Tired. Bruised. Happy.

    Wow, am I tired. Tired, bruised, and happy. Second full day of firefighter training, and today was a doozy. Today was physical testing and practicals, in 60+ pounds of full PPE (personal protective equipment, aka turnouts and SCBA). It was fantastic. I got to push myself, get a taste of what I am getting myself into, even be a squad leader for a bit. We crawled around in a blacked out building, feeling our way through rooms in the training tower to get an inkling of what it will be like to go into a heavily smoke filled space. My body is peppered with small bruises, and I am feeling aches deep in muscles that I have trained hard, but were really put to the test today. We get to do this sort of safe training for a bit, then soon we will get to enter "the fire room," which is exactly what it sounds like: a room filled with fire. Oh, not totally filled with flame, that would be idiotic. But a room with a fire in it to simulate entering a burning structure. I look ahead at the schedule and thrill at what is yet to come: vehicle extraction, search and rescue, Rapid Intervention Team, and eventually I will learn to rappel down a cliffside. I am on the verge of an amazing adventure. 2013 is The Year of Grand Adventures, and one week in, it is living up to my challenge.