Well Guys I decided to go to battle with the problem yesterday afternoon and this time I WON!!!

First I took about a gallon of hot water out with me, The seal around the trunk I already knew was a major culprit. So I poured the water around the perimeter of the trunk and then a bunch over the lock to heat it up some so I could get the key in. It was too windy out to use the lighter trick. Got the key in turned to left and pushed in and pulled up hard, got the trunk open!

NEXT... started investigating what could be causing the problem with the remote function, well in looking everything over I noticed the the switch that senses the opened or closed status of the lid was stuck in the closed position.
So for starters I cleaned up the sliding portion of the switch so it moved up and down like its supposed to.

WELL.... that seemed to be a major player in the problem. First obvious sign was my trunk light started working again, whew hewww!!!!! And my alarm went off as well. And sure enough I closed the trunk, locked everything with my remote, unlocked with my remote and pushed the lock on the trunk and it worked!! then I used the trunk button on the remote and it worked! Then I used the button in the car and it worked!!!

SO, I guess I taught myself a little something there and persistence paid off.
That little sliding switch just to the left of the trunk latch controls a lot more than just the light!!