SPF 36

It may be my imagination but I believe this year's schedule has been the busiest ever. Maybe I'm just getting older. The last few days have been filled with public appearances including morning and late night shows in addition to all of the operational meetings. I guess the good news is that all of the Reindeer get a pretty good work-out hauling me all over the world each day.

Mrs. Claus is continuing to prepare for the big Christmas party on Saturday night. The house (we always hold our annual Christmas party at our house rather than at the banquet hall) is in complete disarray as the elves scurry about setting up everything for the party. Mrs. Claus took a while to settle on the theme for this year's party... in fact, she changed her mind a couple of times, requiring the elf crew and reindeer to load-unload the party equipment several times. I do think the final theme - The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe - will be a huge hit. But it takes its time and energy, which I can tell you is in short supply at the North Pole this time of year, to pull together an event of this magnitude. Even Jingle has been distracted as he has gotten involved in trying to schedule the main act for the night. Everyone - and I mean everyone - wants to play the North Pole... that is not an issue. The issue is finding a singer or group that fits with the theme and maintains the high standards of North Pole, Inc.

As you can imagine, I am approached daily about various commercial opportunities ranging from public appearances, movie or tv roles, book deals, product sponsorships, etc. I was presented with an idea today that may be the most creative I have heard to-date. It's so obvious I'm surprised it had not been raised with me before. A major book publisher wants me to publish a travel guide and supplement it with online content. Who else better than me to write about the cities of the world? I like the thought of it. Keep your eyes out this summer... I just may pursue this opportunity.

Well, believe it or not, I have one more meeting I need to rush off to before I try to catch at least an hour of sleep. (I'm only sleeping 1-2 hours a night at home plus catching a few winks in the sleigh between cities -- my staff is on the same schedule as we hit the final days). This meeting tonight that I'm headed to was unplanned. I don't know if you saw the news but it turns out the Ozone layer over the North Pole is healing itself at a rate slower than previously thought. It will be 2040 before the hole completely heals itself whereas previously estimates were around 2020. The good news is that it is getting better. The bad news is that those twenty years could have significant effect on this environment we live and work in.

Have a good night, all.