Roger Shmoger

Grand slam tennis returned to the airwaves as the French Open tennis tournament dominates the TV at the Rutledge house this week. Or as Owen calls it, "baseball." Amy's beloved Roger Federer -- for his tennis ability, right Amy B? -- tries to win his first title on the Paris clay. Now that Andre Agassi has retired I watch for the entertainment more than anything. Although I do make sure to sneak in a disparaging comment or two about Amy's hunky Swiss sensation. ;-)

On the kid front Gus has really made some strides since his accident. He is completely 100% back to his normal self physically. Just in the past couple of weeks he has really learned to use more of his words when he wants something instead of throwing one of his trademark tantrums. "Need help please daddy," "Open door please Mommy," and "No Owen, no bite" have emerged in place of his frustrations. The improved communication has made life much easier in la casa de Rutledge. Gus seems to be learning he can pretty much get whatever he wants (within reason) as long as he asks for it nicely.

Owen notices that his brother is getting more positive attention lately. As a result he may have a twinge of jealousy. Owen has a deceptive little streak in him as he will shove or bite Gus and then look innocent as only little Owen can. He has gotten reacquainted with Time Out in the past couple of days. Still, Owen is a relatively easy kid.

On the homefront Amy & I are working on the backyard at our house. Last week we had several small trees and brush removed so you can actually walk back there now. We kept all the big trees -- poplars, oaks, maples -- and got rid of the sweet gums. We have essentially more than doubled our usable space so we hope to get to the point where we can fence it in so the little monsters have a containable area to play. It is really starting to come along. The ticks are hellacious back there -- I pulled 10 off of me yesterday when moving some logs -- but we'll get those under control as we continue to clear out the brush.

An interesting current event this week was Billy Donovan pulling an about face in backing out of his new NBA contract with Orlando and wanting to return to Florida. In terms of quality of basketball in the SEC and for the rivalry's sake between Kentucky & the Gators, I'm glad he came back. Now I just hope Billy G can help UK give Billy D the whipping the Cats haven't been able to deliver in a while. :-)

Finally on the family front, we were visited by GJ and Pappy this past weekend on their return trip from Charleston to Glasgow. Amy & I were certainly glad to see them and put a positive spin on the visit after the drama that pervaded our trip last weekend. The boys were still asking about their dog Sayla and pointing out "Pappy gone" as of yesterday.

For the record I'm willing to bet that although my forehand is pretty weak that Roger Federer can't change two diapers, bathe & dress two boys, and have them in bed by 8:00 to save his life. Cheers!