Let there be light

Ever since we moved back into the house we've been living with a bare bulb dangling from the dining room ceiling.

Not so classy. The problem was that with work and all the hockey on weekends we had no time to go shopping for a fixture. Since we're having the whole family over for a Christmas Eve party tomorrow, I decided that this weekend was time to take the bull by the horns. Yesterday afternoon after the kids played shinny at a local outdoor rink for two hours (and we had them captive in the car), we headed off to visit Sam the Chandelier Man down on Queen St. West. The kids protested bitterly that they were too tired, hungry, sore. You name it, they complained it.

When we arrived at the store, though, they were struck speechless. And so was I. It was like nothing I had ever seen before.

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There were hundreds of lights hanging from the ceiling and one tiny, narrow, aisle to walk along. It was barely wide enough for two people to pass, and was strewn with bits of broken bulbs, dropped crystals, and dozens of empty McDonalds coffee cups. It was almost like we had entered an episode of hoarders. The boys were fascinated; Matthew looked at the lights and listened to Sam, while Cal gathered up coloured crystals from the floor and quietly played with them.

Sam has an amazing stock of chandeliers, and is a willing storyteller to boot. We spent the better part of an hour in the store, listening to him talk up the merits of various pieces. I don't think that he was going to let us leave the store without buying something. We finally settled on a six-light crystal chandelier from the 30's.

After much discussion in the store, we decided that Alan could install it. He's installed lights before - how difficult could it be? The chandelier had been re-wired, and the wiring in the house is brand new, so we figured it should be a piece of cake. It turned into a three hour job. Up on a ladder. With our hands above our heads. While Alan worked on the wiring, I stood there holding up a box that held the light so that no crystals would crash to the floor. Ugh.

At one point during the job I decided to get my camera and snap a picture of Alan up on the ladder working with the junction box. You know, for the blog. Not such a good idea. Apparently the flash and the noise made him think that he'd crossed the wires and was being electrocuted. Ooops. I won't post the dirty look that I captured 'cause I don't want to end up in divorce court.

Anyway, after a long and torturous afternoon, we managed to get the new chandelier installed. And it looks bee-you-tee-ful.

It's  more ornate than I imagined us buying, but we decided that if we were going to go for a chandelier, that we should go all the way. And since we live in a century old house and have a lot of antiques, it fits.

The boys love it. It always makes me laugh when they notice something in the house that they think looks nice because they're typically so oblivious. This evening Cal kept calling me into the dining room with no lights on in the front half of the house so that he could switch the chandelier on and admire it sparkling in the dark.

I'm happy to finally be rid of the bare bulb hanging from the ceiling, especially since we manged to get it done before Christmas. One more thing crossed off the list!