What Would You Do For A Klondike Bar?

Geoff decided to extend Mother's Day into Mother's Day Week and brought home a few surprises.  On Tuesday he pulled out a package of some delicious Klondike Bars and we decided to enjoy the warmer weather and eat our treats out on the porch after dinner.  Innocent enough activity, right?  Everything was going great until I stepped out on the porch and closed the door.  In most normal homes, this would be a very normal occurrence, and people would continue to enjoy a normal evening with the perks of a Klondike Bar.  But the problem is, Geoff and I don't live in a home with a normal door.

For whatever reason, the previous owners thought it would be a good idea to install a door knob that has a locking mechanism for the outside latch.  If you turn the inside knob to the left, the outside latch locks in place and it is impossible to open the door from the outside, regardless if you have the key and the only way to fix the problem is from the inside by turning the door knob to the right.  So you all know what happens now, right?

The door was opened to the left, locking the outside latch and I didn't even think to check if the latch was locked before I shut that door good and tight.  The minute I heard the door latch, I immediately panicked because I realized I didn't first check the latch before closed.  Sure enough, Geoff and I were locked out.  Had we opened any windows to air out our house?  Of course not.  So all windows were sealed shut.

Our garage door does not have any type of key pad to code our way in, so that wasn't even an option.  After yanking on the door a few times, popping out some screens, and removing window well covers to inspect all accessible windows, we decided to call a lock smith.  Our options didn't seem too promising.  So I then did what any respectable girl would do...call Dad.  When I had first moved into this place, Dad had unlatched this locking mechanism, but unfortunately things had slipped back into place since---but I thought maybe Dad would remember SOME type of trick we could use.  (I mean, come on, doesn't everyone remember every little detail about every little thing you look at--even if it was years ago?)  Dad tried to be as helpful as he could be over 1,000 miles away, but we had done such a thorough job locking ourselves out, that even his ideas and tips didn't work.  Next step, call our neighbor, Kettie, to borrow some tools.  Kettie provided us with a hammer, butter knife, and screwdriver.  We took apart part of the door frame in hopes to get straight access to the door jamb, no luck.  We shimmied that knife around as much as possible, bent it around with no success.  Finally after an hour and a half of trying everything we could think of, we decided we had two last options.  Call another locksmith or break a window.  I called a locksmith to find out what he charged for a trip out and explained our little predicament.  He thought he could get us in and it would cost us $40.  Sold.  I was willing to fork over $40 to avoid replacing a window and getting back into our home.

Right after I hung up, Geoff decided to turn into MacGyver.

There was one little screw at the bottom of the outside latch... 

Geoff took it out the screw and in his 'rage' swung the knob to the left which popped the locking mechanism out and our door swung open!
 

(Picture is a reenactment.  Not actual night or event.)

I stood there in absolute disbelief as Geoff quickly called the locksmith back to cancel our request.  We were in our house!  Oh, it never felt so good to be inside--especially since it was done with no damage and no fee!

And what of the Klondike Bars?  No, we didn't let them melt or go to waste.  Right after I realized what I had done.  Geoff shrugged his shoulders and said, "Let's enjoy our ice cream first, and then figure out how to get back in."  Needless to say, I had a hard time 'enjoying' the treat at the time, but I'm glad Geoff is so great about keeping his cool---even when his wife puts him in a not-so-great-predicament.  Thanks for saving the day, Geoff!