I prayed no one would witness my breaking and entering.

On the first day my sixth graders were to start school, I raced through my morning routine, eager to have some time to grab a cup of coffee and continue working on my room. On the way out the door, I grabbed my cane since I was still nursing my latest round of aches and pains after lifting heavy boxes and overdoing household chores. Placing my computer bag and lunch tote into the car, I realized I had forgotten my afternoon energy drink, and I hobbled back into the house. Since I was in a rush, I grabbed my bottle and my cane, locked the door, and limped as quickly as I could to my car.

As I made my way to my ruby HHR, that’s when it dawned on me. In my haste, I had locked my keys in the house! Moaning, I knew I needed to slow down and stop rushing all the time. This wasn’t the first time I had locked myself out of the house or misplaced my keys because I was always in a hurry.

Well, I didn’t have time to chastise myself for my bad habits; I needed to get to school. Tick-tock, tick-tock! Time was flying, and I still needed to grab my morning coffee before I arrived at school.

The night before I had opened one of the bedroom windows, and left it cracked, so the night air would cool the house. Since it was going to be another scorcher, I left the window open. Without wasting any more time, I quickly opened the garage door, picked up the ladder, carried it in one hand, and clomped around the side of the house with my trusty cane.  A family of sparrows perched on the upper branches of a pine tree and scolded me for rustling the branches with my ladder.

Making my way to the window, I glanced around the empty neighborhood.  All I could think about were my neighbors, and I prayed no one would witness my breaking and entering.  After pushing the window open, I set the ladder in place. Since I knew I would need my cane once I broke into my house, I tossed it inside the window. Carefully, I scaled the ladder and awkwardly slipped one leg over the windowsill, so I was straddling it, one leg in and one leg out. Slowly, I scooted to the right while leaning towards the wall, so I would have something steady to lean on while trying to regain my balance. Then, I gradually wiggled my remaining leg through the window, and somehow managed this feat without causing any more damage to my already abused and battered body.

Sighing with relief, I closed the window, gingerly stooped and picked up my cane. Making a mental note, I knew it was time I should make an additional key and hide it somewhere in my yard. Walking toward the kitchen to retrieve my keys, I wondered where I had placed my spare. Suddenly, I stopped and groaned. In my hurry to make my way into the house, I had forgotten that I had put my spare in my book bag that was sitting in the front seat of my unlocked car! Laughing, I realized that once again, my constant rushing had created yet another fiasco! Hmm, wonder if I will ever learn this simple lesson and finally stop scrambling through this crazy life?