R.I.P. Christmas Lights

Yesterday we finally got out the Christmas tree.  I have been waiting, as you know, a long time for this event.  Hubby and Daughter set up the tree and all was going well until Hubby plugged in the lights.  They didn't work.  Luckily he had not yet put them on the tree.  He plugged in another string of bulbs.  Nothing.  Not a shine.  Not a twinkle.  Nothing.  Come to find out thay most of our Christmas tree lights had died.  Now, we have had these particular lights for 17 Christmases so they definitely had a long life but I just wasn't expecting to have to put them to rest just yet.  (Sniff.  Sniff.)  They and the tree were a wedding gift from my grandparents.  But I gave in and headed to the store today to buy new lights.  Hubby said we previously had six sets.  50 feet of lights in each set.  Ok.  We get to the store and of course there are about 5,000 choices of lights.  You've got your minis and your traditionals and your spheres and your bulbs and even flame tipped ones.  And they all come in white or colored or all red or all blue.  There was even a set of all purple lights.  We located the lights that looked best.  Spheres - a change from the old traditional.  Wouldn't want my old lights to feel as though they're being replaced.  Just a change to something different.  Each box says that it holds a set with a length of approximately 20 feet.  Ok.  Time for math.  We previously had six sets at fifty feet each.  That's 300 feet of lights.  Ok.  At 20 feet per box we need 15 boxes.  15 seemed like a little much so we opted for 12.  Yeah, that's right we bought 12 boxes of Christmas lights for our tree.  We even weighed out the option of buying new lights versus buying a new pre-lit Christmas tree.  After dropping $120 some dollars, we head home to discover that each box of our old lights did not contain 50 feet of lights.  There were 50 LIGHTS per set not 50 FEET.  We bought enough lights to cover three trees.  Big mistake.  So, as I type this Hubby is wrestling with the lights and the tree.  I'm not sure who is winning.  Tomorrow I will hang my head and return seven boxes of lights to the Target.  We bought all the lights in this style the store had.  Hopefully they won't place an order to replace the stock we drained yet.  Glad we didn't opt to buy a new tree instead.  Oh well, at least I can smile.  My tree is up - FINALLY!