Room for Expansion

As I am sure you are all aware, there was a week filled with big news in the Winn home: I finally got a bigger half log that fits me! For this I owe a debt of gratitude to Lixi’s mom, who graciously funded the improvement after seeing me in my impoverished state last month. Thanks PJ!

Old and new homes. Quite an improvement.

Also, Jarom and Alixa went public with the news of their pregnancy. My last blog post set a new record for comments with 11, and that number keeps growing. It is nice to see that there are lots of people out there who have nothing better to do at work or school than surf the internet and read about our lives. Since the announcement, Jarom feels as though a weight has been lifted off his shoulders. He was very worried that he would say something to someone and give it away, as he is not very good at keeping secrets. Both Jarom and Lix are very excited about the growth of their family, and their lives are already starting to change. Jarom is now getting a life insurance policy that will make him worth 10 times more dead than alive, Alixa has stopped drinking diet coke and eating grapes to protect her pea sized child, and they are currently trying to change some vacation plans that might interfere with the due date next June. I am not immune from the effects of the pregnancy either. You probably noticed the alien bouncing around in a snowglobe at the top right corner of my blog. Alixa put it there and told me she would step on my noggin if I took it off. Alixa had her first doctor visit this week and came home with her first ultrasound images of the kid. She maintains that it is already a very cute baby, although if you ask Jarom it looks vaguely like a mouse. At any rate, those pics are up on the fridge, the first of what will surely be millions of photos throughout its life.

Jarom and Alixa continue to meet new friends here in Tennessee, and are enjoying themselves more and more with each passing week. This week they went out to dinner with the Groses (see last week’s entry) and the Branners, who played on the softball team with Alixa. It is a little strange to hang out with them, because they are a little bit older, have kids, and are not flat broke like us. But they are great people and it is nice to have something to do on weekends.



In honor of all the craziness surrounding Prop 8 in California I will mention something Jarom saw recently. It was a bumper sticker for Gatlinburg, TN, which is the home of Dollywood and other fun country attractions. Unfortunately, at least in Jarom’s eyes, they chose to represent themselves on this bumper sticker with the same three letters used to refer to Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexuals. He thought it was pretty funny.