Christmas, Family and Finding Limitations

Wow! I hope everyone had a great Christmas! I know the lead up couple of weeks was brutal!! LOL The Fat Guy was good to the Munchkins, Momma was good to me, and she seems happy with what I got her, so it was a win in everyone’s book!😁 Thursday was a lot of fun, the Fire Department got to escort Santa around town to all the neighborhoods!🚒🎅🏻

Today was spent in the barn, with the Oldest Munchkin making a gift for her “boyfriend “. I know she’s 19, in college and ready for all that jazz, but what if I’m not??😳😜 it was a fun build, very unique and not anything we had every attempted, and I can’t wait to post pictures-I have promised to wait till she gives it too him🙄

No for the reality check for me-finding a limitation. My hearing journey has been very non typical-I have been able to hear and understand from the get go. That’s not to say it’s all been smooth sailing (ask my wife, on second thought don’t!😜) each day I find a new sound or situation that I have to learn and adapt to. Last Sunday, we had a structure fire, the first one I could go in on. All in all, it went well-no one got hurt. But we figured out that when there are multiple crews, Fire, hose lines going, trucks pumping, radios squeaking and people yelling- that is a listening environment that I was not prepared for. All the training we have been doing just didn’t add up to the real deal. The Chief was awesome in handling the situation-he didn’t get rid of me!!😁😜 He said there was a place for everyone, but right now mine wasn’t interior attack. It’s a safety issue-kinda hard to be safe when they yell for you and you don’t hear them! Maybe in the future, when I am better at understanding sound, and or new technology helps we can revisit it. So in the mean time I can be in support roles-drive the Tanker, overhaul and anything else that doesn’t involve going inside. While that is a blow, it’s not a knockout punch, so I can roll with it! I mean a year ago, there was no way I could even dream of doing this, so I consider myself pretty lucky! So for me, finding a limitation isn’t about the end of something or a ceiling. It just means that I have a different work load and a new goal. The hardest part about a limit is recognizing it and accepting it. Don’t hide it, don’t pretend. Deal with it head on and figure out a different way to go about things to keep moving forward.

I hope to have better stuff next time-pics of builds and stuff😜 But in the mean time-Happy New Year, and I hope everyone is as blessed in the new year with friends and family as I have been!