a miracle at our house

Christmas is over.  The tree that almost wasn't is put away.  What????  The tree that almost wasn't?  The tree that I meticulously (yet crappily) photographed in my Picture the Holidays class?

In early December, we my dh set up the (artificial) Christmas tree.  He confirmed that the muted coloured lights were working before handing me the plug to our muted coloured lights so I started hanging the lights from the top of the tree.  After we got the lights up, my dh exclaimed that the lights were on backwards (so the plug wasn't at the right end of the tree).  We removed the lights and re-did them.  After a little spat because I didn't like how the lights were hung on the tree, I was delighted when he exclaimed that the lights were again on backwards and we needed to remove them. We re-did the muted coloured lights a third time only to discover at the end of the process that 2/3 of the tree wasn't lit with the muted coloured lights (although the tree was almost lit by the heated exchanges being used in the midst of the tree).  We couldn't figure out why the muted coloured lights weren't working.

Out came my mini-white lights that I have kept stashed ever since my dh and I came to an armistice by adopting the muted coloured lights instead of alternating between the white mini-lights (my choice) and my dh's god-awful bright coloured lights.  My dh objected to the mini-white lights but reluctantly agreed to them as a means of finishing the bloody tree.

The mini-white lights worked when they were tested and we mounted two strands on the tree.  Upon testing the lights, the 2nd strand did not work.  We were at the point of ripping the lights off the tree and having either a light-free tree or no tree at all when a miracle occurred and, for some unknown reason/intervention, the 2nd strand worked.  We all cheered.

PS: Happy new year!