Playing Possum

Those of you who know Jarom and have children are aware of his proclivity for calling those children rats. Some of you have wondered out loud if he would continue this habit with his own offspring someday. It is still a little too early to tell for sure, but my magic 8-ball says “Signs point to yes”. As Alixa has become more and more pregnant, she and her little buddy have started to play games. This is often how Lix entertains herself during slow stretches at work. She will sit and balance things on her belly, waiting for Jenna to move them. She has been working on rolling over and sitting up with mixed results (Lix seems to think she’s a dog). This week, Jenna tried a new trick that she came up with on her own – playing dead. All morning on Tuesday Alixa didn’t feel any moving going on, so she decided to call her doctor, who told her to come on in to check it out. Even though she was pretty sure she was over-reacting, she didn’t want to take any chances. So she left work, drove to the hospital, waddled in and got all the monitors and doohickeys strapped to her, at which point Jenna decided to jump out from her proverbial hiding spot to say “Here I am!” Her movements while at the hospital were off the charts, making this the first official instance of Jenna making her parent look like a big fat liar. This story amused Jarom, who has since begun referring to the possum that Lix is lugging around. Oh, well. As a wise person once said, “A false alarm is better than a real alarm.”

No possums were hurt during the taking of this photograph

Also on the baby front, the Winns attended their first birthing class this week. It hasn’t been particularly valuable yet, but there are still a few more weeks to go. They got to watch a bad intro video that included a stand up comedy routine about childbirth that wasn’t funny. Their teacher is a strange lady who home schools her kids, has a thick accent, and says “OK” at the end of every other sentence. The main thing that they learned is that they wish they were going to be giving birth at this hospital in TN. The birthing rooms looked like hotel suites, and each came with a Jacuzzi tub for the mom to soak in before and after labor. Hopefully the hospitals in DE will be nice too.

I haven't put a pic of pregnant Lix up in awhile, so here she is at 8 months pregnant (32 wks)

We are all getting excited for the big move, which is only 10 working days away. We have been thinking about possible stops on our way up north, first considering Cleveland and then settling on Richmond, where we will get to see Nate and Kenz’s new house. But for now Jarom has a few papers and finals to wrap up and then he will have only two more classes to take in the fall to complete his Master’s degree. Alixa spent the week getting pampered by receiving a pedicure, her first in about a year, and getting a new hairstyle. She looks very beautiful, even though she is constantly scratching her itchy tummy and bosoms. Hopefully, she has less than 60 days to go, and is very excited about not being pregnant again someday.

I found this while looking for possum pics, and it's hilarious

Back above the Mason-Dixon

Big news from the Winn household this week: Jarom got an internship offer from the University of Delaware for the summer and we’ve decided to take it. This means that we will be heading north around the time that school ends for Jarom, in about a month. Alixa is beyond ecstatic because she gets to quit her jobs and spend the summer lying around the house waiting for her water to break. Jarom is not quite sure how to feel. It seems like a good opportunity, and it will be nice to be near family when the little rat arrives, but he will have to live with his parents. Bruce and Nancy have graciously offered to house us for our 3-month stint there, and even though Jarom does love them, moving back in with them wasn’t ever something that he wanted to do. Logistically speaking, it makes sense, and he is sure he will enjoy it, but deep down there is something about it that just feels off. I am simply excited to be moving to my 4th state.

To end the story from the last blog entry, Alixa finally got her new driver’s license. It was another painful trip to the DMV, but she is now allowed to drive and will not have to renew it until 2015 or something ridiculous.

I will end this short little post with a funny incident that happened to Jarom today. He is taking a class on expert performance in sports, and the structure is basically just a group discussion every day. After class today, he was walking and chatting with his professor, who asked him if he was planning on getting a PhD after finishing his master’s. Jarom initially had to suppress a laugh, after which he told him that this would be all as far as the education goes. The professor mentioned that Jarom’s comments in class and papers were very academic and seemed to fit the mold of someone who would be moving on, and that he should at least think about it. When Jarom shared this story with Alixa, she laughed out loud at him for several minutes. I think it is safe to say that two degrees is more than enough for him, but he was very flattered by the compliment.

This picture doesn't have anything to do with the Winns, but I think it's cool. It is a friend of ours from Utah, who ran into some bleachers at preschool and gashed himself up pretty bad. He's a tough little kid though.

