What Was I Thinking?????

File this under "What was I thinking???"  Our slim 9 ft pre-lit Christmas tree is 8+ years old and certain patches are no longer pre-lit. I replaced bulbs (even though it's the one out, the rest remain lit type). I replaced fuses. No luck.

So I got the bright idea to take off all the old lights and replace them with new LED lights. It took *five* hours-- with wire cutters -- to remove the lights before I turned it over to Sons #1 & 2 for the final hour. (So I could eat dinner at midnight.)

Not only where the strands were wrapped around the branches (which I knew), but there were attached with hundreds of tiny green plastic clips, assorted green twist ties and little green zip ties (which I did not know).

It took another hour this morning to re-string with 450 LED lights (forget wrapping around branches!). So if you come to my house in May and my Christmas tree is still up, it's all because I was too cheap to buy another prelit tree. Seriously, this one is at least 8 years old. I got my money's worth.

Oh, and to see my hands and forearms, you'd think I tried to give a pack of feral cats a bath.

Son #1 is going to the State Cross Country Meet!

Son #1, who is now a senior (can you believe how fast time flies?), is going with his high school cross country team as an alternate.  As an alternate, he's not scheduled to compete unless another runner is unable.  Still, he's thrilled to be asked.

He's been running his heart out since the 9th grade.  He's not incredibly fast, but very persistent.  Lots of stamina.  He's gone from the bottom of the pack -- literally, the first year, he came in last for the first several meets -- to in the top 12 on his team. 

He's worked hard, great team spirit.  Even if he doesn't run at State, being asked to make the trip is a great way to end his high school running career!