Adjusting

Well, we are 1 week into Gairod's CFD (Calgary Fire Department) training, and we are adjusting to our new life style. I have to admit, I don't think I realized just how stressful and hard the training process would be - on ALL of us!!

Gairod has to be up and out the door by 6am, to be at training by 7am. After a 10 hour day, they are done at 5pm, and he is home around 6pm, depending on traffic. We used to eat supper at 5pm, and since I am a big believer in eating as a family, we have pushed back our dinner time to 6pm. This is an adjustment. I kind of like the fact that I have an extra hour to get things done in the afternoon, but I DON'T like the fact that we are now cramped for time after dinner! The four youngest kids usually go to bed at 7pm. Obviously if we aren't eating until 6pm, there is no way to have everyone fed, bathed, and into bed by 7pm! So I have been playing around with things this week, and I think we will probably push back their bedtime to 7:30pm.

Gairod says training is hard. There is a lot to learn, as well as tough physical demands. He is exhausted when he gets home. He eats, studies for a few hours, and goes to bed. I am trying really hard to just let him do what he needs to do, and not bother him with other stuff, but it is hard on me too, having to take on the brunt of everything else! I just want him to get through training, do well, and get onto actually working. The first day, one of the training officers told them that not all of them would make it through the training. There are so many little things, that they have to do exactly right, every time, or it counts as a strike against them. If the get too many strikes (3), they're done. I know this worries Gairod, and stresses him out. Him being stressed out, stresses me out! I just REALLY hope he makes it through training, and becomes a fire fighter. Especially since at the moment he doesn't even have welding to fall back on.......

That's the stress I was talking about in my last post. Just before Gairod left for B.C. on September 1st, he dropped his truck off at Airdrie Pontiac, to get the hail damage fixed. Sometime between then and the 6th, it was stolen. To make a very long story short, his truck was found in NE Calgary, with the topper stolen off of it, various stuff stolen from the inside (carseats, satellite radio, GPS, etc), and ALL of his welding stuff stolen out of the back. Airdrie Pontiac is saying that they aren't liable, and thanks to a miscommunication with our insurance company, they are saying that we are not covered for Gairod's work stuff. The thieves bagged the shit out of Gairod's truck, and ruined it mechanically, so it is going to be written off. So right now, we have no truck, and no welding stuff. We are in the process of talking with a lawyer, to have Airdrie Pontiac held accountable for the lost welding stuff. They do not have a secure lot, and didn't even know that our truck was gone, until Gairod called them, after he heard from the police!

SO you can see why we are stressed, and why it is SO important that Gairod makes it through training!!