Dear readers, Shortcake has returned to the North Pole and spent the morning baking cookies and brownies with Mrs. Claus. She also added some photos and will answer questions. This will be her last update until next Christmas season, but check back in November 2010.
Photos of the droopy and non-droopy hat are here. Parade photos are up, as are various pictures from the season.
Here's a Christmas video featuring Shortcake as the photo elf. That was back in the droopy hat days. Here's another one featuring Bobble singing carols on the sidewalk the day Macy's had to evacuate for a fire.
LS sent me this clip from the Batman animated series in which Officers Montoya and Bullock go undercover as a "Mayfield's" Elf and Santa to catch a shoplifter. Their elf costume... not really realistic. Also Batgirl's in it. (From a holiday episode consisting of 4 short pieces)
Now, to answer your questions:
What do elves do when Christmas is over?
Well, we take a few days off, and then we go have a big snowball fight in the front yard. Around February we head back to work making the toys for the next Christmas.
How long is a typical wait in line to see Santa?
It all depends on what day and when you come, but most of the time it's between 30-45 minutes. Saturdays, Sundays, and the week before Christmas it's not uncommon for a 2 hour wait.
Do Santa and the elves miss the snow at the North Pole?
Yes, but we were lucky this year. It snowed in New York City about a week before Christmas. Also, Santa takes his sleigh back to the North Pole every night, so he gets to see it.
Did the family with the autistic child that waited in line have other children going to see Santa?
Yes, I believe there were 2-3 kids in the family, and only one was on the Autism spectrum.
Do you teach new elves how to be good workers?
Occasionally. All the elves go through training at the beginning of the season, but there was one day when Red was assigned to shadow Shortcake while she worked the front line. She taught him all about how to keep a line moving and answer questions from the floor.
What is a strawboss?
In unions, a strawboss is sort of a foreman, a fellow union member who makes sure the rules are followed. Shortcake once heard a story that a straw boss was the person who followed the elephants around at the circus and made sure they had enough straw. At Santaland, the strawboss is the person who helps Santa. He (or she - Shortcake in 2 years, fingers crossed) gets Santa water, helps him with his suit (lots of bells) or beard (gotta make sure lunch didn't get stuck in it), and makes sure Santa stays on schedule.
Everyone in Santaland takes care of Santa, but the strawboss as the most responsibility. As far as Shortcake is concerned, her whole purpose in being there is to make sure Santa is taken care of and happy, whether it's making sure people get through the line quickly to see him so they aren't cranky, or getting babies to smile, or keeping parents from pushing crying babies onto his lap, or making sure he's had some water. Her job is to protect Santa.
Friday, December 25, 2009
Pictures
This is Shortcake's elf outfit hanging on her locker.
A sparkly Shining Light, Frostbite and Figgy
Shortcake & Teddy Bear
Snickerdoodle & Shortcake
Pecan Pie & Hot Chocolate got to dress up as trees and sing for people waiting in line.
Hot Chocolate singing the 12 Days of Christmas
Santa and Shortcake on Christmas Eve
Happy & Shortcake
Santa standing by the photo station
Shortcake on headset. As usual.
Shortcake carrying a stantion, one of her dear friends from the front line.
Shortcake accidentally put her sweatshirt on backwards. Oops.
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Front Line, Crossroads, HR, Peek, Photo
It's Christmas Eve. One day until Christmas. The line was long, pretty much all day. Shortcake spent the entire day on crowd control, just on different parts of it. She was on crossroads for the first time ever, managing the exit as Teddy Bear and Chestnut managed the line. She was back in HR singing carols and trying to cheer people up as it was late in the day. At 5:15, the peek window was opened once the line was cut off to see Santa (otherwise he would have been at Macy's all night and never made it out to deliver presents to the good boys and girls). Shortcake manned the peek window, and for the first time in 2 years, started to lose patience. Perhaps driving from Pennsylvania on Christmas Eve to see Santa was not the best idea, people. She started singing "Under the Sea" to herself, just to keep herself happy. She finished off the day photo elfing for Santa. For the most part it went okay, but there was one father who just didn't understand that his daughter didn't want to sit with Santa, so Santa had to tell him forcefully that she was kicking him (which she was). Oy, it was not the best end to the day. Shortcake is now at home, watching White Christmas, wearing the Macy's sweatshirt she was given today and drinking hot chocolate.
