I will never lock myself out of my house again

So, a couple of weekends ago, I was on my way to a Memorial Day barbecue hosted by my friends Adam and Celia, and I had just stepped out the door with my dog's leash in one hand and my famous bean dip and the awesome party game Apples to Apples in the other, when I realized as the door shut with a click that the keys were sitting on the kitchen counter. And yes, the door was locked. It was not the first time I had locked myself out of the house, oh no, that would be the very first morning in my new place when I was still in my pajamas and had to go up to my new neighbors and use their phone to find a locksmith on a Sunday morning. It cost me $75 and took two hours to unlock that time, so I could only imagine what an ordeal it would be on Memorial Day with most locksmiths probably enjoying the holiday with their families! So, determined to get back into the house without calling a locksmith, I checked the windows. Two were open, but only about 2 inches, and they were locked in place. I thought if I could just jimmy the lock with something, I might be able to open it wider, so I went to my neighbors' house and asked if I could have a wire coat hanger. At first I tried completely unbending the coat hanger and snaking it up through the open part of the window, but I couldn't get the necessary leverage. Then I realized that by creating several short bends in the wire, I could sneak it through between the two window panes where they overlapped, and get very close to the lock. It took me a while to get the wire into exactly the right shape, but finally, success! I was able to hook the wire around the lock and by shaking the window, nudged the lock into the unlocked position. I tried to throw open the sash (Night Before Christmas-style), but alas, there was another peg holding the window in place, and this one was spring-loaded. I was only able to open it about 6 inches wide. My head wouldn't fit through, so I was quite sure the rest of my body wouldn't either. I thought about getting a small child and sliding it through the opening, but there were none on hand. I cursed myself for never teaching my dog to find my keys. So I decided to try my bendy wire hanger technique on the kitchen window instead. While it took me about 30 minutes to unlock the living room window, I broke into the kitchen window in about 60 seconds flat! I (oh so gracefully) slid in the window, over the recycling, and retrieved the keys. Why I am telling this story today? Because one of the many errands and to-dos I've accomplished this weekend was getting spare keys made. Woohoo!