5 Weeks Until Christmas

It’s five weeks until Christmas, kids. FIVE WEEKS!!!! Yikes.

Thanksgiving is kind of like a barrier on the calendar – a big ole stop sign. It is a moment in Christmas time that makes you step back for just a moment and then – BAM! – it’s full on Christmas.

I love it.

I can see why Santa calls Thanksgiving his favorite holiday. Everything about Thanksgiving just screams Christmas. It’s a starting gun. We get to Thanksgiving and then finally we can break out the Christmas tree, sing the Christmas songs, eat the Christmas treats, and do all the Christmas stuff.

I also love these last days before Thanksgiving, especially here at the North Pole.

It is Saturday today and even though all the major parts of the Santa business is hard at work – the North Pole Post Office, Flight Command, Santa’s workshop, etc – many elves are off today and they are out working in their yards, getting their homes all decorated for Christmas.

Some are working on their Thanksgiving Day Elf Parade outfits, trikes, and parade floats.

Others are busy doing the stuff of Thanksgiving, such as baking things and moving the furniture around in their homes to accommodate more visitors that usual.

There is a feeling in the air – one of anticipation, one of celebration, and one of happiness.

Hanging over it all is this thing we call Operation Merry Christmas.

We kick that off officially on Friday of next week, just as the turkey starts cooling in the fridge. It is one of the biggest days of the year here at the North Pole. It’s kind of like our own little special and unique Christmas Eve.

I think Elves Frank and Crash will talk about Operation Merry Christmas on the news over the next couple of days but let me give you my take on it right here.

Operation Merry Christmas is a moment of big pride here at the North Pole. Operation Merry Christmas is all about Santa and the work that he does and for an elf, well, that’s a celebration of us. Every day of the year we work to make Operation Merry Christmas happen.

Every year, it DOES happen.

Santa gets around the world.

He takes what elves everywhere work on and puts it in your world. Isn’t that a miracle? Isn’t that something special to be a part of?

Look, I’m just a little reporter elf.

But I’m an elf. Not a lot of people get to say that.

And, yeah, I know, it looks great on a resume.

But that isn’t why I’m doing this.

I’m doing this to be a part of Operation Merry Christmas. I love that. I love being part of something that makes the entire world happy. Not a lot of jobs let you say that, you know?

Oh, I forgot to mention, I got to talk turkey today with Mrs. Claus. I’m on the turkey committee, you see.

If you know me you know I’m no cook. So why they put me on the turkey committee is something I’ll never understand.

Thanksgiving is another big meal at the North Pole. Yes, many elves celebrate it with their families and that’s great but the biggest meal of all is at the North Pole Community Center and it is hosted by Mrs. Claus — well, and her helpers.

I guess that’s me.

Do you have any idea how many turkeys it takes to feed Thanksgiving to the elves at the North Pole?

We’re stuffing hundreds of turkeys, guys. You wouldn’t believe the little production line we set up for this. And early, early, early on Thanksgiving morning we start roasting those birds and by mid-morning the smell of turkey is in the air everywhere.

That’s a little signal – right during the Thanksgiving Day Elf Parade – that Christmas has started.

And it’s yummy.