Changes...

The last two weeks has been full of surprises for us.  Some we were kind of expecting, and some caught us completely off guard.

I had a feeling that my time at work would be coming to an end earlier than expected.  I got my official "get out of work free" card last Monday and worked my last day on Friday.  It was one of those surprises we were expecting, but still felt so surreal.  I've been home for almost a week now, and it truly just feels like I have a few days off.  The fact that I'm off for the next 64 weeks hasn't really sunk in yet.

I was at work on Friday, counting down the hours to the end of the day, when I got a phone call from Danny.  He rarely calls me at work, usually preferring to text instead.  He told me he received an email from the Orderly Room at his work telling him he had 30 days to accept their offer for the UTP program.  For those of you that don't remember, Danny has been applying to do the University Training Program through the military, where he would go to university, get a degree, and end up as an Officer.  He started the application process before Christmas and we hadn't really heard anything back since then.  They also rarely accept people into the program during their first application, and with the budget cuts the military is expecting, we kind of wrote the whole thing off.  Except then Danny got the email.  

To make a long story short, Danny has been accepted into the program, and as of July 1, becomes an Officer Cadet.  He starts at Acadia in the fall, and although he's still deciding between two programs, will be there for the next four years.  Add onto that any trades training at the end of the schooling, and it looks like we just confirmed our stay in Greenwood for another 5 years!

Acceptance into the program was not expected.  We had basically written it off.  It was one of those things in the far corners of our minds that was still technically a possibility, but not a likelihood.  Then the bastard went and got accepted and threw our whole world into a tailspin.  There was so much to talk about, so many decisions to make, so much planning to do!

Here are a few of the things running through our heads these days:

- If Danny is going to be a university student, he's going to need a space to use as an office/study.  No problem.  Except that we didn't sell the house this year and buy a bigger one, like we were planning, because there was no chance of him getting accepted into the program.  Okay, the spare room it is.  Except there's no room in the spare room.  Out goes the bed (sorry mom and dad).  We'll have to turn it into a study and buy a pull-out couch (you guys don't mind, do you??) so that the kids don't bother Danny during study time!

- Oh crap, kids!  We're having another one of those!  But it's in June, so our whole lives should be settled and returned to normal by July.  Right?

- The car.  Our ancient, 15-year-old car.  It has done us well over the years.  We love our little Toyota, but over the last year, she has started to show her age.  We cannot send Danny to Wolfville every day in that car.  We need a new car.  HA! That should be simple, with two of us working we can easily afford another... oh wait.  Crap.

- Laptop.  If Danny is going to be doing a computer science program, engineering program, or applied science program, chances are he's going to need a laptop.  Except that his turns off whenever the plug gets wiggled.  And the screen on mine is broken and is literally hanging on by a bunch of wires.  Okay, new laptop.

- Basic training for officers?  Apparently Danny may have to re-do basic training.  Then again, because he has his PLQ (that 8-week course he was gone on last spring), he may be exempt.  Nobody can tell him for sure  yet.  But good news, it's only 8 weeks, and it would be this summer.  Except that I'll have a newborn.  And two toddlers.  And a complete nervous breakdown.  I may have cried at this news.  It may not have been my best moment.  I know I told him I would support his university endeavours, but I'm pretty sure a caveat of that was that I didn't have to start being supportive until September.  Until then, it was supposed to be about supporting me.  And a newborn.  And two toddlers. And preventing a complete nervous breakdown!

- We need a new house.  Now that we know that we are staying, I know we need out of this house.  It has shrunk since we bought it 8 years ago.  There are too many people living in it.  Too many animals.  Not enough storage space.  Not enough places to hide when the kids drive me crazy.  Getting into a new place this fall is crazy.  So next summer.  That's our goal.  Except that now we have to think about getting a house ready while Danny does his first year of university and I deal with 3 under 3.  This will be fun.  Anybody willing to come over and paint, or clean, or purge, or do small fixing up, please let me know.  I'll share my wine!

Of course, in all of the panic, we realize there are many good things about this surprise news.  That's 5 more years here.  Although I have been trying to get us out of here since the year I met Danny, we've been given a rare gift that the military hardly ever gives.  Certainty.  We know, for sure, that we will not be posted until at least after Danny finishes school.  That means we can actually plan the next 4-5 years of our lives, knowing where we will be.  That means that Gracie and Ella, and potentially Baby Ford #3 will be starting school here.  That means that I get to move back into the County, and have the girls go to the same school that I went to.

We new this was going to be a big year.  Adding another family member to our crazy little mix, a family member that turned out to be a boy, much to our surprise.  Me, stopping work for a while and actually enjoying being a stay-at-home parent.  And now this.  An exciting and privileged opportunity for Danny.  It's going to be a lot of hard work.  It's going to take a lot of support.  But our lives have all of a sudden been directed down a completely different path than what we were expecting.  And despite all the anxiety and craziness that we're experiencing right now, it's kind of exciting!  And I'll need somebody to remind me of that in September when Danny becomes a full-time student, and I have three kids at home.  Support.  And wine.  And we'll make it through! :)