Collaboration or Criminals??

What a fabulous weekend I had! I enjoyed time with my kids, time with Darrell, and time relaxing and enjoying some time to think. It was great . . . and then I realized I locked my keys in my car . . . but let me slow down as I am getting ahead of myself.

After a very full weekend of kids, fun at the zoo, spending money, and doing some work here and there, I found myself needing some alone time with Darrell. Just a simple hug can carry me for days.

I went over to his place in downtown Indy, and truly enjoyed some snuggling time, talking, dreaming, and learning more about life and myself. After a bit, we decided to take a walk down to a nearby Starbucks. I keep a pair of sneakers in my car for just such spontaneous occasions, and off we went hand in hand with his dog in tow.

I ordered a chai tea and a piece of cinnamon toffee crunch loaf - very yummy!! We sat outside, said hello to a few strangers who wanted to pet the dog, and then headed on back for me to get home.

And then it hit me - When I put on my sneakers, I put my purse in there, too, and intentionally locked the doors to keep my purse safe. Ugh!!

Darrell was very supportive, but I was really upset about having to fork over more money on a holiday(!)because I wasn't thinking. I grumbled and complained some, but it really wasn't doing much good. We decided to look online to see how we could "break in" to my van. It's amazing how much information you can find out about stealing cars online, but there wasn't a whole lot of useable information for what we needed.

We decided to try the old hanger method, but Darrell only had one metal hanger in his entire closet, and it was one that had the cardboard piece on the bottom. (Plastic hangers are his first choice, I learned.) We tried to work with it, but it was too short. We needed a regular one.

SO, once you know what you need you go get it - right? It may not be pretty or fashionable or altogether prim and proper, but I put my mind to work on how to get a metal hanger. I knocked on his next door neighbor's door and asked. He looked at me a little funny, BUT he left for just a second and came back with one. Yeah!

We tried for several minutes, but neither of us being criminals, we really didn't know what we were doing. Several people rode by on bicycles or walked by looking at us a little funny, but I asked each one, "Do you know how to do this??" No luck there.

I finally gave in and decided to call the locksmith. Grumble, grumble, GRUMBLE!! I gave the operator all the information while Darrell continued to come up with new ideas. I saw that he was actually putting the hanger inside the window and trying to reach the door handle - brilliant!

We decided to keep trying, but now we had a time limit. If the locksmith came before we figured it out, I'd just have to bite the bullet. But we still had time. We bounced ideas off each other. Took turns trying things to see who was better or stronger at working with the hanger or the window. I kept looking over my shoulder expecting to see the locksmith van pulling up any second.

And then, we did it! Darrell managed to get the hanger around the door handle, leverage the hanger in the right direction, pull, and open the door. He is so my hero!!

Life Lesson ~ Never underestimate the power of your Remarkable teams and alliances. Both of us had great ideas and strengths. Both of us had a part. And when push came to shove, and the deadline was looming, we worked together to reach our goal. There are some things you cannot do alone, and it serves us all very well to have those chosen few to support us all along the way.