Hoping for Change?

What a week for America. Monday was Martin Luther King Day, and Alixa didn’t have to go to work. The Winns decided to celebrate the way that Martin would want them to, by seeing a movie. They had to brave the first real snowfall of our Tennessee experience in order to do it, but had heard mediocre to good things about Twilight and figured this would be one of their few chances to catch a slightly lower priced matinee. Boo to anyone who told them that the movie was OK or better. They could not have been more disappointed in it. The acting was shoddy, special effects were pedestrian at best, and every scene with Bella and Edward simply made them seem mentally retarded because they talked so slowly and sporadically. The only actor that really did well was the girl who played Jessica. Her performance was excellent; the rest of the movie was a disaster. As an added bonus, Jarom was lucky enough to sit near two high school aged girls who were wearing about 10 times as much perfume as they should have. It gave him flashbacks to his own high school experience, when friends of his would go through the painful learning process of how much artificial scent is appropriate.

Why are they all so grumpy?

On Tuesday our new President was sworn in, albeit incorrectly. Alixa was very proud of herself for listening to the inauguration and was anxious to speak with someone else who had seen it so they could discuss some things. Unfortunately, Jarom had class and missed it, and her mother would not be caught dead listening to a Democrat take the presidential oath. Finally she was able to talk to her dad about it. She liked the speech, with one exception: she didn’t like that Obama said that “our schools fail too many.” She thinks that children who are failing need to turn in their homework and study for tests, and that the President should not be ordering teachers to artificially inflate their grades.

Presidential Oath, take 2

We also got some new furniture this week, thanks to a fellow ward member who was doing some remodeling. A dresser for Jarom, and a TV stand to put the old TV on in the bedroom. We love free stuff. As for stuff that isn’t free, Alixa has been searching for a gym where she can do cardio and stuff that isn’t below freezing. Jarom went with her to check out a few gyms that were running New Year promotions, but they were all actually terrible deals, like this one – Buy a 3 year contract at $60 a month, and get your fourth year free!! Score. Eventually they found a little gym about two blocks from their house that had a reasonable monthly fee, no contract, and had 24-hour access. It is small, so there are no group classes or pools or racquetball, but they have weights and cardio equipment, and a big fluffy white dog that hangs out at the gym as a mascot. Alixa is excited to be able to stop by on her way home from work and walk on a treadmill at room temperature. Maybe she will be able to get rid of that unsightly gut that she is developing.

Jarom tried UT intramurals this week, playing his first game on a Coed basketball team. Playing with girls wasn’t as bad as he imagined, but his team is not very good. There are a few good players, but none of them had ever played together and they ran into a pretty good team. The mercy rule is that the game ends if a team is up by 40 points at any time. The game ended with about 9 minutes to go. Ouch.