I was going to start this the other night.....

....but the tow truck arrived.  A tow truck you wonder?  Allow me to back up a bit.  It was a Sunday night.  Two days into the new year.  I had been at the parents uploading information to the website for Mom's work.  You know how you get going on something  & you keep going and going & suddenly you're not tired anymore? Well, it was one of those type of nights.   After several hours of work, I found myself browsing old concert videos on my computer & laughing it up with my brother.  Slowly everyone trickled off to bed.  I eventually decided it was time to retire, so I packed everything up and headed out.  It was around 1:30 am at this point.  I started the car, was about to back out, when I realized that I had left my Nalgene in Dad's vehicle.  Darn the luck; it was cold outside!  I hopped out of the car, grabbed the Nalgene, and returned to my vehicle, only to discover that the door was locked.  Here I must include a side note of explanation:  my little Escape possesses a nifty feature.  When you start the ignition, all of the doors automatically lock.  However, if you open the driver's side door while it's running, it will unlock and remain unlocked, even if shut.  Mind you I have owned the Escape for over a year and a half now, getting in and out multiple times with it running, and have had no issues.  For some reason that night though, the door locked back on me.  It was a fluke accident, I suppose you could say.  Anyways, I didn't believe it at first.  I tried every door just to be sure, but it was locked up tight.  Naturally I panicked, but not for too long.  I suddenly remembered the "spare key drawer" and ran inside to the kitchen.  You see, Mom has a kitchen drawer that houses, amongst kitchen towels and other random items, everyone's second set of car keys.  Every time I've gotten a new vehicle, I have given Mom the spare set of keys right away, and into the "spare key drawer" they go!  I walked into the house with confidence, but to my dismay, there was no extra set to the Escape.  I searched the drawer through several times, and finally decided I would have to wake someone.  So....around 1:45 am, Dad and I head out in the cold with a coat hanger.  We try, unsuccessfully, for about an hour or so with various random items:  the straightened out coat hanger, a yard stick, and some random expandable/collapsable measuring tape/stick thing that I think was an old OEC give-a-way.  We were able to get all of these items into the car through the window, but weren't able to get enough leverage to push the lock back flush with the door.  Dad kept exclaiming how he couldn't believe I had no hide-a-key and crawling around on the ground with a flash light.  At one point, he looked at me and pulled the "Chelsea, I can't believe you did this" card.  I looked at him and responded with "Really, Dad?  You really think I would have chosen to do this or done this on purpose?"  He didn't continue on that track any longer.  One other small detail I should mention:  there was music blaring this entire time.  Usually, I always have my stereo set to auxiliary, because I always use my iPhone instead of CD's or radio.  For some random reason it was set to CD mode, and I had an old, burned, mixed CD which was predominantly Thom Yorke's solo stuff. I love Radiohead.  I love Thom Yorke.  But their music is a little different to begin with.  Did I mention that the CD was scratched and kept skipping?  So, we have unusual music that's blaring and skipping......such a lovely combo to listen to over and over and over again while your Dad gets more and more and more intensely frustrated by the moment.  At one point he actually said "What is this stuff?"  I was like, "It's music, Dad.  The CD's just skipping, that's all."  Any of you that know my Dad will appreciate this scenario! :]  I may never think of The Eraser the same again.  Around 2:45, 3:00 am I had a light bulb moment:  AAA.......my Grandma had enrolled me a year and a half or so ago when I was about to embark on a road trip to Kentucky.  Did I still have it?  I wasn't sure.  I went inside and called, only to discover that apparently my membership had expired; BUT they would send out a tow service if I would agree to call the next day and renew my membership.  I was very glad to agree to this.  Dad and I headed inside to wait on the tow truck guy.  I tried to convince him to go back to bed, but he "refused", only to fall asleep on the futon and snore loudly while I browsed the internet and contemplated life.  That's when I decided I was going to start a blog, and this would be my first entry, but the tow truck arrived at that moment.  I believe it was close to 3:45 am.  Naturally, it took him two seconds to use some handy device and unlock the doors.  A minute or two to retrieve my wallet, pay him, thank him, and send him on his way.  The whole shenanigan came to a close around 4:00 am.  What a way to really kick off a new year!  Thankfully I have a boss who was kind enough to tell me to sleep in and come to work around noon.  The morals of this story:   Always have a spare key.  Or two.  Or three!  And thank the Lord for AAA....