Free

Free, I love that word. I like free time. I like shooting free throws. And I'll tell you there is such thing as a free lunch, cause I've eaten my share of them. I even like Frito's, but that might not be the same thing.

I especially like getting things for free. What I don't like is when people try to sell you something giving you the idea that something is free when it's not. So for today's WFMW I wanted to give you some free advice on how to know when free is free and when it's not.

When Free isn't free:

BOGO . I'm not sure when two for the price of one or 3 for the price of two became buy some get others free. I am pretty sure the intent is to appeal to "free" lovers. Now don't get me wrong, 2 for 1 is a good deal. But you are still paying for the first one. I especially don't consider the second one free if you only bought the first one to get the second one. If, however, you were planning on buying two shirts and you got a BOGO offer, it makes some sense to call the second one free.

The same can be said of offers when they give you an item at no cost if you subscribe to a service or publication. Newspapers do this at parades. They state they are giving away chairs. Yet they are only free if you subscribe and generally only free if you pay with a credit card and agree to automatic billing. So the free chair is actually a high (priced) chair. Again if you were planning on getting a newspaper subscription anyway, than the chair seems more free. The way it is marketed though is to sell newspapers to people who really want chairs.

When Free is Free:

Sometimes even when you have to pay more money. If you are given a certificate for a free dinner, but you still have to feed a meter to park, that doesn't mean the dinner wasn't free.

Even if your taxes pay for it. Our Park District and Library District provide our family with a good portion of our free entertainment. While my tax dollars do subsidize these "freebies," they subsidize them even when I don't use them, which is why I'm inclined to still refer to them as free.

So getting stuff free works for me. In my next post I am going to talk specifically about three things I have done or will do this week for free. I want you to participate as well. This week I am hosting Three Things This Thursday for Michelle at Psalm 104:24. Think of 3 things that you have done recently for free and link them to my post. For this week I am going to call it Free Things This Thursday. Join me here at about 6 a.m. central on Thursday or at a more reasonable hour if you like. For more Works for Me Wednesday scoot over to Kristen's at We Are that Family.

Next Time: Free Things This Thursday

The Goalie on the Bench.

Hockey Lessons

Life Lessons from the 1980 U.S. Olympic Hockey Team

Why doesn't life go as planned? The answer to that question often gets back to who is doing the planning. No one ever plans on being born, but once they get here, boy do they want to be in charge of the planning!

People often see the design in their lives in retrospect. Such is the case of Steve Janaszak. By 1979 Steve had already been goalie of two national championship teams at the university of Minnesota. He had just been voted Most Valuable Player of the 1979 squad. His coach, Herb Brooks, had just been selected to helm the U.S. Olympic team. Most pundits figured Herb would choose Jany as his starting goalie for the U.S. No one expected him to be an MVP again, not when going against the vaunted Soviet Union and other hockey powerhouses, but no one expected him to be an asterisk either.

Twelve hockey teams represented their countries in 1980. Twenty players per team, 240 in all. 239 of them played in the Olympics. Only Jany rode the bench the entire event. Coach Brooks had prepared him for this eventuality, that Jim Craig was going to be His only goalie for the Olympics. On the face of it this did not make sense, many of the games were very close, but there were some games that Jany could have easily got some time in.

Janaszak took the entire situation as a pro. Early each morning he took practice shots from his assistant coach, so he would be ready if called upon. Instead of being bitter, aloof and distant from his teammates, he remained positive. Off the ice he bonded with his teammates going to the Olympic Village, hanging out and watching movies together. On one such occasion he encountered an interpreter working in the complex. That interpreter eventually became his wife.

Imagine if it was too much for the NCAA MVP to play the part of back-up. Or if he just went through the motions, and kept to himself at the Olympics hiding in his room, feeling sorry for himself. He might not be the contented husband and father of two daughters that he is now. Janaszak, states in retrospect there is no question what he would rather have the personal glory or the family he has been given. It may have been different if things went as he had planned.

