Tip for a Tuesday....

Three items you should always keep handy:  oven mitts, a screwdriver and a cell phone.
I'll explain.....

In what most certainly should be listed under the heading "You can't make this up" there transpired this morning a scene unlike any I have experienced until today.
I am currently looking after the wee ones while daughter #2 and her husband are in California attending the wedding of one of my nephews. For the most part, it has been a real joy to spend several days with the girls and experience their routines and personalities.  This morning's challenge was not presented by them however, but rather by the four legged creature who resides upstairs.

Their dog has a routine and personality of her own, which necessitated my having to coax her to come downstairs and go out into the backyard. Since the previous evenings coaxing went less than smoothly, shall we say, the dog didn't feel like cooperating with me this morning.

Hence, the oven mitts.

I'm happy to report that they worked like a charm and I was able to quickly scoop said pooch and carry her downstairs without incident.
Till we reached the back door.
And the deadbolt would not unlock.

Now picture this: grown woman, (mind you, a grandmother!) clutching a dog which resembles a fox, in her arms, while sporting large tan oven mitts.  She rushes towards the door to the backyard and....to her horror....THE DEADBOLT ON THE DOOR WON'T OPEN. She then starts to scream frantically at the door, "Are you kidding me?"  Then immediately switches to pleading with said door to open, but to no avail.

That's when I put the dog down and reached for the screwdriver.

I did manage to get one of the deadbolt screws out.  However, my efforts merely resulted in the deadbolt cover spinning freely but not unlocking the door. Again, "Are you kidding me?"

Then I grabbed the cell phone.

While still shouting my disbelief that I can't unlock the only door which safely opens to the rear yard so as to let the dog out to go to the bathroom, while at the same time hearing the two year old happily and repeatedly jumping up and down in her crib, I texted the Englishman.  Like a knight in shining armor, he quickly drove down in his big red truck to come to my rescue.

Within minutes, he had the deadbolt removed and had let the dog out.  My hero!!

And there you have my rather lengthy explanation as to why I suggest that, should you ever find yourself in similar circumstances, you check your supplies and make doubly sure that oven mitts, a screwdriver and charged cell phone are all within your grasp.

Seriously.