The lights are now up and running!  We had a lighting ceremony last night complete with donuts and hot chocolate, Christmas Vacation music, and drum rolls.  There was a spectacular turnout!  Not including me, there were 46 people ) including children) who witnessed the event.  Everything went smoothly and all the lights went on as planned and stayed on until I turned them off last night!   I've always loved putting up Christmas lights and I am delighted when I look out my window and see cars slowing down and taking in the view.  I had a similar experience in college when we lived in an old house on Chimes View drive and really lit that place up too.  

Here is a breakdown of what lights make up the display:

The roof has 33 strands of 25 c7 lights (red, green, clear)
The yard has 35 strands of 25 c7 lights (12 red, 23 green)

The real tree is wrapped with 10 strands of 100 mini green lights

The star has about 75 mini white lights

The snowflake has about 150 mini white lights

The metal tree has about 200 mini white lights

The presents have about 50 mini white lights

And the 18 candy canes have 20 mini lights each....

I am also using about 25 extension cords.

There are about 3600 lights total which sounds like a lot but really isn't in comparison with some of the light displays you will find on some of the links I have listed.

There are about:  1700 c7 lights

                                1900 mini lights

This all takes about 70-75 amps of power from my home (100 amp max).  Next year I may need to do some sort of power upgrade.

For the past month or so I have spent many hours figuring, calculating, measuring and designing how my Christmas lights will look this year.  My love for Christmas lights began well over a decade ago.  I believe I was in my freshman year of high school when I first saw the movie Christmas Vacation.  Two of my best friends, Matt and Doug Freeman, introduced me to this holiday classic.  Thence forth, I have had the desire to make my house '...the best looking house in town...'  I have been lighting my residence every year since, some years more elaborately than others.  I want to thank my father for teaching me everything I know about exterior illumination.  It truly is enjoyable although a lot of work.  

In this photo, I am hot-gluing 3 1/2 inch 16p nails to the bottom of each individual light so I can stake them in my yard.  Fun stuff!

As of today, I have all of the lights in place on my roof, my lawn, my one tree and have staked all of the candy canes that line the driveway.  I only have a few small additions to make which should be done tomorrow.  
The next step, which will be interesting, is going to be figuring out how to plug it all in efficiently.  The key word is efficient.  I've already decided which outlets to plug in to throughout my house but I need to figure out the best way to do it without using more extension cords than I need to.  I should finish that project tomorrow as well!

From this movie and this great 'Exterior Illumination' expert comes my deep and sincere passion for Christmas Lights!