Here I Come

POSTED: 9:00 am EST December 24, 2005

If you're watching for me tonight, be sure to look carefully.

Click here for tips on the best way to spot me.

You can always track me online with NORAD. NORAD is a military organization created by the United States and Canada responsible for aerospace defense, but on Christmas Eve, they keep tabs on my progress.

Sleigh Fixed

POSTED: 11:15 am EST December 23, 2005

The elves are amazing. They managed to make the new part of the sleigh and put the entire thing back together. They even did it in time for an afternoon test run today and everything ran smoothly.

The sleigh mechanics are now sleeping in their beds, having a well-earned rest. I don't expect them to wake until Christmas Day.

Now the sleigh is being filled with presents by other elves. The organization and loading of presents is a very complicated process. The elves have a great system to make sure we deliver the correct presents to the correct houses. Certain houses get certain wrapping paper and they are packed in a certain part of the sleigh, so the elves know which presents to send down the chimney with me at each house.

Presents Wrapped

POSTED: 10:00 am EST December 23, 2005

The wrapping is complete. The elves are celebrating after finishing the wrapping process. They beat their deadline by two full hours. Now they are singing and dancing.

Mrs. Claus brought out special plates of cookies in honor of their accomplishments.

A couple of elves chose to spend their two hours taking a little nap, but most chose to stay up and party with the group.

The next task is loading the sleigh, but it is still up in the air which sleigh should be loaded. The elves were able to make a new part to repair the sleigh, but now they have to put it back together. They have another hour and if they don't make it by then, we'll have to use the backup sleigh.

Last-Minute Behavior Check

POSTED: 8:05 am EST December 23, 2005

I'm almost ready for my Christmas Eve ride. Now I have one more check to make.

I have to check the list of who's been naughty and nice one more time to make sure that children haven't taken up any naughty habits during this Christmas season and should be getting coal, rather than presents. There are also some bad little girls and boys who have changed their ways and should have presents waiting for them under the Christmas tree.

The list updated on its own, thank goodness for computerization, and the elves monitor it closely, but I always like to make a last-minute check because mistakes do make it into computers and I wouldn't want any good little boy or girl to not find presents under the tree on Christmas morning.

Elves Diagnose Sleigh Trouble

POSTED: 8:20 am EST December 22, 2005

The elves think they know what's wrong with the sleigh. They've tracked it down to a specific part. Now they're working like crazy to recreate it. It doesn't look like they can fix the broken one, so they have to start over and create a new one.

They had to take the whole sleigh apart piece by piece to find the trouble. You should see the place. The floor is littered with parts and you can barely walk. Now, not only do they have to make the new part, but they have to put the entire thing back together. Luckily, the elves are very skilled at what they do.

New Energy

POSTED: 11:15 am EST December 21, 2005

As usual, the Christmas Eve Countdown celebrations have invigorated the elves. They are working with renewed vigor.

After the feast, we switch to round-the-clock operations here at the North Pole. The elves sleep in shifts and do little more than sleep, eat and work until Christmas Eve.

The reindeer also had new energy this morning. Their reindeer games are especially competitive and rowdy today, Rudolph's nose has been glowing all day.

Sing Along And Feast

POSTED: 7:55 am EST December 21, 2005

Last night was the annual Christmas Eve Countdown singalong and feast.

Each year, we take an evening off from the Christmas Eve preparations and gather together to sing Christmas carols and enjoy a good meal. Mrs. Claus has been working on her preparations for the dinner for weeks and cooking for days. Much of her weekend baking was for this dinner. The table groaned under all the choices: turkey, ham, roast beef, goose, salmon and every side dish you can imagine. Dessert was a masterpiece of Mrs. Claus' creation with cookies, cakes, pies and even ice cream.

The reindeer joined us for the evening. Although their meal was a bit different, it was every bit as elaborate and varied.

The singalong was great. I'm particularly fond of "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus," but Mrs. Claus doesn't like that one very much, so it didn't make the play list last night. The favorite songs of the night were "Jolly Old St. Nicholas," "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer," "Frosty the Snowman," and "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town." The night ended with a touching rendition of "White Christmas."

Too Much Fun

POSTED: 11:45 pm EST December 20, 2005

The North Pole elves were having too much fun today. They are working at an amazing pace getting everything wrapped and organized, but today they got a little out of hand.

I went into the workshop to check on the progress, and found that not only were they wrapping presents, but they were wrapping their coworkers. Most of the wrappers were sporting multiple bows and some were dressed in wrapping paper attached with tape and ribbon. It was certainly a sight. I called in Mrs. Claus and she laughed so hard that she cried.

Chimney Drills

POSTED: 8:30 am EST December 20, 2005

Mrs. Claus' cooking has my belly shaking like a bowl full of jelly, but it makes it harder to get up and down those chimneys.

The elves had me doing "chimneys" yesterday. I practiced going up and down different types of chimneys over and over again. Safety and speed are very important, because I have a lot to do on Christmas Eve and it is important to be able to fit it all in.

Many people don't have chimneys these days, or their chimneys have been blocked for one reason or another. The elves have come up with other ways to us to get into those homes and deliver the toys. The real trick is to make sure not to set off the many burglar alarms people have. The elves have various ways to get around them, but there are so many different kinds, it can be overwhelming for the elves tasked with deactivating them.

I don't have to worry about attack dogs because I have a way with animals and a large supply of dog treats.

