He's joining the Navy.... and I guess I am too!

More than half a year ago, the Husband and I were sitting at the kitchen table, enjoying the midnight sun while our two boys (finally!) slept. The baby inside me, our first daughter, was wide awake; so were we. That happens when you're trying to decide what to do with the rest of your life.

We'd reached a crisis, in the true sense of the word: a critical point where we had to make some decisions. I'm a reporter with Big Crown Corp.; the Husband has run his own business for the past three and a half years. My job pays well, but it is stressful and demanding. It especially demands a lot of time -- a normal working day starts at nine and ends at 6. Add overtime, a husband and two kids, and things were a little crazy. Add a new baby to the mix, and it would get insane. We'd need a nanny, for goodness sake. We couldn't afford a nanny. And I wanted to raise my own kids full-time.

The Husband was feeling a little rudderless. He had built the business from scratch, but he was.... well, tired of it. He wanted excitement and adventure. He wanted decent pay. He wanted to contribute to the world around him.

We'd been bantering around new careers for him. Trade? Another degree? But we're still paying off student loans from the first time around.

So I gathered my courage together and voiced something I'd been thinking about for a long time.

"Honey," I said, "have you considered the military?"

The Husband looked at me with shock and said, "I'd been thinking about it for months, but didn't want to bring it up. I didn't want you to feel you had to be a military wife."

I was okay with being a military wife. I don't cover the military. I cover health. And I don't object to the military.

He went to the recruiting centre the next day. Two weeks later, he started talking Navy. Then Maritime Surface and Subsurface Command (MARS).

In October, a few months after baby N entered the world, Husband was being interviewed by a naval board. He was selected.

He leaves for basic officer training in January. He returns in late April. During that time, it will be me and the kids. I have no relatives here, just friends and my church (thank God for them!).

So while Hubby undergoes training to be a naval officer, the rest of us will get our own training: basic military family training. Otherwise known as one parent, three kids, and a single-wide trailer in the North. Eeep.

Join us for the ride, will you?