What A Thanksgiving Day!

Wow. What a day! I had a lot of fun but I must admit I am very happy to be sitting here in my big leather recliner, laptop in hand, roaring fire beside me, a cup of steaming Starbucks Thanksgiving blend coffee resting on the side table next to me, snow falling outside the window, Mrs. Claus across the room reading her latest book club assignment, and - most of all - silence. It is quiet. It was a wonderful day but it was go, go, go! And with the Holiday season really kicking into high gear tomorrow, I am keenly aware that these are my final moments of relaxation for about 6 weeks. So I am enjoying it! And I am very happy to share some of this moment with you... well, at least virtually through my blog posting.

I actually slept in a little this morning. Mrs. Claus had to trick me to get me to sleep in but I'm glad she did. Apparently, after I crawled into bed last night, she woke up and slipped over to turn off my alarm clock. I slept until she came in to wake me up around 9am NPT... almost 5 hours later than I will sleep most days from here on through Christmas. She had prepared breakfast, lit the fire place in our bedroom, and brought breakfast in. Oatmeal, pancakes, two eggs over-hard, bacon, fresh cheeses, German-style pork sausage, and of course a decaf latte. It was way more than I needed but it was really good. After a fairly leisurely breakfast, I showered just to wake myself up and then went for a walk around town with Joe (that's my dog). I made a point of stopping in to the reindeer quarters to wish them all a Happy Thanksgiving. Almost everyone has the day off today except crucial emergency personnel but Joe and I also made our way over to the hospital, fire & police stations, and the NPI operations center to visit with the elves that are having to work. I brought Starbucks Thanksgiving blend coffee, hot chocolate, and doughnuts with me to hand out to everyone. By the time I finished visiting with everyone, I had just enough time to hurry back home, change clothes, and go for a brief run. The run felt great! Very energizing but I was running late so I rushed through my shower and off to North Pole Flight Center, leaving Mrs. Claus behind in the middle of her Thanksgiving Dinner preparations. Blitzen, Comet, and Rudolph then flew Jingle, Candy, and I down to New York for the parade. From the parade, it was off to Detroit for a brief appearance at the NFL game there. Then it was a quick flight down to Dallas, where I stayed to watch the entire game Cowboys game. Mrs. Claus was not happy I had stayed for the game because I was really late getting back to the North Pole. I made it just in time to change clothes for the big Thanksgiving Day dinner.

The dinner was, as always, fantastic. Mrs. Claus made just incredible food. And it was great to see everyone. We had literally hundreds of guests as all the elves and reindeer joined us along with about 50 guests we had invited from outside the North Pole. I think this may have been our biggest Thanksgiving ever. Regardless, I know our guests had a great time. After dinner, Taylor Swift performed for about an hour. The crowd just loved her... particularly her rendition of Ava Maria which she sang in transition from her original songs to a number of classic Christmas carols. After the concert, most of the guests mingled around for another couple of hours. Almost half of them even took advantage of DJ Elroy's presence (he is widely regarded as the best DJ amongst the elves) to dance to his club mix tunes as he took center stage after Taylor was done. Mrs. Claus and I even danced a little. I am not a dancer... not at all... but I had a blast. It's going to be hard to top this party next year.

It was a fun day. I really am excited about this upcoming Holiday season. I believe this will be our best Christmas ever. I certainly hope & pray it will be your best. Happy Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas, All!