Finding My Pace

I awoke a little before 4am this morning so I could get in a quick run. I only had a couple hours of sleep but that's the norm for me during the 4-6 weeks before Christmas. The snow was blowing hard and the winds whipping up to 30 mile an hour gusts. It was the first major storm of the season but I knew I needed to get out and get the blood flowing. I was only out for 30 minutes or so but, as cold & windy as it was, the run did serve to wake me up. By the time I got back to the house, one of the elves had a roaring fire going in the kitchen fireplace and a fresh pot of Christmas blend coffee. I grabbed 5 or 6 newspapers (note: Did you know I subscribe to most of the major newspapers around the world? Given my public role & responsibility, I believe I need to stay abreast of current events on a broad, global basis) and sat down with the coffee after I removed my 4 layers of running apparel. By the time I had finished 4 cups of coffee and skimmed the paper, I was feeling pretty good. I'm not sure if it was a good dose of the Christmas Spirit or the caffenine but I definitely had a Holiday buzz going.

After my shower, I had my first meeting of the day over breakfast. I met with the North Pole Decorating Comittee for the final review of the 2007 Annual Village Decoration Plan. We are returning to our long-standing tradition of decorating the North Pole on the first Sunday after Thanksgiving. We took a one year hiatus from that tradition last year to accomodate a media day event. We decorated on December 1st last year. But this year, the decorations go up tomorrow. The plans look great. Somehow every year they seem to raise the bar and do something just a little more spectacular than the year before. I can't wait to see it tomorrow night.


After the meeting, I travelled to parades and event appearances across Europe from Russia to the UK before travelling to North America for a day-long criss-cross of the continent making parade & mall appearances first and then doubling back for tree-lighting ceremonies. I had one brief appearance in Buenos Aires and one in Melbourne. I typically make a special one-week trip to cover Africa & Oceania, so I did not visit them today. I also skipped Asia. Very rarely am I requested for appearances there before the 1st of December.

After returning to the North Pole, I headed over to the mail center where we are just beginning to receive the first Christmas letters. Postal services all over the world hold our letters until this time of year. Despite new technology advancements like email, text messaging, etc. that allow for direct, real-time access to me, the number of letters are on track for another record year. I guess there is just something about putting crayon to paper that can't be replaced by a keyboard or thumbpad. By tomorrow, thanks to our high-speed sorting system and real-time information systems, I will have reports showing me the real demand by toy. It is these reports that are critical to our ability to deliver on our guarantee of 99.9% fulfillment of the qualifying* Christmas wishes. The operation was as impressive as ever. After leaving the building housing the main hub, I met Jingle for a late night dinner to review overall status. Mrs. Claus joined us... otherwise I don't think I would have seen her during waking hours today.


After dinner, I came back here to my office at the Headquarters to post this blog. I've got a couple of conference calls to make still tonight and I want to answer at least a few emails. I could have done it at home but was afraid I might be too comfortable and find myself dozing off during the conference calls. Anyway, I only have 3 or 4 minutes before my call, so I better close up here. Have a great Sunday tomorrow.



* Qualifying is defined as "under USD 10,000 in value and made by an individual with a confirmed status of 'nice' for 24 or more consecutive months".