Spritz and Marzipan made some awesome sugary treats today.
A bright moment at the end of the day: While the elves were all changing, getting ready to go back to the North Pole, Shortcake started singing "Hakuna Matata" and all the elves joined in. She really does have the best job in the world.
There will be pictures posted later, along with answers to all the questions asked over the season.
Spritz and Marzipan made some awesome sugary treats today.
A bright moment at the end of the day: While the elves were all changing, getting ready to go back to the North Pole, Shortcake started singing "Hakuna Matata" and all the elves joined in. She really does have the best job in the world.
There will be pictures posted later, along with answers to all the questions asked over the season.
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Front Line & Reindeer Games
Today was the day before the day before Christmas. This day last year was christened "Titanic Tuesday" because it (a) was on a Tuesday and (b) was the day everyone and their mom came to see Santa and then became very angry when they had to wait to see Santa because it was two days before Christmas. This year it was decided that today would be a fun day for the elves. We had day long games and challenges and hour by hour challenges. In the spirit of the day, Shortcake let Sprinkles sparkle her. This involved blowing sparkles all over Shortcake's face. It doesn't show up so well in the photo:
Shortcake spent the entire day on the front line, which is old news by now, except when she was working on the scavenger hunt on her lunch hour.
There was an all day challenge to see who could get the most people to sing Christmas Carols with them. Shortcake won, obviously, since she is such a pro at the front line. She sang a LOT of "Jingle Bells," "Rudolph," "Frosty" (for which she learned the words from a mom who was on line, and they're still not in the right order), "Jingle Bell Rock" (which she doesn't know all the words of, but faked it well), "Winter Wonderland," "Deck the Halls," "We Wish You a Merry Christmas," "Santa Claus is Coming to Town," "Joy to the World" (the version that includes a bullfrog - Shortcake decided it was a Christmas song), "The Twelve Days of Christmas" (which takes a LOT of energy) and some more "Jingle Bells." Thanks to Hot Chocolate for lending her a bell for the day.
Shortcake tried to act out Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer with some kids early in the morning, but it didn't go so well. But at least she tried.
There was another all day challenge to see how many countries elves could collect from people who came to see Santa. Shortcake gathered the following: Brazil, England, South Africa, China, Guyana, Algeria, Dominican Republic, Argentina, Malta, Mexico, Venezuela, Puerto Rico (technically a territory, but it's not a US state, so it counts), Colombia, Japan, Nigeria, India, Spain, Frnce, Russia and the United States. Keep in mind that list is just from today. Shortcake has been visitors from all over the world including, but not limited to: Ireland, Scotland, Germany, Holland, Albania, Israel, Pakistan, and Sweden.
From 12p-1p the game of the hour was to not say the word "Santa." Shining Light tricked Santa into saying it at 12:04p, but it wasn't fair because Shortcake didn't hear the announcement that the game was starting. She almost said it while singing Rudolph later that hour, but she only said the first syllable and quickly stopped.
From 1p-2p, the game was to dance to the song "Sleigh Ride" anytime it came over the loudspeaker, but Shortcake couldn't participate because she wasn't anywhere where "Sleigh Ride" was playing. Also, she was on lunch, working on the scavenger hunt.
From 2p-3p, the game was to find a name that started with every letter of the alphabet. Shortcake didn't start playing until 3p, (oops), but she did get every letter except U: Alexander, Brandon, Cynthia, Daniel, Elaine, Fran, Gabriella, Hamid, Isabel, James, Kayla, Lisa, Michael, Naja, Olivia, Paul, Quinton, Rado, Sophia, Teruko, Vivian, William, Xavier, Young (last name), Zach
From 3p-4p, the game was to pass a green ribbon and a red ribbon down the line of people waiting to see Santa, and see which ribbon could get it to the Gatekeeper first. The green ribbon won, so every elf wearing green pants got a prize. Shortcake was wearing red pants today, and thus, did not earn a prize. But she did take the red ribbon home.
