Week 22: Another good week

Week 22 was a week of accomplishments. It started on Monday during PT. As you may or may not recall, the cadets have to earn their official CHP PT shirt. Until they do they wear plain white t-shirts with their names on the back in puffy, marshmallow-like writing. It indicates how "soft" they are, I suppose. After PT on Monday the Staff held up three of the official shirts and started calling out the names of the cadets who earned them. The third cadet called was Jay. Whoo hoo! It was a long time coming, but Jay's been putting in a ton of effort in PT and his performance in ASP training and in a 10K run in Week 21 sealed the deal. He was pretty sure he was going to be a marshmallow all the way until the end of the Academy, so getting his shirt back was a nice bonus.

On Tuesday we found out our assignment! I already posted about it ,but just in case you missed it, we get to stay here in San Jose! Deep down I had a feeling that we would at least be staying within commuting distance, but one thing I'm learning is that there are no guarantees in this career. I was prepared to pack up and move to El Cajon if I had to, but boy am I glad to be staying here in our cozy 1950's ranch-style house with renter's carpet, bad plumbing, and a shower that looks like it came straight out of the Emerald City. And I'm actually not being sarcastic!

On Wednesday Jay had his much anticipated final driving test. The test is called Code 3 and includes driving like a maniac and chasing another car through city-like streets. You can imagine what fun he had. And the good news is, he passed on the first attempt! It is a relief to have EVOC, one of the biggest obstacles to graduation, behind him.

On Thursday the cadets had graduation practice with the new commissioner in attendance. Jay also started his DUI report. This is a report that will actually be sent to his Field Training Officer (FTO) upon graduation, so it needs to be in tip top shape. First impressions, and all that.

Friday Jay got to come home. That might not seem like something to write about, but it was his first Friday home in two weeks so we were all very excited. He was even home in time to read stories to the girls and tuck them in to bed. It's little things like that we've all been missing since he's been away. I'm so thankful we are on the downhill slope.

The weekend was busy with errands but we also found some time to just hang out and, in the words of Michael Scott, shalax. But the biggest weekend news of all? I found my dress for the graduation party! I am returning the other two I bought last weekend... I'm such a bulimic shopper. I don't really have a choice though, since the new one was just a tad more expensive than I planned. I am justifying it with the fact that I already have awesome shoes to go with it and since it's a little black dress, I will be able to wear it a lot. (Right?) Now I just need to go through my closet and decide what I'm going to wear to the actual graduation ceremony. Decisions, decisions. It's going to be captured on film for all time, so it's critical that I don't look ... lame. Wish me luck.

Natalie and Daddy getting ready for a Saturday morning run

A rare occurance: Unhappy Dexter

Bea, so proud of her kerchief!