focus is key...

I was having trouble coming up with a new topic to blog about, so my dear friend Shanda suggested that I blog about fireplaces.
Uh... no thanks.

Today I was reminded of a GREAT topic, one that I know a LOT about- locking your keys in your car.

This is something I used to do often. In fact, I did it so often that AAA told me that if I called them again that year, they would charge me $50 to come break into my car for me (that was in March). I wisely decided to have a few spares made for just such an occasion and handed them out to the people closest/nearest to me. One went to my roommate, one to a close friend and one to my parents.
This was probably the smartest thing I ever did.
I've locked my keys in my car at least 20 times. At least. I remember once sitting outside of Alberto's in Riverside (the clean one) for three hours waiting for my friend to get off work...

That was four years ago. It's been over a year since I've locked my in my car... until today. Today was a crazy day at work and I was really looking forward to going home and enjoying a nice relaxing evening. I was going to watch Waiting for Guffman (it came in the mail yesterday!!! I found it online for A PENNY!) while I did some laundry and cleaned up a little bit while I waited to watch Lost.
Key words: going to.
On my way home I thought to myself, "Maybe I'll grab a kids bowl at Wahoo's for dinner" and as I was sitting in the parking lot listening to Coldplay's "Yellow" for the third time on my way home, my mind totally wandered.
When the song was over I grabbed my cell, my wallet and was fiddling with my hands free device as I got out of the car. It was then that I changed my mind- I really wasn't all that hungry so opted for an iced coffee from the Starbucks that was in the same shopping center. A little boy chatted with me while I was in line- there was a dog in the car outside and he wanted to know if it was mine. He wanted to pet it.
I didn't have the heart to tell him that I'm afraid of most dogs (I am) so I just told him no, it wasn't mine and he then showed me how he could hop in a circle backwards without falling down.
He fell down.

It wasn't until after my drink was up and I was headed for the door that I realized that I didn't have my car keys.
The girl at the counter SWORE she saw them in my hands and accused me of flushing them down the toilet I didn't use.
Whatever lady. I think I'd REMEMBER using your nasty bathroom...

I went out to my car and sure enough- there they were. My keys.
Car key in the ignition, hanging on my super cool key chain (ask me to show you sometime- it really is pretty nifty) with my house key, key to my parent's house, key to my Aunt's house, work key, heart thingy my cousin gave me with my name on it from when I was in her wedding, fob to get into the church office, LA Fitness barcode, church barcode, cool little keychain thing that has my brother's airforce photo on it, and a skeleton key from the house I grew up in...

Yup. There they were, just "hanging out" if you will... taunting me from inside my vehicle.

So I hung out at Starbucks until my mom brought me my spare.
I kind of felt like I was in highschool, waiting to be picked up.
While I was waiting for her to meet me, I thought about how lucky I am that I've never given my key to someone who's big on practical jokes....