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.