Healthy Reindeer

POSTED: 3:30 pm EST December 19, 2005

Rudolph and Dancer are both feeling better. They had a quiet weekend, but were both up and preparing for the weekend today.

The reindeer have some special exercises they like to do to prepare them for the Christmas Eve trip, which can be very long and taxing. The sleigh is not light, especially at the beginning of the night before the bulk of the toys are delivered.

The elves are still working on the sleigh, which is discouraging, but I am ready to take the backup sleigh if necessary.

Wrapping

POSTED: 9:25 am EST December 19, 2005

Most of the toy manufacturing and ordering is now complete.

The elves have now changed gears and are in full-fledged wrapping mode. Wrapping paper and ribbon are literally flying around the main workshop as toys of all kinds get wrapped and organized in preparation for next weekend's flight.

The elves have a great system to make sure the right gifts get delivered to the right house. Years and years ago, a number of gifts were mistakenly delivered to the wrong homes. Luckily, we realized the problem before morning were able to switch the gifts around and get them under the right trees.

Last night, as part of the kickoff of the wrapping phase, the elves tested their wrapping skills by racing each other and the clock. The contest was hot and heavy, but Dobby came out on top again this year. He didn't manage to break his all-time record, but he did come close. When he's wrapping and full-speed, you can barely see his hands move. It's almost like a dance.

Cookies And Milk

POSTED: 11:12 am EST December 18, 2005

I've gotten many questions over the years about what cookies are my favorites and how I can eat so many in one night. There are so many good cookies out there, it's hard to choose. The best thing is variety. I like finding chocolate chip cookies in one house and snickerdoodles in another. I get bored if all the cookies are the same.

In regards to the eating of so many cookies in one night, I burn them off that night. You try going up and down chimney after chimney in town after town, state after state, country after country with a heavy sack of toys and see how many cookies you can eat.

The cookies help me keep my energy up during the night and they are a nice way of letting me know that you appreciate the toys I bring and the hard work the elves, reindeer and I go through to buy, wrap and transport all those presents under your tree.

Reindeer Feeling Better

POSTED: 10:00 am EST December 17, 2005

A good night's sleep helps most things.

Both Dancer and Rudolph are feeling better. Mrs. Claus baked them some special reindeer goodies for breakfast and Dancer is up and about. Rudolph is still resting, but should be able to walk on the ankle tomorrow or Monday.

The elves still haven't found the problem the sleigh, but there are still a few days to go and the old sleigh is ready to go if a fix cannot be found.

Reindeer goodies weren't the only things Mrs. Claus is baking today. The weekend before Christmas is always a big baking time at the North Pole. Cookies are always available fresh out of the oven, after a little cooling. Sometimes Mrs. Claus even lets me lick the beaters. I do like cookie dough.

More Trouble

POSTED: 7:00 pm EST December 16, 2005

This is not my day.

There's been no progress on my sleigh repair. The elves still can't figure out what's wrong with it.

I finally had the elves pull out the old sleigh and get it ready for a test flight. Everything seemed to be in working order. The test flight seemed to go well, if not terribly smooth or fast. The landing was the trouble. Rudolph was leading, as usual, and we came in slower than usual because the old sleigh does not move as fast, but the reindeer are used to the new sleigh. The slower speed made Rudolph stumble on landing. My red-nosed friend seems to have sprained an ankle. Poor Rudolph. The doctor hopes it will mend by Christmas.

Sleigh Trouble

POSTED: 7:10 am EST December 16, 2005

I can't believe it. There are nine days until Christmas and the sleigh is in the shop.

I harnessed Rudolph, Dasher, Comet, Prancer, Cupid, Vixen, Blitzen and Donner took the sleigh out for a test run last night. (Dancer is feeling a little under the weather.) As we were taking off, the sleigh made this loud banging noise and started to sputter a bit. I turned right around and drove right back into the stables.

The elves are working on the sleigh, but I'm worried I might have to take the backup sleigh. It's the one I retired 87 years ago, and it's been in mothballs ever since. If they don't have the sleigh up and running by tonight, I'll have to take the backup for a test ride to make sure it is working. The new sleigh rides so much smoother and it makes the trip a lot faster. The integrated GPS system is a big help too, because the reindeer are not always the best navigators. You'd figure being closer to the stars would make navigation easier, (that's how sailors used to navigate) but reindeer don't read stars well.

While I was surfing the Internet buying presents today I found a Web site, where you can try to supe up my sleigh. Click here to check it out.

Thank Goodness For The Internet

POSTED: 3:20 pm EST December 15, 2005
What did I ever do before online shopping?

We try to make the most of our gifts at the North Pole, but because of copyright laws, we do have to buy a great number of gifts found on the wish lists of good little girls and boys across the world.

I remember when I had to send the elves out shopping for all those last-minute gifts. Now I can just buy them online with a click of the mouse and wait for the delivery.

The problem comes when the online stores are out of a certain popular toy. I hate to disappoint any good child, but sometimes that toy can't be found. I always try to spend extra time looking for some other great gift to replace the one that can't be found. The new Xbox is hard to find this year. I have some, but not enough to go around for every child who wants one.

I have a better chance of being able to find the gifts when children get their lists in early, but that's not always a guarantee. For any children who haven't written out their Christmas list, please send it soon so I can finish my shopping and get the elves into full-steam wrapping mode.