Never Keep The Spare Key In Your Purse

The curse of Mr. Murphy continues.......

On Monday, I locked my keys in the car.....along with my purse, my cell phone.....and the spare key.

It was not my finest moment.......

It all started when I left the grocery store with Nudgie and she fell and scraped her knee.  She started screaming - as I would too.  When we got to the car, I opened the driver's side door and tossed my keys on the seat and sat Nudgie down so I could check out her knee.  The parking spot next to me was empty but a car was waiting to pull in.  So in an effort to be nice, I grab Nudgie thinking I'll put her in car seat and allow the car to pull in.  I pick up Nudgie, shut the door, go to open the back door......and nothing.

Now let me preface this a bit by saying that my key ring is HUGE.  After I had Nudgie, I had baby brain so bad that I could not ever remember where my keys where.  My Marine ended up bringing me this big ring from work.  I put my keys on it and whenever I exit the car, they get clamped to my jeans or my bag.  The system worked great.....until today.

The only explanation is that when I tossed my keys on the front seat, Nudgie sat on them and triggered the automatic lock.  I didn't hear it because of Nudgie screaming in my ear.

So now the door is locked...my keys mocking me from the front seat....everything is locked inside and I have a screaming Nudgie with a bloody knee on the outside.  I froze.  I literally froze.  For a few minutes, I just didn't know what to do.  Even though I was only 2 blocks from my house, I couldn't get in because my house keys were in the car.  And even if I could get into the house, the spare key was in my purse too.

My irrational options at the moment?  Break open the window with a brick.....and hope I could repair it before My Marine gets back from his trip and not notice.  Fat chance.  Pry open the tailgate window with a crowbar and hope for the best.  Again, not the best option.  So I did the only other thing I could think of....

I started walking home.

Once I got there, I prayed my neighbors across the street were home.  My prayers were answered when Tony opened the door.  I explained my situation.....and he didn't hesitate.  Grabbed his keys, the slim jim and away we went.

Eventually, the door got opened.....but not without:

1)  Tony having to You Tube "picking a Jeep lock" because he was having a hard time finding "the sweet spot"
2)  Calling AAA to send someone over because of lack of instructional You Tube videos on picking locks.  (Seriously....isn't there an app for that??)
3)  A Good Samaritan offering to help because he did the same thing a few days ago.  (He was unsuccessful too....)
4)  Numerous sympathetic looks and "clucks" from various people walking by, observing my predicament, and thanking their lucky stars that it wasn't them
5)  Giving the AAA locksmith directions to where we were parked because he got lost and ended up at the opposite end of town
6)  James, Tony's roommate, driving up to eventually save the day


I cannot tell you enough how much I love these guys.  They always watch out for me and the girls when My Marine is gone -- and I know I can count on them for just about anything.....anytime.  Those guys kept me laughing when all I really wanted to do was cry.  Tony even said that he will forever associate Peyton Manning with "The Great Lockout of 2012" because when he came to my rescue, he was watching the news conference announcing that Denver had acquired Manning.

But the fun didn't stop there....

Yesterday morning, just as I'm getting ready to take Nani to school, James comes walking across the street with a grin on his face. 

"Um.....you know....I forgot that we had a spare key to your house....."

Banging head against the wall.......I also think I'll give him a spare key to the car now too......