Humbling myself . . .

So today, I did something very stupid that I think all of us have done at one time or another in our lives . . .I managed to lock myself out of the condo where I'm staying.  I woke up to find 6" of fresh snow on the ground.  I was preparing to drive down to south Denver to visit Denver Seminary, where I had a 10 am appointment.  As a result, I knew the drive would be cold, so I was sure to grab my hat, gloves, cell phone in the event of an emergency, wallet.  Ok ready to go!  I turn the lock on my doorknob, step out the door, shut the door and then reach for my . . .keys.  The keys were still inside.  And not just the condo key, the keys to car too.  Bummer . . .major bummer.  I then as discreetly as possible tried to check the windows.  Of course they were locked.  So, at this point, my plans to visit the seminary went out the window.

I wandered over to the rec. center a short two blocks away and spent the morning there trying to get out of the cold weather.  With my cell phone (that had one bar of battery left), I'm frantically trying to get a hold of the lady who had given me the car/condo keys originally to see if by chance she had a spare to either.  At this point, I remember the garage door opener is in the car, which is parked in the lot due to space issues, so I'm thinking if I can get inside the car, I can get inside the condo via the garage.

Finally, I hear back from the lady (Becky), who tells me she does not have a second key to either, but had thought of this scenario potentially happening.  But, she gives me the number of the car owner who is in town and I call him.  Yes, he has a spare key!  Then I hop on the bus head to Boulder (15 min from where I live) and pick up the car key.  Then I return to the condo about 4:30 get into the car, pull out the garage door opener . . .it's not working, but did several days earlier.  So then I go to the grocery store to buy a replacement battery, realizing that is the issue.  I get probably the last one of two batteries of its type, put in the new battery after a complicated ordeal opening the case and then the garage opens.  I run inside the garage to the door and as my luck would have it - locked too. 

At this point it is 5pm.  I head over to this lady's house who has invited me to come over in the meantime while I try to find someone with a key.  Finally, I get a hold of the owner's son who lives in Denver (30 min away).  He says he has an extra key and even offers to bring it up.  He's my hero today.  So, at 6:30pm, 9 1/2 hours after initially locking myself out, I am back inside stressed, frustrated and very embarassed. 

I learned a valuable lesson today - check for your keys BEFORE you lock the door :-), and if you have to lock yourself out don't do it on a day with 6" of fresh snow and freezing cold!