Best of Times, Worst of Times

It seems as though the car has dominated much of our life her in Tennessee lately. A replaced headlight was followed by the trip to South Carolina, where Lix tried to permanently ruin the Camry, after which came some car washing and an oil change. Lix had been increasingly concerned about the vibrations that were present whenever she would slow down, particularly from highway speeds, so Jarom took it in to get checked out. It seems the front brake rotors were old and needed to be replaced, at the cost of a few hundred bucks. Although Jarom has been conservatively described as “the cheapest person ever to walk to face of the earth”, he can accept relatively small expenditures like this because the car has been so good to him over the years. After getting the brakes fixed, it was on to new car insurance, and the discovery of Alixa’s expired license. That saga continued this week. On Wednesday Lix got up and went to the DMV early in the morning, hoping to have a new license and be out of there in time for work at 8. She arrived at around 7, only to find an empty building and a sign that reminded patrons that they do not open until 8 on the second Wednesday of every month. Thrilled with this stroke of good fortune, she left to get herself a chicken biscuit from Chick-Fil-A, the worlds best breakfast sandwich. She came back and had to wait outside her car in the cold (it snowed on Monday and was still quite chilly Wednesday morning) in order to keep her spot at the front of the line. She was third outside, but was passed by three rude people between the front door and the counter inside. Finally, it was her turn. She presented the required documents and explained the situation. The man behind the counter glanced at the assorted pieces of mail that she had with her and informed her that they were not acceptable. He handed her a list of approved items, only to have it snatched out of his hands as Alixa stormed angrily out of the office, not even bothering to listen to the rest of his explanation. Through streaming tears of intense rage, a call was placed to Jarom for emotional support (rarely, if ever, a good idea). Needless to say, it was a rough morning for Alixa, who will now have to visit the DMV for a third and hopefully final time this coming week. The moral of the story: always renew your license before it expires.



But it hasn’t been all bad news recently. We successfully used Craig’s List to sell some unwanted furniture to clear some room for new baby stuff. Alixa had a doctor visit, found out that everything continues to go well and that she has only gained 1 pound in the last two weeks. She also put in her official two weeks notice at the Olive Garden, since she now has great difficulty getting through a shift without her feet, hips, and back all killing her. She went golfing with Jarom on Saturday, and has become a pretty good caddy/cheerleader/heckler, depending on what the situation calls for. He even let her drive the cart, despite written warnings that you must have a valid driver’s license to do so. The weather was a little chilly, but they both had a great time just being outside for a few hours enjoying each other’s company.

The best part of the week came in the form of a phone call from Bruce on Friday. For those who don’t know, Bruce stumbled upon a wonderful job at CSC 20 years ago, and as a reward for that lengthy service he gets to choose a gift from a long list of options. After reviewing the list, he found nothing that he wanted or needed. Being the magnanimous overlord that he is, he offered the gift to his children. Each child had to write a letter explaining why Bruce is the best father/father-in-law ever, and would then be entered into a drawing. The winner could choose whatever prize they wanted. So from 14 entries, Alixa was chosen. She could not possibly have been more excited. We believe that this is the first time she has ever won anything, and it is certainly not for lack of effort. She enters every online prize drawing possible, constantly calls into radio shows trying to win tickets and things, and until now had nothing to show for it except myriad disappointing memories. But soon, she will have a new Hoover Anniversary Edition Bagless Upright Vacuum as a symbol of her good luck. Jarom is also excited about it, because he is the one who actually does the vacuuming around the house.



I want to send a quick closing shout-out to Angel Cabrera for winning the Master’s in a three-person, two-hole playoff. Alixa thinks they shouldn’t let Mexicans play on the PGA tour, but I think it’s great.

Geckos, Tigers, and Ducks, Oh My!

This week at the Winn house began by watching some sports on Sunday afternoon. Both Jarom and Lixi saw their carefully selected brackets continue to deteriorate, but mostly enjoyed watching Tiger Woods successfully come from 5 shots back to win the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Some of you may snicker to yourself and bemoan poor Alixa, who is forced to watch golf on TV because of her sports crazy boyfriend. But you would be wrong. For it is Lix who loves to watch golf on TV, especially if Tiger is playing. I’m not really sure how this started, but it is an amusing development. At any rate, it was gripping entertainment, and Tiger capped off his day by sinking a 12-foot birdie putt on the final hole to win.



