IT WON'T OPEN, part 2, plus Curly up a tree

In my last post, I mentioned that we were at Curly's games BEFORE I took Reg to the bank to not-open an account. While we were at her games, 28 minutes from home, Reg called.

Reg:  WHERE ARE YOU? IS ANYONE HOME?

I thought he was asking us to drive him home from practice. We'd already told him that we wouldn't be home. Get a ride, or wait for Mini to be done with her practice. 

Well, he did get a ride. His buddy drove away while Reg proceeded to let himself in with the keypad on the garage door. Only, it didn't work. It hadn't let kids in the last few times they'd tried. I'd left doors unlocked a few times when I knew someone was due home and we wouldn't be home. We do have a warm body home quite often. 

Last week, when Reg came home from practice. The door wouldn't go up, so Reg knocked on the window. Coach was sitting right there, but he was upset that he couldn't hear what Reg was saying. It wasn't his finest moment. I'll leave it at that. It was the coldest night of the year. I was on the other side of the house but I quickly realized that Reg was stuck outside. Mini had trouble opening the door recently, so I deduced what was happening. I raced over and put the garage door up. To me, it was simple. Cold kid outside. Let him in. 

Anyway, I was under the impression that Coach went outside and messed with it/figured it out. 

When Reg was calling us, he wasn't looking for a ride, he was hoping someone was home to let him in. No.one.was.home. And it was crazy cold out and the keypad was not working again.

Reg:  MINI IS AT BREAKFAST WITH HER FRIENDS (she had a car with a garage door opener).

Getting Mini to answer her phone is like asking the weather to stop being cold. Armed with that knowledge, we moved on. I called my folks because they live around the corner and have a key to our house. I wasn't sure if it opened the front door or the door to the house that is inside the garage. They haven't used it in years. My dad came over with the key and it didn't work on the front door, so Reg went home with my dad. 

*note:  My dad stayed in his car, which was wise because of ice. Reg admitted that he tried the key and it fit in the lock but he couldn't get the door open, this COULD be a case of my kids don't know how to use a key. That is something we will need to fix. 

In the meantime, Mini called Reg, wonders never cease, but he told her he was fine because my folks were coming with a key. I messaged her to say if the key doesn't work you should come and get him. Well, she called me and was not close to home and had just arrived at the restaurant, yadda, yadda, yadda. I was like, FINE, GET HIM FROM NANA'S AFTER YOU EAT. Someone likes times with friends. Brave is the person who decides to interfere with that. 

Tank needed a photo from Nana's house
for a creative writing class he is taking.
 This is what I sent him. He is the shirtless
 guy. It was hot. Opposite of what is
 happening in this post. When I sent it,
Tank responded with AW, SUCH GREAT
 MEMORIES WHEN NANA WAS
WATERBOARDING HER
GRANDKIDS OUT IN THE YARD. 

Coach and I ended up beating Mini to my folks' house. I had some pasta (explanation to follow) to give them and a book my dad had loaned Reg while he was quarantining in the basement, so we stopped home to grab that stuff. 

*The day my dad dropped off the book, he had some papers stuck in the front cover. One of the papers was a written warning from a police officer. Apparently that morning on his way back from the his doctor appointment and on the way to our house, he had run a stop sign. He certainly didn't mean for us to see his written warning, but there it was. Lad leaked the written warning discovery to Nana when he took Finn for a walk recently. Oops, poor Dad was almost going to need to ask Finn if he had room in his dog house. I'm guessing if he hadn't left it in the book, he would've hidden his warning from Nana.*

I'm confident that Reg ate all the food my folks had in their fridge while he waited for us. 

Curly doesn't have a phone yet, but she will soon when she graduates in May. When we were beating Mini to Nana's house, (because if you're going to go to breakfast with friends - what's the point in rushing?), Curly commented that she would've really been up a creek if that would've happened to her.

Curly:  REMEMBER WHEN YOU GUYS FORGOT ME WHEN YOU WENT TO CHURCH? I WENT TO THE DESMOND'S HOUSE, BUT THEY DON'T LIVE THERE ANYMORE. 

The Desmonds are a little older than us. We've known them forever. Freakishly, they lived across the street from our old house too. They moved to this neighborhood and a few years, so DID WE. Proof that you can run, but you can't hide. The Desmonds recently moved into the city to be closer to their young adult kids. We do miss them. 

Back to the point:  we did INDEED leave Curly home when we went to church once. I think we drove in two cars, or someone walked to church while the other drove. It was summer. It was a case of I THOUGHT SHE WAS WITH YOU. I left church when I realized she wasn't in the pew. I was so confused. When we'd sent her outside to walk or drive to church, she'd gone outside . . . but alas -  she climbed a tree and she didn't realize that everyone had left for church until she came down a bit later. I found her at the Desmond's house. 

We reviewed which neighbors she could go to in case this situation ever happens to her. No, Mary Ann's name didn't come up. Shock? 

I've said it before, we could leave the door unlocked because if anyone was to break in here they'd take one look around and declare:  SHIT, SOMEONE'S ALREADY RANSACKED THE PLACE. When I came back from the bank with Reg, Coach was replacing the battery on the keypad. I DID mention that that might be the issue during the week, but as I've told you so recently WE SUCK, so I thought Coach inspected it and found it to be working and Coach thought because the light went on it still worked, and Reg enjoyed some fresh air in the FREEZING cold and some time with his grandparents. Hey, so long as none of our drama interfered with Mini's social time, all is well. 

A man at Curly's game overheard our dilemma and asked us why we didn't have the app to check on the door, open it remotely, etc. I laughed. Um, as Tank used to tell the caddy master when he didn't yet own a phone:  MY PARENTS ARE AMISH. Our garage door was left open ALL night twice in the last week by our children, so I turned to him and asked:  TELL ME WISE ONE, HOW DOES ONE GO ABOUT DOING THIS? Fingers crossed that I get this new fangled thing ordered and installed before we lock anyone else out. 

Believe it or not, another WE SUCK post is in the works. Check back tomorrow. Please tell me how you've messed something up, even if it doesn't involve leaving people out in the cold.