On occasion, I need to be talked down from the ledge. Today was one of those days. It looked to be a good day for putting up Christmas decorations. (What’s the rush, you ask? I felt the same way, but the house was empty for once and I had an hour to spare.) I turned on the Christmas music and started carrying things out of the attic.

The pre-lit Christmas tree I purchased a couple years back comes in three pieces plus a stand. In order to store this decoration in the attic, it must be taken apart. Against my better judgment, I disassembled it for storing. Now, the various plugs connecting the three pieces that lead to one main plug are a dreadful, impossible muddle.

I spent more than my allotted time patiently plugging and unplugging, and then not-so-patiently plugging and unplugging (to determine the “correct” order), an order in which all the lights would illuminate at the same time. Eventually, I just gave up. No matter what order the plugs were aligned, one section (but not the same section) of my pre-lit tree remained unlit!

At least one of my children (or a spouse) is bound to notice the unlit band of lights toward the bottom of the tree. At this point, I’m resigned to it. Maybe next year, a new tree will be on my Christmas list! (But pre-lit? I’m not sure.)

After I gave up on the Christmas tree lights, I scattered small ornaments around the branches. I’m still toying with the idea of additional ornaments and maybe some tinsel or garlands. If I get enough junk on the tree, maybe the reluctant lights will be a secondary annoyance.

Having already botched what should have been an easy task, I quickly moved on to other tasks:  Christmas wreath on the front door, Christmas wreathes in the upstairs windows, and I felt the slight thrill of success! I had hoped to get lights and outdoor trees installed on the front porch, but perhaps tomorrow. (The job required examining strands of lights and I just didn’t have the heart for that job.)

Of course, I have boxes and boxes of Christmas lights! When I say boxes, these aren’t the containers in which the light strands came. Noooo. That would be too easy! I’m talking shipping boxes (large shipping boxes) in which tangles of lights (like the one pictured above) have been stuffed in the attic and subsequently ignored … I mean, who takes the time to untangle old light strands when an orderly container of replacement lights can be picked up at the store for what? Three dollars? Six dollars?

About the time I was set to enjoy a quiet cup of tea in front of my semi-pre-lit Christmas tree, my dear mother called in a panic. (Recall, this woman is mostly blind, making the most of a small sliver of light in the extreme periphery of her left eye.) Last week we had gone online together (by phone) to purchase gifts she planned to give her friends. Alas, she now needed another! This one had to be a unisex gift, she didn’t want to pay huge shipping costs (though it needed to arrive by Christmas Eve) and the two of us cyber-shopped for more than an hour discussing this $40 purchase.

Mom had a particular product in mind. (The shopping channel – hearing is now her keenest sense – provided a few ideas, but without her seeing them, this avenue has its own pitfalls.) The item she thought would work was 2½ times more expensive than she expected. Then it was a scramble! We’d consider certain items (on Amazon mostly), but an item that seemed good would be less unisex than she wanted or out of stock or not up to her admittedly last-minute standards.

Finally, we settled on a gift card. Yeah, yeah, terribly original, right?

I have begun to believe this may be my Grinch Christmas. I can’t explain why but I feel like I’m dragging my feet to the finish line!

Maybe if I’d been able to enjoy that quiet cup of tea … and the Christmas music … and the lights on the semi-lit, pre-lit Christmas tree …?

Yep, the Grinch has gone and done it again!