We put up our Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving. We have an artificial tree, and for the last few years, we have just kept the lights on each section of the tree when storing it. When we put the sections of the tree together and plugged in the lights, they magically worked! We could skip right to the fun part of putting up the ornaments.
Not this time.
When we put the sections of the tree together and plugged in the lights....there were about three strands not working. I told the kids they would have to wait for a little while for Preston to fix the lights before we could start putting the ornaments up. Preston unwound the first string and started testing the lights to see which one wasn't plugged in right. After testing nearly every single light on the string, Preston found the broken light and fixed it. He moved on to the next string. This one had quite a few lights that seemed to be causing problems, and he replaced quite a few while I put the little kids down for a nap, promising them that we would wait for them before we started putting up the ornaments. When I came back downstairs, Preston informed me that he was tired of testing lights and wanted to just buy some new strands since they only cost like $3 each.
Okay. Preston and Arden were off to the store and returned with some brand new strands to replace the two that were still broken plus an extra one. He quickly put them on the tree and plugged in the lights....now a different strand wasn't working.
Preston started talking to himself in an unknown language (rickinfrickinfrackinstupidlights). My dad used to speak this same language on Christmas tree day!! Preston tried to unwind this strand, but it seemed to be wrapped around branches that weren't right next to each other and he was having a reallly hard time unwinding it. His unknown-language-talking got louder.
Next thing I knew, Preston had SCISSORS. I sweetly asked him if it was a good idea to cut wires with scissors while they are plugged in. He said he needed them to be plugged in so he could tell which strand he was trying to cut off the tree. He also told me that they cut all the lights down from Temple Square every year instead of unwinding them. I helpfully pointed out that they are probably not plugged in while they are cutting. He mumbled something about rubber coating and made his first cut. Nothing exciting seemed to happen, so I shrugged my shoulders and let him continue. The little kids were waking up by now and wanted a snack. I was peeling them an orange when I glanced over at Preston just in time to see him cut a wire that apparently was from the wrong strand, because a beautiful shower of sparks came from the cut wire and landed on the ground.
Luckily, Preston was fine...or at least he wasn't physically hurt. But now he had ANOTHER strand that obviously needed to be unwound from the tree and replaced. He was not a happy camper. I had to go out to the garage to take out the garbage sack, and while I was in the garage, I heard Preston give an "AARRRRGHHH!" so loud that I heard it clearly. It was so funny, I couldn't help laughing all the way back into the house. He got all the strands off the tree and delegated putting the new lights up to me. I got them on, and we plugged in the lights....now a different strand wasn't working!
I just took that strand off the tree and called it good.
So, about four hours after we first plugged in the lights, we got to put up the ornaments! Yay!
When we put the sections of the tree together and plugged in the lights....there were about three strands not working. I told the kids they would have to wait for a little while for Preston to fix the lights before we could start putting the ornaments up. Preston unwound the first string and started testing the lights to see which one wasn't plugged in right. After testing nearly every single light on the string, Preston found the broken light and fixed it. He moved on to the next string. This one had quite a few lights that seemed to be causing problems, and he replaced quite a few while I put the little kids down for a nap, promising them that we would wait for them before we started putting up the ornaments. When I came back downstairs, Preston informed me that he was tired of testing lights and wanted to just buy some new strands since they only cost like $3 each.
Okay. Preston and Arden were off to the store and returned with some brand new strands to replace the two that were still broken plus an extra one. He quickly put them on the tree and plugged in the lights....now a different strand wasn't working.
Preston started talking to himself in an unknown language (rickinfrickinfrackinstupidlights). My dad used to speak this same language on Christmas tree day!! Preston tried to unwind this strand, but it seemed to be wrapped around branches that weren't right next to each other and he was having a reallly hard time unwinding it. His unknown-language-talking got louder.
Next thing I knew, Preston had SCISSORS. I sweetly asked him if it was a good idea to cut wires with scissors while they are plugged in. He said he needed them to be plugged in so he could tell which strand he was trying to cut off the tree. He also told me that they cut all the lights down from Temple Square every year instead of unwinding them. I helpfully pointed out that they are probably not plugged in while they are cutting. He mumbled something about rubber coating and made his first cut. Nothing exciting seemed to happen, so I shrugged my shoulders and let him continue. The little kids were waking up by now and wanted a snack. I was peeling them an orange when I glanced over at Preston just in time to see him cut a wire that apparently was from the wrong strand, because a beautiful shower of sparks came from the cut wire and landed on the ground.
Luckily, Preston was fine...or at least he wasn't physically hurt. But now he had ANOTHER strand that obviously needed to be unwound from the tree and replaced. He was not a happy camper. I had to go out to the garage to take out the garbage sack, and while I was in the garage, I heard Preston give an "AARRRRGHHH!" so loud that I heard it clearly. It was so funny, I couldn't help laughing all the way back into the house. He got all the strands off the tree and delegated putting the new lights up to me. I got them on, and we plugged in the lights....now a different strand wasn't working!
I just took that strand off the tree and called it good.
So, about four hours after we first plugged in the lights, we got to put up the ornaments! Yay!
Ahhhhh...these memories that will last a lifetime.
2 comments:
You should have heard your Dad laugh when he read this post. The "rickenfracken" language especially tickled his funny bone. That is because he is fluent in it at Christmas light time.
I'm sure it was infuriating but what a great story! Glad you finally got the tree up.
Post a Comment