From 4p-5p, the game was to see how many people you could get to say the word "Believe." The line was exploding at this point in time, so Shortcake did not participate in this game.
Now, the scavenger hunt. The big one. Shortcake was given a little bit of help from Santa, but mostly she did it herself, and has the actual items or photographic evidence of such.
1. A candy cane
This is a candy cane hanging on a tree.
This is one of the candy cane's surrounding the Welcome Kiosk.
2. A red nose
There is a red nose on the Jack in a Box.
There is a red nose on that clown cookie jar on the shelf.
3. A set of antlers
Option number 1 for reindeer antlers. What is Shortcake looking at?
Option number 2 for reindeer antlers.
Option number 3 for reindeer antlers.
4. A stocking
It's not Shortcake's stocking, but it is a stocking.
5. A carrot
A carrot from a pot pie.
Shortcake is pointing to the carrot nose on the snowman on the wrapping paper.
6. A top hat
This is the only top hat Shortcake could find in the Maze.
Then she found this top hat, which is infinitely better. It's meant for a bear with a significantly larger head than Shortcake's.
7. A dancer
Those bears are dancing the Nutcracker, making them dancers. As a bonus, there's a red star behind them.
8. A vixen
Shortcake is pointing to a sign that says Vixen.
T
his is a strawboss named Vixen. In 2011, Shortcake is hoping to become a strawboss.
9. A cupid
Shortcake is pointing to a sign that says "Cupid."
10. A Santaland Express ticket
This is the f
ront of the Santaland Express ticket.
This is the back of the Santaland Express ticket. Yes, those are Shortcake's fingers.
11. A lump of coal
So, it's not a lump, but it is an elf named Coal.
12. A red star
Yup, that's a red star.
13. A strand of tinsel
That's an elf named Tinsel.
Yup, that's a very large strand of tinsel.
14. A receipt from Puppet Theater: Shortcake never made it over to Pupper Theater.
15. A used photo ticket with the #3: Shortcake wasn't in the Village all day.
16. Last year's Santa pin: If you look carefully at Shortcake's hat in the Vixen photo you will see the pin from last year.
17. Topstick
Shortcake was the first person to recognize what topstick is, and to ask for it.
18. A caroling book
This is the caroling book Shortcake carried around with her to help her remember the verses to "Deck the Halls" and "We wish you a Merry Christmas."
19. A coloring book
This is the coloring book we used to give to kids who came to see Good-Lookin' Santa.
20. Siblings wearing matching sweaters
Yup, these two sisters are wearing sweaters that match.
21. A kid in PJs
This kid is wearing a flannel shirt, and she's wearing flannel pants under her pants. That counts, right?
22. A pair of red socks
This child is wearing red tights.
This child unzipped her boot to show off her red socks.
This child has red socks and red shoes.
23. The correct # of stantions in Santaland: Shortcake didn't try to count them.
24. Every managers' Elf name: Cindy Lou Who, Snowstorm (?), Avalanche, Blinky, Surprise, Chubby, Bing-a-Ling, Icicle, Hooli, Santa, Twinkles (?), Prof. Frosty (?)
25: The names of all the houses: Star, Bell, Tree, Candy Cane, Ornament, Holly
Shortcake spent the entire day on the front line, which is old news by now, except when she was working on the scavenger hunt on her lunch hour.
There was an all day challenge to see who could get the most people to sing Christmas Carols with them. Shortcake won, obviously, since she is such a pro at the front line. She sang a LOT of "Jingle Bells," "Rudolph," "Frosty" (for which she learned the words from a mom who was on line, and they're still not in the right order), "Jingle Bell Rock" (which she doesn't know all the words of, but faked it well), "Winter Wonderland," "Deck the Halls," "We Wish You a Merry Christmas," "Santa Claus is Coming to Town," "Joy to the World" (the version that includes a bullfrog - Shortcake decided it was a Christmas song), "The Twelve Days of Christmas" (which takes a LOT of energy) and some more "Jingle Bells." Thanks to Hot Chocolate for lending her a bell for the day.
Shortcake tried to act out Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer with some kids early in the morning, but it didn't go so well. But at least she tried.
