Parrotheader.com

I was originally going to do a more intense shoulder workout tonight. But after putting lights on the Christmas tree for the last couple hours I can barely lift my arms.

I made the decision to get more contemporary and go with a new batch of LED lights this year as the 6+ strings of lights we used on our main tree in the past had been gradually shorting out one by one. However, I didn't notice that the spacing between the bulbs on the new lights were MUCH closer than the old strings we'd been using. As a result, I ended up spending nearly an hour snaking the LEDs up and down each branch (like I did in years past) only to find that the new lights barely cover the bottom half of our tree. And with 400 bulbs on only half a tree you can imagine how nice that looked. I ended up ripping down all my previous work and just winging it to a reasonably nice result.

I have to confess, I thought a few times about pre-lit trees during the process. But after seeing virtually every pre-lit tree purchased by friends/family quickly short out I'd rather not bother. And despite my rantings here, I actually look forward to putting the lights up as it's my first dose of getting ready for the holidays (I'm a sucker for the holiday season.) However, I was irritated that SpikeTV was not good enough to provide me with my usual tree-decorating entertainment in the form of the now-expected James Bond Thanksgiving week marathon. For me, nothing rings in the holidays quite like The Man With The Golden Gun or From Russia With Love.