Wow, I can't believe it has been nearly a month since graduation. The nine days after graduation went by way too fast. We took the girls down to Disneyland for a much needed family vacation. It was great knowing that we would be together for four straight days. It must have been Spring Break somewhere because both parks were packed. We ran into another CHP family at the Disneyland gate. They had just moved down to Southern California. We drove home on Thursday night, so B. could be home on Friday to meet up with his fellow officer and drive the area.
One of B.'s roommates apartment wasn't ready yet, so we offered a place for him to stay until it was. The girls were ecstatic that we were having a house guest. We had him stay in the girls' room. We called it the Princess Palace, since there were Disney Princesses everywhere. It was great having him at our house. It allowed the two of them to get mentally prepared together for their first day on the job.
Week one was great for us as a family. B. went in super early, but he was home for dinner every day. He was in the office Monday through Friday for eight hours each day. A lot of admin stuff to take care of the first week. That awesome schedule all changed by week two. Luckily for Phase I, he has weekends off. Week two's schedule was Monday-Wednesday 6:00am-6:30pm. The hours are definitely deceiving. B. left the house by 4:30am and really didn't come home until past 8:30pm. They don't call Break In, the Academy Part II for nothing. I love the fact he sleeps in the same bed now, but even whens he's home, work is always on his mind. My responsibilities are still the same as if he were still at the Academy. I still have to do morning school drop off, afternoon school pick up, swim class, dinner, homework, and bedtime. We both knew that's how it was going to be, so I just kept to the same schedule since September. I'm very grateful my employer has continued to allow me to work an hour at home each night and only work seven hours in the office.
Even on his days off, B. is working on reports and going out to drive his area. It's a lot of stuff thrown at you in a very short amount of time. As the week went on, I could see how overwhelming and taxing Break In was for both B. and his roommate. You could tell how tired they were when they walked into the house. Since, B. was staying at the officer later and later in week three, the girls did not see him Tuesday through Thursday last week. They were already asleep when he came home and he left before they got up for school. #2 even asked if Papa went back to training (aka The Academy).
So we are halfway through Phase I. It looks like B. will be going on the graveyard shift for Phase II & III. I heard that's where all the action is. I guess that's all for now.
Please feel free to email me questions at amynoellemaia@gmail.com.
Best of luck to CTC II-14, pick up day on Monday, April 14th.
