The Week In Review

Well, the biggest thing on our minds has been nursing Ushi back to health. You might remember that Ushi is the fourth member of our family, our Chinese dwarf hamster. He had pneumonia and an eye infection, which are now gone but have been replaced with bowel problems. Well, we are happy to report that through lots of TLC, medication three times a day, and lots of litter changes, Ushi is looking just about back to normal. His next checkup is on Monday, and we are really proud of how well he has let us take care of him and also how well he has taken care of himself through cleaning, eating lots, drinking, and exercise.

Last Saturday was Dad's birthday and Jen's day-before-birthday, and we had a great dinner at Mom and Dad Kelly's house. We were able to buy Dad a whole bunch of losing lottery tickets, which we feel is actually harder to do than to win. Shouldn't he get a prize for that?

After the party, we co-hosted a neighborhood party called Slip 'N' Sip. We made the best Slip-N-Slide-type device, and we were, of course, the only two adults to use it. Matt Conner tested it earlier, but during the party everyone else sat back and let the kids play on it. It was AWESOME! Even though we were co-hosting, we did need to get Chip to bed, and the party went on a little while after we left. We can't wait for next year, and our neighbors are already planning the Halloween party. We have a great neighborhood!

School has been going really well for G, and we are really proud of his schoolwork and more importantly, his behavior there. He is a really great student and a really great kid. He is reading more and more, and his teachers give him lots of opportunities to go way beyond the basic standards.

Matt's and Laura's birthday was yesterday. Wowo is in Michigan celebrating, and we miss her, but Matty is right here at home. We went out to Strip, in Atlantic Station, for steaks and seafood. You might remember it from an episode of Real Housewives, but probably not. (In the photo below, you see Rosa Mexicano, which is next door and is in lots of RH episodes, for those of you who are keeping score at home.) They have fantastic food; Mom's salmon was the best ever, and Matt's and my steaks were maybe second best, heck, maybe even best. The drinks were clever, the service was fantastic, and most importantly, they were happy to have Chip there. For such an upscale place, we were so impressed with the service.

After dinner, we came home for cake and presents. I made the ultimate Matt cake: Alton Brown's fudge cake recipe with Homemade brand mint chocolate chip in the middle. I had used these really cool cake pans to make the cake look like a giant Oreo, or ice cream sandwich, you pick. It was a really great day!

And that was our week; how was yours?