I think there is a little in the Janaszak's story in many how did you meet your spouse stories. I would love to h ear yours. If things went by my plans I would have already been on the mission field by 1990 and not still in college. This means I would have not met my wife in 1990. At least not in the student union of Western Illinois University. Some people call it luck, others a happy accident. I call it the providential hand of God. Just a reminder that life does go as planned. Especially when we're not the ones doing the planning.

Next Time: Free

Wall of Glaze

Krispy Kreme Donuts, like many businesses in this economy, are encountering tumultuous times. In 1995 I encountered my first Krispy Kreme when I was living in South Carolina. It proved to be quite the haunt for the students at the Seminary I attended. Besides the yumalicious donuts, the most amazing thing about visiting a Krispy Kreme is watching the donuts being made. There is a giant assembly line that you watch through a window. The donut is cut and fried before your eyes and then it travels under a waterfall of glaze which I dubbed the "wall of glaze." In fact I began referring to Krispy Kreme itself as The Wall of Glaze (i.e., meet me at The Wall of Glaze at 4:30, k?)

A few months after my first Krispy Kreme experience I was driving around. As I was driving I was singing. When I sing I sometime sing songs I know and sometimes I just make up new ones. The ones I make up are usually "1 use" songs as I generally don't write them down or remember them. Sometimes a song comes to me that I especially like and I remember it. I liked this song because it describes the cycle of a romantic relationship and it centers that relationship at one place: The Wall of Glaze. Now, I don't sing well. The truth is that a song doesn't sound the same to others as it does to me. So when I want my lyrics turned into music, I just give them to music writers and let them come up with a tune. I gave these lyrics to my friend Jeff who gave it a Fifties sound and performed it as such at a seminary talent show. When I sang it that night in my car it had a more Bob Seger 70's a-m ballad feel to it. However you slice it (and most people usually don't slice donuts) here is the blog debut of The Wall of Glaze:

It was our first date
On a Friday night
She got a blueberry donut and a medium Sprite
She looked so good and I stood amazed
That I could lose my heart at the wall of glaze.

At the Krispy Kreme
At the Wall of Glaze
Just a memory of my younger days
Of how she looked so good
And how I stood amazed
That I could lose my heart
At The Wall of Glaze

End of senior year
Going separate ways
I was off to the army
Her to the college days
We promised to write every week
It would be like we never went away
How we cried and cried at The Wall of Glaze

At the Krispy Kreme
At The Wall of Glaze
Just a memory of my younger days
Of how we promised to write every week
Like we never went away
But the tears fell like rain
At The Wall of Glaze

Well you know the story
Left a boy came back a man
And I wrote her in my letters
Things I still don't understand
Oh my love for her just grew and grew
I was longing for that day
When I'd ask for her hand at The Wall of Glaze

So on a Friday night
Got down on my knees
Put a ring on her finger
Said will you marry me please
She said I'm sorry
But you were just a passing phase
And she broke my heart at The Wall of Glaze

At the Krispy Kreme
At The Wall of Glaze
It's the end of the story
Not the starting page
I put a ring on her finger
She said "Boy, you're just a phase"
And she broke my heart at The Wall of Glaze

Now I sit alone
On a Friday night
With a blueberry donut
And it don't feel right
I know I shouldn't be here
But I feel trapped in a cage
Since she broke my heart at The Wall of Glaze

At the Krispy Kreme
Called The Wall of Glaze
Just a memory
Of my younger days
I know I shouldn't be here
I feel trapped in a cage
since I lost my heart, since she broke my heart, now that we're apart
At The Wall of Glaze.

Next Time: The Goalie on the Bench.

Our Last Meal

THREE THINGS THIS THURSDAY

If you read Michelle's blog you know she's had a lot on her plate lately. So she has asked me to host 3TTT for the next few weeks and I have glady agreed. It's all in my long term goal of taking over the internet.

I thought we'd go into the not so way back machine today and give you some snippets from my No Junk Food June experience: You may first want to look at my post from yesterday to get some context.

1. 5/31/2009

Dropped my friend Marina off at the airport today. She came in from Russia for an Amway convention in Grand Rapids. I got her and some of her travelling companions to the airport so they can catch a bus. I had about a half hour to kill on my way to church, so I punched Taco Bell into the GPS and got a quick bite before service. Yes it was 10:30 in the morning, but this was my last shot at Taco Bell until July.

