Let the Good Times Roll! New Beginnings!

Do I sound excited? I'm trying my very best to be! Because it looks like our new military life is about to take shape.

Mike has finally been posted. He will be a platoon commander of a riffle company in the 3rd battalion of the Royal 22nd Regiment. Or, as my mom calls it: a soldier trainer guy. Oh Lyne .... 

The baby and I drove to NB in mid-August to attend his graduation. 2 years later - yeehaw!!!! There was a lag when we had the baby because he was home for a few months and missed his last course. But it's all done now and he's a Lieutenant.

Roadtripping!

The beach at Mactaquac, NB

Graduation!

His first day at his posting was the following week, so we drove both cars from NB to Quebec and visited the base in Val Cartier together for the first time. It was huge. And the landscape out there is so beautiful. Mountains and trees everywhere. We also drove around the housing area. I have to remember that it's like a big neighborhood, and not a small town. It's a 25 minute drive from Quebec City which is a thriving metropolis of fun. And has LOTS of malls - retail therapy makes everything better!

The view from our motel balcony on the St-Lawrence!
We stayed overnight on our way to Val Cartier

The view from the restaurant

We've applied for a PMQ (on-base housing), and Mike will be looking at a few this week. I've given notice to my landlord for November 1st, so we still have lots of time. I was going to make the trip down to Quebec to check out the houses with him, but it would be a long drive or an expensive train/plane ticket so we're going to do it via Skype instead. He has Skype on his iphone so at least I'll be able to see our options. Video phones ... it's the future!

I'll be working until Friday, October 14th. My work has an office in Quebec City. There's a possibility of a transfer, but it might not work. If it does, great! Mike is looking into daycare options this week in case we need to set that up immediately. If I can't transfer, then I need 700 hours of insurable hours to collect unemployment insurance. By working until mid-October, that gives me almost 730 hours. Either scenario will be good for us, so now it's a waiting game on my job. I spoke with my boss last week and she won't have an answer until the end of September.

Mike has started work, and he finds it challenging since it's all in French. But he's managing, and by being thrown into the fire that way he has no choice but to get better really quickly. He's looking forward to next week when he actually gets his platoon. He was home this weekend for a wedding, and took a few extra days so he leaves on Wednesday evening. By being so close, he'll be home most weekends until we finally make our move.

That's where we're at right now, and there are a few other things on the horizon that I won't get into right now, but we are definitely not going to be bored for the next little while!