Transfers

Yesterday John had his annual meeting with the staffing rep for his detachment. Usually the meetings are short; 15 minutes of "How can we help you achieve your career goals?" etc. and then he's done until the next year.

However the meeting yesterday was about an hour and a half! 1 1/2 hours!

It sounds like the RCMP is trying to get away from the standard 5-year posts, so it is possible that we could be moving sooner than 2 years from now.

Firstly, my mind has a hard time adjusting to these new rules.

Secondly, I don't think I'm ready to leave Wynyard yet.

Thirdly, what is going to happen to these friendships I have formed here?

Fourthly, what are we going to do about preschool/Kindergarten if we get transferred mid-year?

I have lots of other questions but those are a few of my thoughts.

John is supposed to come up with a short wish list of places we would like to go next. Since we won't go very north, it looks like they would most likely put us in a larger center like Battleford or Lloydminster. The reason for this is that they wouldn't want to put John in another comparable detachment as Wynyard. They want him to have various experiences throughout his career.

So to help us decide what to put on the wishlist we were looking at housing prices in various cities throughout the province, and I have to say that it all sucks!

Right now we have a beautiful 1600+ square foot home with a great sized yard. If we were to buy this in any city, we would be spending about 3 times the price that we paid for it!

Unfortunately, when we go to sell this place, we may profit a small amount, but certainly nothing that would be very helpful in buying an expensive house elsewhere!

If we look for cheaper houses, either they will need thousands of dollars in renos, or they are in a questionable neighbourhood. Yikes.

My plan has always been to return to work part-time once Ella is in school. It's a little scary to know that we may rely on my small income to help pay the bills in a short while.

We had hoped that we would never have to increase the amortization on our mortgage and pay it off quickly. Hmm...looks like that isn't going to happen.

I know, I know. I worry too much.

But this is a big deal!

It's not like we have any date of when a transfer could come through, but if a location that is on his list has an opening, then he could be contacted at any time.

So for now we continue to look at outrageous housing costs with horror.

Ah, if only we had known to keep our house in Saskatoon for just 6-12 months longer.

If only housing costs had gone up more than 5% (or something similarly pathetic) in Wynyard.

If only we were rich.

If only.....