I know that’s a goofy subject line, but it cracked me up and I couldn’t resist!  Cody got my new alarm clock and door bell set up the other day, and between the bed shaking and the strobe lights flashing it feels a little like an alien invasion!!!  We needed a couple of extra parts to get the smoke alarm and phone hooked up, but it’s all in the works!  Thanks, Cody!  I have had the chance to test out the alarm a couple of times now, and it works!  I have a temperpedic mattress, so the person in the store said I might need to place the bed shaker under the mattress pad instead of the mattress in order to feel it shake.  Cody tried it under the mattress and it is enough to wake me up…. it’s more gentle than I expected (probably because of the mattress) but I think that’s a good thing as long as it wakes me up!

I’m still trying to figure out the best way to handle all of my different listening situations.  I went on a day trip with some ladies from my church to Stillwater, MN, a quaint little town about an hour away with lots of antique shops and interesting stores and a seriously amazing ice cream shop!  I decided to try my new Domino Pro (the personal FM listening system) in the car.  That is one of the situations it is supposed to be good to handle.  Normally, even with my hearing aids, I can’t really hear anyone in the car if I am driving (my deaf ear is toward the people in the car and my good ear toward the window, so road noise is amplified).  In order to even understand some of what the front seat passenger says, I have to turn my head and look at them pretty often.  The visual clues while they are speaking help me a little bit.  Obviously, that’s less than ideal when you are driving!  I generally can’t hear anyone in the back of the car.  I set up my system and it really did help!  Unfortunately, it took several tries – I eventually figured out that I forgot to plug the neckloop into the system!  Once I figured that out, it worked well….until I realized that the units were running on low battery and needed charging!  At least I got a taste of what it will be like and I think it’s going to be great in that situation!!!  I’m very happy about that.  I’m still working on figuring out the best way to handle hearing on Sunday mornings at church.  My neckloop doesn’t work with the church listening system (I don’t know why) like I thought it would.  I’m trying out some different ways of using my Domino Pro, but I’m not really sure what I’ll end up doing.  I feel like the quality of sound I’m getting from my hearing aids is not what it should be, but I don’t really know if that’s because they are turned up so loud, and there’s no way to avoid losing some quality, or if they aren’t working the way they should.  I’ll keep experimenting until I figure out my best options in each situation I find myself.  I’ve had a few days when I’ve felt discouraged about this….seems like the “transitional” phase should be mostly over by now and it’s been a bit of a bummer that I’m still trying to figure things out, almost 4 months later.  Maybe it will be an ongoing process since there are so many factors that influence how well I can hear, even in similar situations.  I guess I just need to remember to be thankful that I’m hearing what’s being said much of the time now, and make sure I don’t forget how much better this is than those weeks in May and June when I didn’t even know if I would be able to hear at all.  Yep, reality check.  Be thankful, Brenda!  (I am!).

Tomorrow is our last night of ASL class for the first level.  It’s been such a great opportunity and so good for those who participated!  I keep hearing stories of people finding others signing in various places and trying to interact with them!  That’s so cool.  I guess once you become aware, there are a lot more people out there using it than you realize!  We have the opportunity to continue on for 2 more levels.  I’m hoping there are enough who want to do that to be able to have class.  I think that would be awesome!  My mom will be arriving from Oklahoma for a visit tomorrow and will get to sit in on our class.  I’m excited for her to have the chance to see what we are doing!  I’m also really looking forward to having a few days to visit with her and for her to meet her great-grandson for the first time!!!!!  Should be a wonderful week!