Inspired by His Tigerness, Jarom took Alixa to work Monday morning and went to play 18 holes. It was a beautiful day and he shot a personal best, including his first career eagle. It came on the 295-yard 8th hole. After a good tee shot he was left with about 80 yards or so straight uphill. He hit a good sand wedge and then walked up the hill ready to putt. After several minutes looking around for his ball, it finally crossed his mind that it may have gone in the cup, which it had. It was quite a thrill, although he does feel cheated ever so slightly because he didn’t get to see the ball go in the hole. I guess he will just try to do it again.

The other major event of the week was the transfer of car insurance. Since their marriage, the Winns have had the good fortune of receiving super cheap insurance from Alixa’s dad (via his job). Recently, Mars selfishly left his job, forcing Jarom to shop around to see who can actually save him $437 per year*. The answer is nobody, but GEICO was the cheapest. After applying for a quote, Jarom got an email from the gecko telling him that Alixa had a speeding ticket that would slightly raise their rate. He is beginning to see why his parents hated him as a teenager. He then got a second email telling him that Alixa’s license was expired and that she needed to get that taken care of. So Wednesday morning Jarom and Lix left the house at 6:45 so they could get a new license before work. Unfortunately, Alixa did not have all of the necessary documentation and was told that she would have to come back later. As she is now prone to do, she started to cry. She managed to keep it in until we were out of the DMV, but it was a good thing that none of her coworkers would see her for at least 40 minutes. One thing is for sure, living with a pregnant lady is never dull.

After work the same day, the two of them went to a friend’s house to pick up yet more free stuff. This time it was a changing table, a crib, and some clothes. All were high quality and were in near-mint condition. They continue to be amazed by the kindness and generosity of all of their friends. Later that evening, Alixa had an interesting experience which she wanted to share with you all in her own words. So without further ado, Alixa…



The Duck, Duck, Goose consignment event happens twice a year. About 1,000 vendors come together to sell all of their slightly used infant, baby, and mom paraphernalia to the general public in one location. This year’s event was held in an empty warehouse near our apartment. A friend told me about it, and said it is the most awesome thing ever because you can get almost brand new stuff for super cheap. This excited me since I will be having a baby soon and need all sorts of things for her arrival in June. I found out they have a “first time mom’s club” that allowed me to shop before it opened to the general public. Each mom was allowed one guest – either a first time dad or grandma. Since my husband hates shopping and large crowds and I can’t seem to get either of my child’s grandmothers to come visit me, I ended up going by myself.

I arrived as the doors were opening at 7 pm and to my shock I couldn’t find a parking spot anywhere. I thought that something else must have been going on. All these people can’t possibly be here for pre-sale event. Boy was I wrong. I finally found a parking spot across a busy, four-lane road and waddled my pregnant self over to the sale. There I found a line that extended all the way around the shopping center, into the road, and continued to the next shopping center over. Against my better judgment, I stepped in line and waited to get into the store. I noticed that those around me had bags and laundry baskets and were ready to find awesome deals. They had obviously done this before. First time moms, my eye.

A pre lesbian era Lindsay Lohan and her crew perform "Santa, Baby"

Once I finally got into the store, I was completely overwhelmed. Hundreds of women were jamming into clothing racks and running to the strollers and cribs. Imagine the scene in Mean Girls where the girls are fighting about the burn book, but put a cute frilly pink dress in between the fighting parties. I could not believe it. I thought it would just be a few first timers, but there was not even room to move. I walked around the different departments for few minutes, but I couldn’t bring myself to fight the crowds. On my way out, I saw another huge line forming. I asked a girl what was going on, and was told that it was the checkout line. A friend of mine, who stuck it out and got a few things, later said that it took her two hours to get out of the store. NOT WORTH IT! So after being in the store for all of five minutes, I left. I decided that the free crib and changing table we got from a lady in our ward and all the super cute clothes my mother-in-law keeps sending me will hold me over for now.

I learned something about myself that will probably make my mom very sad. I am NOT a bargain shopper. I did not inherit the bargain gene from my mother. She would have had a heyday elbowing her way into the clothing racks to find a discounted gem. To me, it just isn’t worth it. Used clothes feel dirty to me and I would rather go to a place where the items are new and clean and there aren’t hundreds of crazed shoppers looking for that awesome deal. Sorry to let you down mom. Maybe when we have our baby and are even more strapped for cash, I will bring myself to bargain hunt, but until then, I think I will just shop at the mall.