Storm Ahead

The day dawns in a dreary way. Thunder, rain and more to come.

But it's not so bad. It will be an indoor day and a chance to further explore the new house with Sonwun and Sontoo.

Yesterday we attended our first RCMP party in Thompson. It was good. Nice bunch of people and a few of them have kids in the same age range as our two. It's a smaller group here, in that the Ident and MCU folks tend to hang out together and the general duty folks do the same.

It's somewhat comforting to know, and meet, others in the same boat; others who are frustrated by the land prices in Thompson, others who can't believe the level of service at stores in town (at the Timmy Ho drive-through, the voice on the speaker actually said to one of the party-goers, "Welcome to hell, what do you want.") and others who are blown away by the amount of broken glass scattered around the playgrounds.

And it's nice to know there are others who have been through the "year of hell" that we are about to embark upon. It will begin August 17 when the wife heads to Ottawa for seven weeks of ident training, leaving Sonwun and Sontoo in my hands 24-7. That will be followed by 12 months that the wife will be working during the day and studying at night to complete the second phase of training. We're told we won't see much of each other and we are doing our best to mentally prepare for that. But I know that no matter how much we prepare, it's going to be tough.

At the party yesterday, I was promised help from those that have completed their year of hell. A day out here, someone to blow off steam with, a dinner there - the kinds of things we will need to survive.

So I guess we'll enjoy the coming month, scour the community for "Mommy and Me" groups that will accept Daddies, enroll Sonwun in swimming lessons, or music lessons or something to stimulate his mind and provide friends his own age. And we need to find a reliable babysitter or two, for the nights I need to escape.