Tonight I took the kids to CiCis to use a coupon we got in the newspaper. Not sure if a pizza buffet counts as junk food or not. The multiple sugary sodas and desserts sure would qualify though. Indulging myself on this last day of fast food availability may not be the most prudent of decisions, we shall see.

2. 6/9/09

Dropped off Marina at the airport today. After her conference ended in Grand Rapids last week she and some other Russian tourists drove from Illinois to New York to see Niagara Falls. It must have been a National Lampoon's Vacation length stop because by Monday night she was back in Chicago where she stayed with our family. I took her to the airport where she was flying to Charleston, South Carolina to spend a few days.

She wasn't the only one doing any travelling, though. After we dropped her off at the airport, it was off to Springfield to spend a few days with our friend Matthew who is recovering from a minor surgery.

We actually have a bit of travelling we are doing this month. So I told the kids at the onset of No Junk Food that it does not pertain to them while travelling. Had a minor mishap when getting gas on the way to Springfield. I picked up a 20 oz Mountain Dew rather than it's diet equivalent. Didn't notice until I drank from the bottle a few miles down the road. Believe me if you haven't had sugary drinks for a while, you immediately know the difference! Charlie lucked out and I let him drink about 1/2 of it before throwing the rest away at our next stop which was Wendy's. Charlie and Emma had Bacon Cheeseburgers, Lucy had Chicken Nuggets, and I drank water (Amy had to work and was unable to make the trip if I hadn't mentioned this already).

When we got to Springfield, we visited with Matthew and then went swimming at our motel. We then took Matthew out for dinner at Golden Corral. I did get the buffet but drank water and did not get any desserts. Of the three temptations I had today, the temptation to hit the dessert buffet was much stronger than those to drink Mountain Dew or eat at Wendy's.

When we got back to the motel we swam for a while in their outdoor pool even though it was below 70 and raining. Tomorrow it's breakfast at Cracker Barrel then a visit with Matthew to the Lincoln Museum and then back home to the lovely Amy.

3. 6/15/09

Dropped off Marina at the airport today. We actually picked her up at 1 airport and then drove her to another. She had a great time in Charleston and flew from there on Saturday to St. Louis to visit our friends the Hendricks. She flew Southwest on Monday from St. Louis to Chicago, Southwest flies into Midway and she was flying back to Russia from O'Hare. So it was me and the kids picking her up at Midway, eating sandwiches while we waited for her luggage, and then seeing her off at O'hare. She certainly had a jam packed visit to the states and we were glad to spend sometime with her on her travels.

So that's three things for this Thursday. Before I bounce you back to Michelle, What is a trip to the Capitol of the Land of Lincoln without the man himself? The family caught up with him just outside of his Museum . . .

It's your turn now. Do you have three things that you would like to share? Recipes, ideas of what's brewing for Gilligan and company on Lost, or other random thoughts? Use Mr. Linky below and be sure to send Micheele an encouraging word and myself any creative constructive ideas as I host 3TTT for the next few weeks.

Next Time: The Wall of Glaze

No Junk Food June

As I write this it is May Thirty-first. As you read this it is probably July 1st or beyond. As I write this I am embarking on "No Junk-Food June". As you read this I have just finished it.

What, you may ask, is No Junk Food June? Simply put, I am going to cease eating at fast food resturants and cut all sugary sweets from my diet. I did it before in 2006 mostly as a cost cutting measure, but also as a means of calorie reduction. This year, as I approach my 45th birthday, and as I grieve the loss of a younger brother to ailments not helped by his obesity, I want to lose weight and not feel so out of shape when I recreate with my wife and kids.

I will not be weighing in or out but in the weeks to come you will see a chroncile of my journey. As an added bonus, Amy and I decided to have No Junk Food June as a family this year. We just had the "talk" with the kids.

You may wonder why I am blogging with a one month delay. It's not because I am afraid I will swear and that I will need the network sensors to bleep it out. While I want to share this experience here. I want it to be a completed experience, and not an interactive one.

That said, I certainly welcome your interaction now that our part of the journey has been completed.

Next Time: Our "Last" Meal