There was another all day challenge to see how many countries elves could collect from people who came to see Santa. Shortcake gathered the following: Brazil, England, South Africa, China, Guyana, Algeria, Dominican Republic, Argentina, Malta, Mexico, Venezuela, Puerto Rico (technically a territory, but it's not a US state, so it counts), Colombia, Japan, Nigeria, India, Spain, Frnce, Russia and the United States. Keep in mind that list is just from today. Shortcake has been visitors from all over the world including, but not limited to: Ireland, Scotland, Germany, Holland, Albania, Israel, Pakistan, and Sweden.
From 12p-1p the game of the hour was to not say the word "Santa." Shining Light tricked Santa into saying it at 12:04p, but it wasn't fair because Shortcake didn't hear the announcement that the game was starting. She almost said it while singing Rudolph later that hour, but she only said the first syllable and quickly stopped.
From 1p-2p, the game was to dance to the song "Sleigh Ride" anytime it came over the loudspeaker, but Shortcake couldn't participate because she wasn't anywhere where "Sleigh Ride" was playing. Also, she was on lunch, working on the scavenger hunt.
From 2p-3p, the game was to find a name that started with every letter of the alphabet. Shortcake didn't start playing until 3p, (oops), but she did get every letter except U: Alexander, Brandon, Cynthia, Daniel, Elaine, Fran, Gabriella, Hamid, Isabel, James, Kayla, Lisa, Michael, Naja, Olivia, Paul, Quinton, Rado, Sophia, Teruko, Vivian, William, Xavier, Young (last name), Zach
From 3p-4p, the game was to pass a green ribbon and a red ribbon down the line of people waiting to see Santa, and see which ribbon could get it to the Gatekeeper first. The green ribbon won, so every elf wearing green pants got a prize. Shortcake was wearing red pants today, and thus, did not earn a prize. But she did take the red ribbon home.
From 4p-5p, the game was to see how many people you could get to say the word "Believe." The line was exploding at this point in time, so Shortcake did not participate in this game.
Now, the scavenger hunt. The big one. Shortcake was given a little bit of help from Santa, but mostly she did it herself, and has the actual items or photographic evidence of such.
1. A candy cane
This is a candy cane hanging on a tree.
This is one of the candy cane's surrounding the Welcome Kiosk.2. A red nose
There is a red nose on the Jack in a Box.
There is a red nose on that clown cookie jar on the shelf.3. A set of antlers
Option number 1 for reindeer antlers. What is Shortcake looking at?
Option number 2 for reindeer antlers.
Option number 3 for reindeer antlers.4. A stocking
It's not Shortcake's stocking, but it is a stocking.5. A carrot
A carrot from a pot pie.
Shortcake is pointing to the carrot nose on the snowman on the wrapping paper.6. A top hat
This is the only top hat Shortcake could find in the Maze.
Then she found this top hat, which is infinitely better. It's meant for a bear with a significantly larger head than Shortcake's.7. A dancer
Those bears are dancing the Nutcracker, making them dancers. As a bonus, there's a red star behind them.8. A vixen
Shortcake is pointing to a sign that says Vixen.T
his is a strawboss named Vixen. In 2011, Shortcake is hoping to become a strawboss.9. A cupid
Shortcake is pointing to a sign that says "Cupid."10. A Santaland Express ticket
This is the f
ront of the Santaland Express ticket.
This is the back of the Santaland Express ticket. Yes, those are Shortcake's fingers.11. A lump of coal
So, it's not a lump, but it is an elf named Coal.12. A red star
Yup, that's a red star.13. A strand of tinsel
That's an elf named Tinsel.
Yup, that's a very large strand of tinsel.14. A receipt from Puppet Theater: Shortcake never made it over to Pupper Theater.
15. A used photo ticket with the #3: Shortcake wasn't in the Village all day.
16. Last year's Santa pin: If you look carefully at Shortcake's hat in the Vixen photo you will see the pin from last year.
