I can finally see the light!

What would you do if your boyfriend jets off to Vegas for the weekend with his much younger work colleagues? If "what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas", then "what happens in Toronto, is likely not worth gossiping about".

In keeping with that slogan, I decided that I had the physical and mental space in the house to finally tackle one of the items in the kitchen reno that has remained incomplete. I remember convincing my friend Chris to drive me across the city just before Christmas (in 2006!) to get the pot lights from Wolfe Electric, so that I would have them to show the electrician during his upcoming visit. We inched through rush hour traffic, purchased the three pot lights and transformer and I was set to install them. The electrician came to the house the next day and he ran the wires from the electrical box to the kitchen for the new microwave range hood, and the under-counter pot lights. He could not install them yet, as we had to replace the drywall, install the new cupboards, install the backsplash tiles, and all that. But he kindly explained to me how to install them, and I jotted it down on a scrap of paper, pictured below.

Nine months passed. Somebody could have had a baby in that time frame, but my lights were still not installed, and my memory of the electrician's tutorial was pretty fuzzy. But then I remembered the instructions. I pulled them out, but the cryptic scribbles didn't make that much sense.

- 2 red leads to black & white in box
- white to top screw on current outlet (white side)
- black to TOP new light switch
- jumper to black to BOTTOM of new light switch (push the jumper into back of switch)

I was baffled as the transformer didn't have two red leads, but it did have two blue leads. Then I remembered - the electrician had told me the instructions for a different transformer/pot light combo that I returned to a different store. Anyway, I improvised. And in this case, the results were not dangerous, and things worked out nicely. No arcing, no blown bulbs - just fully functioning pot lights that light up the fabulous glass tiles in our new kitchen.

So Dan returned from Vegas with stories of being in a night club where Brittany Spears had been, only hours before her botched performance at the MTV Awards. And I bragged about my handy work at home. Brittany's career may be over, but there are lots of lights that remain to be installed!!!