An evening in the garden

Congrats, Julie & Colin! Your wedding was a BLAST - such a classy affair. Enjoy Mexico!

the 09:40 and army life

My man is now an employee of the Department of National Defence.

He flew to Montreal this morning (Aug. 30) at 09:40 to get his butt kicked for 15 weeks in Basic Military Qualification (BMQ). I miss him terribly already. He called and says that, so far, he has his own room (yay!) and they haven't taken away his cell phone just yet. Thankfully, Montreal is 3 hours ahead, which is just as well, since neither Wayne nor I slept much last night. So he got to hit the hay at 8 pm our time.

He said everything went smoothly - finding his luggage, finding the shuttle to take him to the base, getting his information. But they've already been taught how to march and they MUST march everywhere on base - no sauntering, slouching, lazing, loafing or schlepping. Most importantly, I asked him how he felt about being there - if he had a huge quesiton mark in his mind about whether he'd done the right thing by joining, or if he feels good about it. And he answered that it is good to finally be there.

I know many people ask, "Why would he join now?" being that he is 29, two years into his marriage and living a cush life in Cloverdale with his furbaby and lover. But what many people don't understand is how improtant it is for a man, who wants to be the main provider for his family, to have not only a career, but a purpose. And Wayne's purpose has ALWAYS been to stand up for what is right. But his jobs have not always allowed him the room to fulfill this purpose. So now, it is this very trait that will carry him through this challenge of life in the Army. Because he is expected to stand up for justice. And clearcut orders like that make it simple to plan for the future and have confidence knowing his superiors aren't taking advantage of him or manipulating him to make a sale or save their own hides. They're all on the same side.

I'm sure many wives can relate, also, to watching their husbands walk through the door after a long day at a pointless, mundane job and feeling sad for them, because they have no direction or sense of self in terms of provision. But many times, they are stuck - they've got bills to pay and mouths to feed and because instinct is stronger than desire, they continue to work this job, day in and day out.

Well, Wayne has had enough and while we have the means to switch careers like this without much of a financial penalty due to lack of mouths to feed, we thought now is as good a time as any. He already stands taller, smiles brighter and feels stronger. It is such a joy to see THAT man walk through the door after a day at work. And I'm sure it will only get better with time.

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If you are of the praying persuasion, prayer for confidence for Wayne, as well as his ability to soak up knowledge, and an attitude of support and encouragement for me would be greatly appreciated. Without our Saviour, there is no way EITHER of us could have commited to this undertaking. Only the Lord can make us perfect enough in our weakness to get through this time of separation.

Well, one night down...104 to go. Until he's home for Christmas...we hope.

The countdown is on - 17 days

It’s official: Wayne has accepted a job offer with the Canadian Forces as an Artillery Officer. He leaves for Basic Military Qualification (“BMQ,” more commonly known as Boot Camp) on August 30 and will be gone until Dec. 12 in Quebec. I hope he’ll be allowed home for Christmas. After BMQ, he has three more phases of training to complete in various areas of Canada before being commissioned into the Royal Regiment of Canadian Artillery, at which point he will be posted to one of the following cities, where I will follow (in order of preference):

Gagetown, NB;
Valcartier, QC;
Shilo, MB;
Edmonton, AB; or
Petawawa, ON.

You may notice that none of these options are in B.C., which means that in year’s time (or so), I’ll be leaving our home province to follow him to our posting. It is a decision we made together and in the best interest of our future as a couple and, eventually, as a family.

It’s nice, now, to be able to be myself at work – I hadn’t told anyone (since I’m still on probation, after all) and it felt as though I was leading a double life: the career-minded Meghan at work and the future-military-wife Meghan at home, with so much to think about in between. The poor girls in my section of the office must have thought I was a real loner, not saying much about my life and pretending I’m not on Facebook so they don’t look me up and see all the military groups I’ve joined. Haha. Now I can be honest abut what’s going on in my life and they won’t think I’m strange for being randomly emotional sometimes in the near future.

Anyway, as much as I don’t want Wayne to leave, I do want him to go, to “be the best he can be,” to learn and grow and take pride in his work. I’ve never met a more patriotic man than my husband, a man more dedicated to the preservation of his heritage. I admire this most about him . . . next, of course, to his impeccable taste in women (snort).