The Christmas Season Is Underway!

Wow! It has been a very busy 3 days. I haven't even had a moment to post until now... I apologize.

Thanksgiving was a lot of fun. As usual, I made the parade rounds... mostly in the US but I did appear at a couple of events in Europe. Then I returned to the North Pole to watch football with friends and enjoy a late afternoon feast at the banquet Mrs. Claus & I host every year. The banquet went late into the night. I went to bed shortly afterwards as I had to arise early on Friday.

Friday was a 21-hour day for me. Friday morning we officially kicked off this year's Christmas Eve preparations with my staff meeting. Everyone was at the 5am staff meeting... Jingle (Chief of Staff), Melody (Internal Communications, Public Relations, Legal and Community Affairs), Jangle (Chief Financial Officer), Snowflake (Chief Information Officer), Jolly (Chief Marketing Officer), and Candy (Chief Operations Officer). Candy's team is a part of the senior staff meetings. Her team includes Bo (Production), Sprite (Procurement), Star (Advanced RD&D), Ollie (Logistics), North (HR plus Elf & Reindeer Affairs) and Bob (Flight Operations). All areas reported as "ready". After staff meeting, I spent the bulk of the day making parade, tree-lighting, mall, and media appearances all around the world before returning to the North Pole for the end-of-day status meeting. All areas reported a very strong first day. It was a great way to conclude the first day of full-scale operations.

Today was similar. I started the day though with a run. Mrs. Claus had pancakes and a steaming french press of Christmas Blend coffee for me when I got back. She and I caught up as I did not see her at all on Friday.... she was sleeping when I left and she was asleep when I got back. After breakfast, it was back to another whirlwind tour of malls, parades, and tree lightings. It will be that way every Friday-Sunday between now and Christmas Eve.

After I returned, Mrs. Claus and I had an early dinner and then Jingle, Candy, and I toured the manufacturing centers. The place was humming! I couldn't believe how happy everyone was and how fast toys were coming off the lines. We hung out until the shift change at midnight so we could greet the incoming shift workers and speak with the folks leaving for the night. There was a consensus from everyone we spoke to that this Christmas season has a special feel.... something good is in the air. Everyone is excited for this Christmas.

From there, we went to the end-of day status meeting. After two full days, all is on track! And the "nice" list is up as well. While it is typical immediately following Thanksgiving holiday for the "nice" side of the ledger to get a bump, it is up almost 7% this year.... much higher than normal.

After the meeting, I came back here. It's late but I'm going to fix a cup of hot chocolate and catch up on a few emails before I settle in for the night. It looks like a great start to Christmas 2008!