17. Topstick
Shortcake was the first person to recognize what topstick is, and to ask for it.18. A caroling book
This is the caroling book Shortcake carried around with her to help her remember the verses to "Deck the Halls" and "We wish you a Merry Christmas."19. A coloring book
This is the coloring book we used to give to kids who came to see Good-Lookin' Santa.20. Siblings wearing matching sweaters
Yup, these two sisters are wearing sweaters that match.21. A kid in PJs
This kid is wearing a flannel shirt, and she's wearing flannel pants under her pants. That counts, right?22. A pair of red socks
This child is wearing red tights.
This child unzipped her boot to show off her red socks.
This child has red socks and red shoes.23. The correct # of stantions in Santaland: Shortcake didn't try to count them.
24. Every managers' Elf name: Cindy Lou Who, Snowstorm (?), Avalanche, Blinky, Surprise, Chubby, Bing-a-Ling, Icicle, Hooli, Santa, Twinkles (?), Prof. Frosty (?)
25: The names of all the houses: Star, Bell, Tree, Candy Cane, Ornament, Holly
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Photo Elf, Front Line, Santa Elf, Front Line
Shortcake was back at work today. It was great to walk in and see all of her elf friends. Some of them had been working on Sunday, when Macy's was evacuated due to an escalator fire. Worry not, no one was hurt, and people continued to see Santa after people were let back into the store. Shortcake was not working that day and missed all the fun.
Shortcake still cannot breathe through her nose without the use of helpful drugs. But other than that she feels fine.
Shortcake started the day Photo Elfing. It's been so long, she felt a little out of practice. The babies still won't smile for her, but they will at least look at her when she does a dance. After a few hours, Shortcake was given a break and sent out to the front line to be on headset. The line was never that bad. At it's longest it was 45 minutes, but hovered closer to the 30 minute mark for most of the day. For only having 3 days until Christmas, that's really good.
Lunch was fun, since she managed to have lunch with Pecan Pie, Teddy Bear, Frostbite, and Figgy.
She then Santa elfed for a few hours, which was fine, but she suffered a sugar crash around 3:30pm. She finally made it through, and finished up the day on the front line that was about 25 minutes line.
Only two more days with Santa before heading back to the North Pole. Elves are starting to say their good-byes, since we all take different trains back at different times.
Shortcake still cannot breathe through her nose without the use of helpful drugs. But other than that she feels fine.
Shortcake started the day Photo Elfing. It's been so long, she felt a little out of practice. The babies still won't smile for her, but they will at least look at her when she does a dance. After a few hours, Shortcake was given a break and sent out to the front line to be on headset. The line was never that bad. At it's longest it was 45 minutes, but hovered closer to the 30 minute mark for most of the day. For only having 3 days until Christmas, that's really good.
Lunch was fun, since she managed to have lunch with Pecan Pie, Teddy Bear, Frostbite, and Figgy.
She then Santa elfed for a few hours, which was fine, but she suffered a sugar crash around 3:30pm. She finally made it through, and finished up the day on the front line that was about 25 minutes line.
Only two more days with Santa before heading back to the North Pole. Elves are starting to say their good-byes, since we all take different trains back at different times.
Sunday, December 20, 2009
SNOW
While Shortcake is not working for Santa today, she did feel the need to comment on the kids playing in the snow. The primary activity appears to be throwing snowballs, or chunks of snow, at relatives, preferably your sister.
Also, there was a little girl waiting to see Santa that Shortcake met maybe 2-3 days ago. She was adorable and proudly playing with a purple dreidle that lit up and played the dreidle song. She was Catholic and visiting Santa. Her mom said she had just come from a Jewish friend's house and wanted a dreidle. Whatever works.
Also, there was a little girl waiting to see Santa that Shortcake met maybe 2-3 days ago. She was adorable and proudly playing with a purple dreidle that lit up and played the dreidle song. She was Catholic and visiting Santa. Her mom said she had just come from a Jewish friend's house and wanted a dreidle. Whatever works.
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Front Line
Shortcake spent another day on Front line, but received a lunch after only 4 1/2 hours. WHAT? It was busy all day, but the line was never longer than an hour, and the snow didn't even start until 2pm, so all was good, especially for the last Saturday before Christmas. Shortcake can breathe now, thanks to three doses of Ibuprofen Cold & Sinus. There isn't much else to report. There was one cute kid who kissed Shortcake on the cheek.
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