you. That's just I I just did you feel guilty? Why can't you not feel guilty?

SPEAKER_01 49:05

Because the old you wouldn't have.

SPEAKER_00 49:07

Right? Yeah, but but I mean, if you if you love your wife or your husband, why can't you tell him? Okay, if my wife tells me, Oh, I had sex with uh, oh, I don't know, past boyfriend, Ryan Seacrest.

SPEAKER_01 49:22

Ryan Seacrest. Well, in my dream. Hold on, no, I don't want any rumor out there that I dated Ryan Seacrest because I never dated Ryan Seacrest. I was friends with Ryan Seacrest, and we were not like best friends, we were never best friends or great friends. I mean, I knew him for a couple of years when he lived here. We were the same age and and knew each other through mutual friends, and I had been invited up a few times to see him at work and hung out with him some, and I stuck up for him a few times, and that was it. We never dated, we hung out, yes, but we never dated or anything. I met his parents, they were amazingly sweet, God bless his dad who passed away not long ago, and I met his sister once, I believe I met her once, but I never dated him, never kissed him, never dated him, hugged him, yes, that's the extent of it. So don't go putting that out there because I don't want rumors out there, especially false ones. All right, so no carry on.

SPEAKER_00 50:24

Gary on so had you had a dream, wouldn't you wouldn't you feel guilty if you didn't tell your husband?

SPEAKER_01 50:30

Yes, but I've never had that dream.

SPEAKER_00 50:32

Well that I don't know why you haven't.

SPEAKER_01 50:35

Because I don't sleep.

SPEAKER_00 50:36

That's true. Y'all, this woman does not sleep. I I will wake up at three, four, five o'clock in the morning, and she'll immediately say, Hey babe, what's going on? Where are you going? You know, what's what's up? And like, dude, have you there's no sleepiness in their voice. I mean, it's just like she's fresh and alert, and and I feel so dang bad for her. And what do I do? Bring her breakfast in bed.

SPEAKER_01 51:00

Ego waffle. But he's also never run out of a single thing he's ever needed, wanted, or desired. He's always got everything he needs in the home.

SPEAKER_00 51:10

I desire you.

SPEAKER_01 51:12

We're podcasting.

SPEAKER_00 51:14

Thank you for listening to a contagious smile podcast.

SPEAKER_01 51:17

I'm sorry, aren't you supposed to be watching a movie with our daughter next?

SPEAKER_00 51:20

Yes, we are.

SPEAKER_01 51:20

Okay, well then you can't make that statement. But what? Crickets, crickets, crickets, crickets, crickets. Hey, you got a big birthday coming up. What do you want?

SPEAKER_00 51:31

Is that a fat joke?

SPEAKER_01 51:32

No.

SPEAKER_00 51:33

Another fat joke?

SPEAKER_01 51:34

No, not fat her, no.

SPEAKER_00 51:37

I'm a fat her.

SPEAKER_01 51:38

No. That video was hilarious. It was a guy, and he go, and the other guy goes, Hey, how do you spell what it how do you say it? How do you spell fat f A T. And he says, How do you spell her? H-E-R. And he goes, What does it put those together? What's it spell? Father. And he kept getting mad and madder and madder and madder and madder. I mean, he was irate. And then it was fat her. And he's like, Who are you to me? And he goes, Fu what? Like it was hilarious. That video is hysterical. Yes, so now my husband is stuck on it and repeats it often. Yep.

SPEAKER_00 52:20

We appreciate y'all listening to our antics.

SPEAKER_01 52:23

Our fun.

SPEAKER_00 52:24

Our home life. We do we do often get into some serious conversations. Domestic violence, narcissism, school shootings, just you know, different topics.

SPEAKER_01 52:37

Special needs community.

SPEAKER_00 52:38

But sometimes y'all is just it's just nice to hear other folks about their ordinary life, you know, what they do, and you know, things they go through. We're just two people up here in our little office. And y'all please be patient with my wife. She does her utmost best. I know she doesn't sleep a lot, but she works her butt off up here. It's just her. The from the CEO on down. It's it's really just her. All the marketing team is her. The advertising is her. The research is her. Everything is her.

Family Rules, Privacy, And Screen Debates

SPEAKER_01 53:14

So buy us a cup of coffee so we can extend and provide some jobs for much-needed people.

SPEAKER_00 53:20

And she's doing all this one-handed, y'all.

SPEAKER_01 53:23

Y'all?

SPEAKER_00 53:24

There's no, she doesn't do anything, talk to text whenever she creates these books. Nope. She's she's done probably around 150 courses right now in the academy.

SPEAKER_01 53:35

250. I just haven't uploaded the rest.

SPEAKER_00 53:38

Stucco! Handsome! And she still takes care of me and uh our daughter and our two dogs, soon to be four dogs.

SPEAKER_01 53:46

And our mascot, Stucco, is here giving kisses and love. Hi, baby.

SPEAKER_00 53:51

Should y'all be patient and like like she said, buy a cup of coffee through our website, please.

SPEAKER_01 53:57

Or you can go to buy me a coffee backslash victoriacure.com.

SPEAKER_00 54:02

Thank y'all for listening. Contagious smile.

SPEAKER_01 54:05

My husband has to go watch a movie. Make sure it's PG.

SPEAKER_00 54:08

Oh, and y'all watch a bluff.

SPEAKER_01 54:12

Never heard of it. I'm telling you.

SPEAKER_00 54:14

The bluff. Final.