The Christmas tree was a little bit of a problem getting up this year. First a light went out at the top of the tree and there are no replacements, because the tree is very old. How old it is exactly is unknown, because the tree was in the basement when we moved into the house. A strong indication of the relative age of the tree is that the electrical plug on the lights, that are attached to the tree, are not grounded, which is to say that one plug is not larger than the other. This has been a standard for quite some time, and surely before the children were born.

New garland was purchased and new lights. The old lights were removed and thrown out. The new lights required an extension cable be run behind the tree. With the help of the children the tree was successfully put up and it does not look so bad. Here is hoping that 2012 is a better year and we will have the money to purchase a new, and better looking, tree for next Christmas.