I apologize updating this blog has been so sporadic now!
The good news is that things have been going great. R successfully completed Phase 3 and Phase 4 and has officially been off break-in for 2 weeks, doing solo shifts. He LOVES patrolling solo and I can honestly say life after break-in has been wonderful. We were lucky enough the R didn't require any extensions on break-in and his FTOs (field training officers) were all great guys who took a liking to R. After break-in, he got admin-assigned to day shift for the next two months (to give them solo time patrolling during the day, to get acquainted with the beats prior to night shift solo) but likelihood of us getting night shift next quarter are high.
I'm trying not to get too attached to our currently schedule but it is my FAVORITE schedule so far. He is working weekend days (Fri, Sat, Sun with alternating Thurs) which I was originally very nervous about, losing our weekends and the ability to see friends and family on their days off. Luckily for us, we have quite a few friends who also work weekends so we still get to have fun during the weekdays. And lemme tell ya, the grocery store on a Tuesday afternoon is a dream compared to Sunday. Luckily R loves this shift too, he enjoys day shift patrol and really likes the guys on this team.
During break-in, because his office works 12s, they would occasionally have a week with 5 days off in a row. During one of these breaks, we went down to Disneyland and ended up meeting up with 4 of his cadet-turned-officer friends from his CTC and their wives/girlfriends. It was such a blast reminiscing about how far they've come from starting the academy in August 2014 and talking about the exciting things they'd encountered on the job. I'm so happy we made those connections on Facebook (the wives Facebook group for our CTC) and that the men kept in touch because I think those are connections we will treasure for a very long time. We're even invited to the wedding of one of the cadet-turned-officers R met at the academy.
Since R finished break-in, CTC IV-14 graduated! Congratulations to the new officers and families on the big achievement. We were especially excited because our office got 6 new officers (which is good news because it moves us ever so slowly up the seniority ladder). And just last week CTC II-15 started, so if any of you are reading this blog, welcome! It feels like an eternity ago that we were starting our journey into the academy but at the same time, it passes faster than you could ever imagine! If any of you family members, wives, moms, etc are reading from either CTC I-15 or CTC II-15 classes are reading, I promise you will survive this process! It does get better. :)
Everyday, R and I look at each other and we can't believe how much has changed in a year. But it's been the best year of our lives and everyday we talk about how blessed we are to be part of the CHP family. It truly has been quite the journey.
