Tree Down!

Just before I went to bed last night, the bottom third of our Christmas tree went dark.  I'm convinced the problem can't be diagnosed or fixed without removing all the ornaments. I'm a little depressed.

Several years ago, I bought a potted four-foot tree, hoping the cat wouldn't climb it like he did our eight-foot tree.  It works great.  Rupert has no interest in it.  And the little tree looks perfect, sitting on a cedar chest in a corner of our family room.  But, because it's a few years old, I was worried there might be a problem this year.  Fortunately, it happened in plenty of time to be corrected.  In the next couple of days, we'll diagnose the problem and then either fix it or buy a new tree.  Either way, it looks like I'll be decorating a Christmas tree twice this year.

And this is why I'm a crazy person around the holidays, trying to get things done ahead of time to allow for unexpected challenges.  At least this time around, it's tree down and not grandma down!