Promotion ceremony

Friday evening was the graduation and promotion ceremony for the Meridian FD. We had nine new firefighter/paramedics graduate their academy, six guys promote to Driver-Engineer and three people promote to Captain.
As one of the six promoting to Driver, it was weird to be sitting across the isle from the "new guys" because it was only about 3-years ago that I was in their same spot, just joining the Dept. The ceremony was nice (although Shawna reported that it was boring at times and lasted too long). The coolest part for me was having Austin come up with the rest of my little family to pin my new badge on. We had "practiced" earlier that day and he did a great job (with Dylan right there as his backup). I was also excited to have Mom and Faye drive up from Utah to be in attendance, and Cheryl was able to join us there too.
I don't know if the whole promotion deal has really sunk in yet, but standing there in my Class A uniform, getting the "Engineer" badge and shaking hands with the Chiefs sure helped it to. I guess it will really fully hit me when I get back to work and drive the engine every shift. It's an awesome job and I'm excited to continue to learn and grow in my new position.
I will also be changing shifts and crews with this promotion. Everybody asks what that means and the easiest way to explain is that I still work the same basic schedule it will just be with different guys now. I'm excited to work with all the "C" shift guys, but at the same time I will miss the "B" shifters who I've worked with the last few years. The biggest bummer is not being with my same crew anymore because we had a great time and worked really well together. Change is going to happen though, so I look forward to my new opportunities.
I head back to work at the end of this week for my first shift back since Sadie was born and I'm looking forward to it. As much fun as it's been to be at home, I do miss the Station and all the guys. Plus, I'm stoked to get behind the wheel of "Big Red" again!