No Such Thing As a Free Lunch?

The saying goes that there is no such thing as a free lunch, but even though I understand the sentiment expressed in this statement, there are times when I feel inclined to disagree.

This has been a week of free lunches for me so far.

Monday the oldest daughter had the day off of work for President's day, but her hubby still had to go to school, poor guy, so she asked me if I would like to take a road trip in her new car to Glendale for a salad at Rumba Cafe. Once, a long time ago, there used to be a Rumba Cafe in Mesa and my family, friends and I frequented it often, but one day it closed and we were all sad. Every now and then we get the urge to take a drive and eat some good food. This was one of those every now and thens. The daughter drove and paid for lunch.

Free Lunch - Day 1!

Yes, I probably have bought her lunch in the past and yes, I will probably be expected to do something nice for her sometime in the future, and there is always the possibility that that lunch will put her over the financial edge and she will end up having to move in with me to save money, but for today, my lunch was free.

Thank you dear daughter.

My visiting teaching companion and I have been helping one of our visiting teachees sort and pack and organize her belongings as she prepares to move to Missouri. This project has been going on for a l-o-n-g time. We are finally seeing a light at the end of the tunnel or more accurately the taillights on the 3rd moving van heading for the new home and so yesterday we celebrated and the recipient of our help treated us to lunch. We went to a restaurant called Iguana Macks in Mesa. It calls itself a roadhouse and had some very eclectic food and unique decor. They are known for their ciabbata bread and dipping sauce and I will agree that it was very tasty, as was my soup and salad lunch special. At the end of lunch the bill passed right over me.

Free Lunch - Day 2!

OK, I do realize that I definitely invested more time and energy in this endeavor than what the lunch probably cost, but the lunch was a bonus and somewhat unexpected, and therefore I am calling it free.

Thank you dear Relief Society sister.

Today brought my visiting teaching companion and I together once again armed with packing tape and a sharpie marker. We were surprised when we arrived at the almost empty home to discover that we were invited to be guests at the next door neighbor's house for lunch. The neighbors are a very hospitable older couple who are also members of the church. The wife is Hawaiian and Japanese and grew up in Hawaii and she and her husband spend at least a few months every year in Hawaii where they own a home, store and restaurant which they lease to a cousin there. They are a delightful couple with lots of interesting stories that they enjoy sharing. We were served Teriaki pork sandwiches and fried rice and it was delicious. I don't really know this couple very well, since health problems and travel have kept them from attending church on a regular basis since our wards were combined, but I thoroughly enjoyed visiting with them and hearing about all the adventures they have had during their lives.

Free Lunch - Day 3!

I do honestly believe that this could truly be considered a free lunch. I didn't do anything to deserve this and I don't think there is anything expected from me in return. We were told that we were eating leftovers that would otherwise have gone to waste. They can feed me their leftovers anytime.

Thank you dear neighbors.

Today I am thankful for

nice people.
an upbeat phone call from my mom.
the freedom to sit and listen to stories if I want to.