A Pre-Lit Thanksgiving

Since Bella Rose is living with me this year, we are doing holidays a little differently. For Thanksgiving, I told her I would take her to the restaurant of her choice, and then afterwards we would go see a movie, and that's just what we did! 

After we got home from the movies she wanted to put up the Christmas tree.  Last year it was her and I putting up the tree; first time in a couple of years I really enjoyed doing this; also the first time I used my mother's collected ornaments since she died in 2004.  I had just hung onto them, and last year it felt right.  My mom was so close to little Isabella, said she was her "rosebud."  Holidays always bring my mother to mind, and my Dad, too.  I miss them.

Anyway, this is a 7-foot tree with prelit white lights that I got up from the basement only to assemble, plug in, and WTF? 

Perfect if they work, right? A nightmare if they don't.

Yeah, the bottom part of the tree lights go on, and only some of the middle do, but the top well, it ain't working at all.

So, here I am, frustrated, wrestling apart this 7 foot tree that has probably 3000 white lights to try to narrow down the problem...(non-prelit *bleep*! how dare you not work!). So, since the directions were long lost many years ago I presume, I get online and google to see if possibly there is a quick fix to this prelit nightmare, and some say check the fuse.

Okay so where in the heck is a fuse on a Christmas tree?! Then upon further investigation they say its in the plug?...parallel to the prongs? I'm looking at the plug-in (which are many in this extension of a tree) and just don't see it. Finally! after much prodding and poking around on the plug I figure it out. You have to slide something up on the side, and underneath are two fuses! Wow, who would have thunk?!

Finally got that figured out; however, the fuses didn't look bad, but my! what a pain in the ass to get out! (there's gotta be an easier way)...after the fuses I try to plug it in, its deader than 4 o'clock, doesn't even blink! (damn blinkity-blink non-blinking *bleep*! after all that work! ha!)...so I'm thinking what now? Sit down and try to figure out which of the 3000 white lights look like they've burnt out? and replace? Are you fruckin' kidding me? hell noooo!

Okay, okay so I gave in. I tried that on the very top part, spending upwards of an hour, and then checking the fuse, and when I plugged it in expecting it to light, you guessed it...(damn blinkity-blink non-blinking *bleep*!) Yep, not to mention just trying to pull those things out of their tight light socket, and place them back in was hard, they are way too snug...not that my efforts did any good anyway!

Pre-Lit tree BAH HUMBUG!

I won't ever buy another pre-lit tree!

So, today, the day after the pre-lit tragedy, we salvaged the tree by putting it back together, and placing a string of colored lights, kinda sick of the anemic white ones anyway, and proceeded to decorate it anyway! Its beautiful!

We did good.  Mom would be proud.