my roommate and i decided that in order to take advantage of the beautiful weather we’ve been experiencing here in the midwest lately, we should take a quick walk through belleville suburbia.

we always talk about the beautiful houses and how we will most likely never obtain enough funds to actually own one so expensive.

we discuss our careers and our futures and talk about our days at work.

these are always fun times.

tonight megan grabbed her extra key instead of taking the one off her keychain. it was the one her ex-boyfriend had given back to her recently and since it wasn’t connected to her keys, it was easier to grab.

we didn’t think much of it until we returned from our journey. the key..it just didn’t work. we pushed and pulled but it wouldn’t budge. so it’s 8:30 pm, and we’re locked out, standing in the dark, considering what we should.

we are relatively convinced that jarrett gave back the wrong key. but he is in alton and very much working. so he couldn’t exactly bring it to us. plus, we didn’t have a phone.

after a few moments of decision making, we decided to visit the nice elderly woman next door. she always smiled, though i had never spoken a word to her.

as she opened her door in her nighty, she peered out cautiously. apparently no one ever told her not to answer her door at night, but at least we are not rapists. i suppose we look non-threatening enough.

nancy was very kind to us. she let us use her phone, and she let me wish my hands–the frog i found on the way home, todo the frog..or frodo, as we lovingly called him..(we can’t afford to keep a dog here) had peed on my hand during our walk home.

she was kind. and obviously very angry with the management around this place, but still kind. as it drew closer to 9pm we had to say goodbye to nancy as I felt we were keeping her awake. so we sat outside of the apartment and waited. megan had gotten ahold of her sister at McKendree who had agreed to drive from there to pick us up and then drive us to Alton (she is also very kind)

so we’re just waiting outside. chatting. sitting on my car. we meet another neighbor, his name was drew. he was probably 30 or so, he seemed completely harmless and actually came back out to “get something out of his car” but i’m relatively sure he was checking on us. making sure we didn’t get shot or stabbed. good fellow.

at some point I decided we should look into the prospect of climbing up the balcony. this is not advisable. it’s like 12 feet up. and probably covered with spiders. and even then, the door was locked so, it probably would have been all for not.

finally after what seemed like an hour ashley showed up with some good news.

the key actually works.

what?! how.

no way.

so we head back over to the door, apparently you have to jiggle it.

we we jiggled, and pushed. nothing. so finally i give the stupid thing a try and if you do it JUST right, it slides right open. yep.

so we had the key the whole time.

right there.

oh, and when i went to the balcony door—it was unlocked.

i’m prettttty sure i could have stolen the neighbors lawn chair and MAYBE shimmied up there.

but i guess it’s alright. we met some neighbors. and chilled out without the tv drowning out the conversation.

these things do happen for a reason!

and then i scared the living daylights out of megan. i snuck around the corner–just like i used to do to my sisters when we were little–they always hated me for that.

then i remembered this game my sisters used to play when we were little and at home during the days in the summer

it was called mommy monster.
basically my mom would sneak around the house like a t-rex or some other creepy animal and scare the crap out of us. high-pitch screaming always filled the house. it was always so fun to be so terrified.

i had totally forgotten that game until tonight!

i miss when mommy monster was the most exciting part of my day.

cards/cubs game this saturday. i’m pretty excited!

-jess

Oh beautiful smiles, won’t you stay awhile
We could close the door and sleep all day
It’s a September sky with pretty pictures in my mind
That’s lost its feeling of so afraid

Everything is beautiful here
It’s spinning circles around my ears
I’m finally breaking free from fear
And it’s fading

neutral milk hotel~everything is