There is a First Time for Everything

There is a first time for everything, so here are some stories from the past few weeks of my life:

1.  The first time I lost a bet with actual consequences- 
A couple of weeks ago I was on a retreat with kids from my youth group.  One of them came up to me very seriously at the beginning and said "I brought something with me, and I don't know if I should have..."  I, of course, figured it was contraband like alcohol, cigars, fireworks, or an ipod.  Turns out it was a deck of playing cards.  I told him that it was fine, as long as there was no gambling.  I should have taken my own advice.  Over the course of the weekend, they started playing  competitive games of speed.  The kids found out that I knew how to play, and wanted to play against me.  We took turns for a while, and I decided to make things a little more interesting.  I told the kids that if they played against me and I won, I would get to challenge them to do something on the weekend retreat.  If they won, they would get to challenge me to something.  All challenges would have to be run by the other chaperone to keep them fair.  I was looking for an opportunity to push the kids to grow while on the retreat, so this was a chance for me to challenge them.  They were very excited, and all wanted to try.
Katie vs. J- Kicked her butt, won a challenge.
Katie vs. T- Kicked butt and took names, won a challenge.
Katie vs. A- ...lost...by a lot.  She took her sweet time thinking of my challenge. 
So what do I have to do?  Sing.  In a public setting.  In the near future.  I am not giving any more details , because I do not need an even bigger audience when I make my debut.
Remind me to never trust teenagers again.

2. The first time that my mom yelled at me over the phone-
The setting: My mom had baked a new recipe for this delicious apple/butterscotch cake.  She gave me a chunk, and I put it into a container, apparently saying something about how it was just enough for four pieces, so it was perfect- I was planning on taking it to my friend's house for dinner the next night.
Fast forward to later that evening, around 11:30, when my cell phone rang.  It was my mother, and for your reference, she is a very polite person.  No conversation ever starts or ends without all of the basic sentiments (and then some).  So, when I answered the phone (at 11:30 p.m.), I was a little surprised when she yelled into my ear, "FOUR!?! What do you mean FOUR!?!"
I had no idea what she was talking about, so she had to rewind the conversation a couple of hours and ask why I was so insistent that four pieces of cake was perfect.
"What is going on? Are they setting you up with someone tomorrow night?"
It still took me a couple of seconds to register what she was talking about (she was certain that I was actually going on a date and not telling her), at which time I explained.  I was going to see my friends, who have four kids.  One is an infant, and their boys would be allergic to the cake, but their daughter might eat a piece.  Me + couple + daughter = 4 pieces of cake.
"Oh, ok.  Goodnight, then." she said.

3. The first time that I entered my home through a window-
I am not the best with keys, many people would tell you.  Yesterday, I was rushing from the church office to the 4-H office after a stop at my apartment, and walked out with my purse, sunglasses, phone and coffee...but no keys.  Usually, I have a spare key in my purse, but this summer that is the key ring that I have been taking with me when I walk or bike, so it was with my mp3 player.  Inside my apartment. 
Choices:
A. Walk to work.  Not a big deal, but I would be late, and I would still have to call my mom or sister to come and give me their key sometime throughout the day so I could get back in.
B. Call my landlord.  Didn't even consider this one.
C. Call my mom to come and let me in.  Didn't consider this one either.  She was at work, and I still had option D.
D. Take advantage of my ground level apartment and crawl in through the window.
I chose option D.  Fortunately, I live in a very safe town, so ground level windows has never bothered me before.  In fact, I frequently leave the windows open and they are always unlocked.  So, I set down my stuff, and went around outside to my bedroom.  There, I could pop open a window, crawl in, and land on my bed.  However, I discovered that the window was locked.  Then I remembered that as I have been cleaning & packing, I started locking the windows... Next choice, craft room.  Locked.  Living room windows are much smaller than the others with no furniture to step down onto, but it didn't matter.  Locked.  Last option, which was a long shot, was the window into my laundry room.  It was a long shot because I rarely open that window, so I assumed that it would be locked too.  However, amazingly enough, it was unlocked, so I proceeded to start jimmying the screen off, all the while praying that if anyone saw me, it would be one of my neighbors and they would not call the cops on me.  Actually I was praying that no one would see me, let's be honest.  The screen was rusted and stuck, so it took quite some wrestling to get it off.  I then got the window open. pulled up the shade, moved the flower pots on the sill, and crawled awkwardly though the window, landing on top of my dryer.  I had to jump over my recycling to get down, knocking it all over the floor in the process.  Regardless, I was inside, and I didn't hear sirens, so I considered it a success.  So, I turned to clean up the mess that I had made outside so that I could get to work...and found...that my back door was unlocked.  It had been the whole time.  I am just that awesome.