Holidazzle Parade (Holidisaster?)

Last nite it was about 40 degrees (Let's hear it for global warming! I think MN will be the new FL!) so I packed up the kids and drove 'em down to Minneapolis for the annual Holidazzle Parade on Nicollett Mall. Unfortunately, Jeremy had an incident involving his knee and a coffee table, so he, Kristi and the Shawlettes weren't able to join us. Well, sort of....

So we enjoyed the parade and then I took the kids around the corner to Applebee's for dinner to wait for the traffic to thin a bit before we headed out of downtown. After dinner, upon arriving back at the van, I realize that my ignition key is gone!!! After a few laps around the block we'd frequented, I gave up and called AAA. Only to find that Doug and I's membership was expired. It's 8:30 at this time. After setting up my new AAA account, waiting for an hour for the local AAA locksmith to tell me he was out of the transponder key for my van, and finding ANOTHER locksmith to come out, well.. it's like 10pm. Then there was a buncha other hiccups in the mess, so I called Jeremy and he came and picked up the kids, dropped Chan at her place and got mine delivered home. Saw them off from downtown around 10:30. After some trial and error with the locksmith, $220 for the key, I arrived home around 12:30am. YIKES!!! A little bit of bah humbug, I tell ya!!

A HUGE THANKS to Jeremy for helping me out. I know that was a major pain in the ass! I appreciate it and I owe you big!! And thanks to you too, Todd, for staying on the phone with me and keeping my stress levels well below where they coulda been!!