The Countdown Is On

The countdown is on. I have 15 more days of school and then it's summer vacation. I'm looking forward to this summer because it will be nice to relax and distress as well as allow me to mentally prepare for Chris' surgery. It's a good thing that the surgery falls in the summer months because it allows me to devote my full attention and energy into his recovery. If we can only get the doctors to call us and inform us of what the hell is going on that would be great. We were told that tomorrow we will find out what the next step is in this process. If we don't hear by tomorrow then I'm going to have some words with the doctor. This waiting and not hearing anything for a week and a half is getting ridiculous. I know that when the actual date is set and we know how the surgery is going to go and what it will entail I will feel better and more at ease with things.
This week at school we are working on the IOWA test. It is a standardized test were the kids have to fill in the little bubbles and follow along as I read the questions to them. Can you believe that kindergartners are taking a standardized test? I can remember in kindergarten we did a lot of playing and learning our letters. It sure has changed since then. My kids can write complete sentences and read. They also can add, subtract, and recognize money. It feels like at times that I'm having to teach first graders and on a first grade level, but then I look around at my kids and realize they are only five and six. It's amazing how everything has moved back a year in the school world. What we learned in first grade I'm teaching in kindergarten. The same for each grade. Who knows in several years what my kids will be learning or even my grand kids.
After the week is over I'm really looking forward to the long three day weekend. I'm going home to see the family and my cousin and aunt who are flying in from California. I'm also glad to be home to send my brother off to Wisconsin. He got a job as a flight instructor at an airport in WI and he moves there this weekend. It is going to be weird to think my brother will be living hundreds of miles away. It will however give us a new place to visit and a cheap place to stay. I see sleeping on an air mattress in a tiny apartment in my near future. The weekend should be fun and chocked full of cookouts, family, and fun.