Yes, yes indeed

That was Garrett's reply when I asked him if he would like to go walking with me. I go to a nearby elementary school to walk and he enjoys playing on the playground while I walk.

Last night I walked 6 laps (1 1/2 miles) and he played in the rocks and ran around. I walk with my mother-in-law, Juanita. Thank goodness for mother-in-laws who call to see if you want to go walking even when you turned them down everytime they called last week. Thanks Juanita!

So, tonight I decided I would call her. She said yes and I went to put on my shoes. Unfortunately, before I even got a single shoe on she called back to let me know that it was raining. She lives near the elementary school. Darn. And I really mean it. I would really like to get started on a consistent trend of walking in the evenings.

Now, don't get me wrong, I am grateful for the rain. The weatherman said we were in a severe drought. I watered the yard all weekend long and it could still have used more (I guess that's what happens when you neglect it for a while. Hmmm . . . ) but couldn't it have rained after we walked? Actually, my landlord does a really good job watering our yard for us. Thanks Mr. P!

Tomorrow I will be doing plenty of walking. But, not the kind of walking I enjoy. I will be walking in slow, slow circles trying not to make any noise. I am administering the TAKS test tomorrow and this slow, noiseless walking is called "Active monitoring." This is what I must do to make sure that my kids are not doing any thing that they are not supposed to.

For those of you out of the educational loop (or TEXAS educational loop I should say) the TAKS test is the high stakes test that third grade students take in Texas. They take it in two areas, math and reading. It is referred to as "high stakes" because if a child does not pass the reading portion of the test they may be held back in third grade.

Anyway, I have been teaching summer school since the day after regular school let out and tomorrow my kids will test. Our last day of summer school is on Thursday. At 1:00 I will be free to stay up late, sleep late (yeah right - with two kids who consistently get up by 8:00 EVERYDAY!) and generally have the freedom to do what I want, when I want.