This has been a busy week for us, I have pulled down the Christmas decorations and begun the task of untangling the mess that is now my Christmas lights, so while I work on the lights, here is a story I told you on December 1st 2010, hope you enjoy it again.
Damn Gremlins
The weekend after Thanksgiving is usually filled with decorating the house for Christmas, we normally bring out the lights from the year prior and string them along the front of the house, lighting up our evenings until almost New Years day. The Christmas tree is set up and all the bulbs on the strand of lights that aren’t working are checked and double checked until the problem is found and they are all shining once again, now for the life of me I know they were all working last year when I turned them off for the last time.
Today I opened up the large box marked “Christmas Lights” in anticipation of taking out the neatly rolled strands of lights I packed myself last season, like the tree lights they were all working when I took them down so this should be easy---right? I mean that I did pack them all away almost like they came from the store, in neatly packed rows and each light firmly secured and separated from all the rest.
Well to tell you the truth I did roll them carefully and neatly, then place them into the box so as to not tangle them with the other lights, now my question here is, How in the world did they get themselves tied into knots, and how did random bulbs get themselves unscrewed just enough to not come on, and where did that one particular Christmas decoration thingy that I promised Cindy would be safe in my box of lights disappear to? Gremlins I am thinking, there must be Christmas light gremlins that sneak themselves into my boxes of decorations to tie and tangle my perfectly rolled strands of lights into knots that take me longer to untangle than it does for us to get them all hung onto the eves.
I did good today, this little project went off without too much cussing and it took a bit of assistance from Cindy to help me figure out which way the strand had to be pulled to get the knot removed, A ball of yarn I keep thinking, yes I would have about as much success if I rolled all the lights into a huge ball and just stuffed them into the box, heck I could go as far as stomping them down and making room for a few more strands, do you think if I did this that the Gremlins would sneak into this box and straighten them all out for me as a surprise for next year? Nope I don’t think so either so I will neatly roll them up again knowing well and good that there is no way to roll a strand of Christmas lights without getting them somewhat tangled.
Driving home from town this evening I admired our house all lit up with the lights we worked so hard on together today, I smiled as we turned into the driveway but felt that smile go away when I noticed the couple of lights that were not burning—Damn Gremlins!!
Heres hoping you enjoy your Christmas Decorating and that the Gremlins were nice to you this year.
I'm sure the finished product did look great! We wrap the lights around these plastic type of things and they seem to stay untangled for the most part :) This year we are moving right after Christmas so no decorating :)
ReplyDeletebetty
Hi Betty, seems no matter what I do tangles appear by the next year ha ha, the year we moved to California we had to skip decorating also and we felt like we were the only ones on the block with no lights, next year you will be decorating :)
DeleteGood for you! Don't know if my are tangled, or even working. I haven't had them out in years.
ReplyDeleteHey Ms. A, I have a feeling the Gremlins have yours tied in knots for sure by now ha ha
DeleteGremlins, couldn't we do without them? I never found a way to disentangle lights so gave up on them. This year I wondered about getting some until I remembered there is nowhere to plug them in at this house without a lot of inconvenience. Your post has decided me... smiles.
ReplyDeleteHi Valerie, I think it would definitely go better without them but they are always there :) and with that said, a smile is good
DeleteI have the same gremlins!
ReplyDeleteHi Joe and they are most likely related.
Deletenice to live off the road far enough so we don't have to do lights. :)
ReplyDeleteEither no lights or bigger lights :) I suppose that would just require more gremlins though.
DeleteJimmy, reading this post reminded me of when I was a kid and how my father, and brothers, and I would take out the Christmas lights and line them up on the front lawn before placing them on our house. And OMG...no matter how careful we were at putting them away nice and neat the year before, they would ALWAYS be twisted in knots. Also, many of the bulbs were either broken or burned out, so they had to be replaced
ReplyDeleteYes...it was the GREMLINS!
Hey Ron, that is so funny, I just had ours strung out across the front yard, was doing good until I dropped one strand on the walkway, almost sounded like fireworks. I am sure the gremlins got a laugh out of that one :)
DeleteI think you've ailed the culprits-- gremlins. Now is only you can snap. A picture of them at work so you can convince the nonbelievers.
ReplyDeleteHey Stephen, A picture would be the thing to help prove their existence for sure, just may have to plan a way to do that :)
DeleteWe have those gremlins in Florida, too!
ReplyDeleteI bet they are related to both Joes and ours too :)
DeleteHere's ONE trick: after you've neatly (insert giggle) wrapped them, put a piece of tape on the LAST end of the wired lights. Do not remove them from the box until you have started lifting out the last one you put IN. Repeat: Do not remove them from the box first. Next year, just wrap them around some wheel rims and leave them in an inconspicuous place.....lol Or buy new ones every year. *tip toeing away*
ReplyDeleteExcellent ideas, I'm really liking the one about buying new ones each year :) although the wheel rim is more along my budget lines.
DeleteWe have more success with the indoor lights, that's for sure. Maybe we need to put a lock on our outdoor light bin?
ReplyDeleteI tried the lock routine but for some reason they seem to slip right through ha ha
DeleteThose Gremlins were killing me. So, about five years ago, We got rid of all the lights and replaced them with long strands of garland that had built in lights. I store it all in a big tub. There are four strands. I loosely coil each strand and put a piece of cardboard between them. On top goes the door wreath. The tree is now artificial and has built in lights also. So the light problem is well in hand. The tree decorations, not so much.
ReplyDeleteIf it was up to me and/or, if we didn't have any young grand kids, I'd lobby to be on the road somewhere and not to decorate the house at all. Clearly, it isn't up to me!
Hey Pat, Sounds like you have the lighting situation figured out my friend, placing a piece of cardboard between each strand just may be the answer, I'll have to try it with the lights.
DeleteWe still decorate even with the kids grown and the grandson a couple of states away, I suppose Cindy is still a kid at heart :)