... the remote for the lights.

A couple of years ago I picked up this really ingenious remote for the Christmas lights. There is a brick that plugs into the wall (actually two, one labeled A and the other B), then you plug the lights into that. Then you can use the ON and OFF buttons on the remote to turn the lights on and off.

I love it! Besides having the obvious technology coolness factor, it's great to leave the remote on the counter so we can turn the lights on and off whenever we want. I like to have them on when we are home, but off when we leave because it's a live tree. Last year I put some lights on the deck and used the B plug to run them. It's so fun to turn on the lights like magic!