Freebies!!!

Most who know us well, know that we love to play a game, we like to call Freebies. It goes a little something like this; we make a little bet, and the winner gets a Freebie, to which can be used on, yep--you guessed it, anything. Sounds simple enough, right? Not so fast. We have learned, through trial and error, that we have to play fair, so out of necessity, we added some rules to our little game. Two to be exact. The first: you are not allowed to cancel out someone else's freebie with your own. For example, if I pull out one of my Freebies and use it on my choice of movie, R is not allowed to "overrule" mine, and whip out one of his Freebies to go against what I chose. Make sense?

The second rule is that there must be an end in sight; no Freebie can be redeemed if it is permanent. Allow me to illustrate: R once used one of his Freebies on me to make me grow out my hair "until he says stop" (which he hasn't said yet in case you were wondering). In fact, that is the exact reason for why we had to put Rule #2 in place. Other things to note when playing the Freebies game: you can save up as many Freebies as you want and you don't have to use them right when you win them. You (we) must keep track of how many Freebies each person has at all times, otherwise you (we) end up having to "clear the slate" and you (we) both go back to having 0 Freebies because you (we) can't agree on how many each person had to begin with. Not a fun part of the game, FYI. And lastly, this game is best played when you use your Freebie when it is least expected by the other person.

Now I will share with you just a few of the ways we each have won well earned Freebies:
-Which route home was quicker. The back way is. R won.
-Whether or not there was a Subway on Ramsey Street. There is. I won.
-Definitions of words. R usually wins these ones.
-The correct spelling of words. I usually win those.
-One time I was trying desperately to fix something on the laptop which after 10 minutes I gave up and insisted it was impossible. R kept telling me to try this or try that. After much frustration, I told R I would give him 10 freebies if he could fix it. That was encouragement enough, because a few minutes later, he had certainly earned himself a whopping 10 brand new beautiful Freebies (which later on, all got "erased" due to the reason above when we disagreed on how many Freebies each of us had). So sad for him.

Now, for the things we generally cash in our Freebies for:
-Massages or back/neck/feet rubs.
-Choice of movie or restaurant.
-R likes to trade in Freebies for nap time with me because I don't like taking naps in the middle of the day. (Take note, this is where Rule #1 comes into play, because believe me when I say I have tried this several times before, but it never works out as planned!)
-Who has to drive when we are coming home late at night or taking long road trips.
-Turning out the lights or going downstairs to get a glass of water after we are both already in bed. (Both are to be used sparingly however; as you would not want to waste a precious Freebie on something so easy unless you have lots saved up).
-I once cashed in to have the final say on how the house was decorated. R wanted to rearrange the living room, which I did not want to do, but he insisted. So being the loving and caring wife that I (usually) am, I agreed to "try it out", on one condition: I would use my one and only (at the time) Freebie in exchange for the final say of the setup. Needless to say, all the furniture was back in it's original place later that very same day : ) (Take note here, the use of this Freebie did not violate Rule #2 because it was clear that I only had final say until we moved out of this house, and therefore, it wasn't permanent).

Bottom line here, Freebies are not only fun, but they can make you a better person too. We have learned to do things for each other even when we don't want to do them. That's called service. We have learned to stand up for something we know is true and back it up with action. That's called courage and commitment. We have learned the value of small things that many people often take advantage of. That's called gratitude and appreciation. And lastly, we have learned the importance of a positive attitude, because whether or not you want to follow the rules of this game, that doesn't matter--you must do it anyway, so you may as well do it with a smile on your face and make the best of it : )

The End.