Christmas Eve

 Merry Christmas Eve!

That's Shortcake and her friend Greg.  Shortcake is wearing the scarf Santaland gave to all the elves and strawbosses.

Since it was Christmas Eve, the managers dressed up and wore silly hats.  Jim outside himself.

Shortcake worked a 12 hour day.  She was up bright and early, before the sun, to be at Santaland at 6am.  The people came at 7am, and the line started to build up after 9am.  It wasn't so bad, but we were in HR for most of the day.  Of course Justin Time came by to visit.

Santa went on a world tour around the Village today.  It was very exciting!

Shortcake received her 3 year pin today!  Krampus came in, trumpeting loudly, and proclaimed to the entire room that Shortcake was being presented with the pin representing three years of service at Santaland.  Shortcake jumped up and down, and curtsied, and made a speech thanking everyone for their help and support and acknowledged the pin being given to her (two years later).

Shortcake was very alert for the first 2 hours, almost alert for the next 3, and got a second wind in the afternoon.  Genie came in at noon to help Shortcake out, so Santa had two strawbosses taking care of him today.  Shortcake was able to do some cleaning before Santaland closed - she washed water cups and wiped down the coffee station.  Near the end of the day she helped out at the Village exit.  And at the very end of the day, she escorted Santa through the register area, through the employee elevators, and up to the roof where he got in his sleigh and started his trip around the world.

Christmas Eve Eve

Hello people.  Shortcake elfed again today, and now has almost no voice.  Here's Spatula and Shortcake at the beginning of the day.
 
She photoed for a half hour, and then the line exploded, and she went back to HR.

Except that it took a bit for the line to make it back to HR.  So Shortcake and Jangles spent some time waiting for the people.

Eventually the people showed up, and Shortcake spent the whole day in HR and HR 2 trying to get people to smile on their way.  It was a record-breaking long line.  Longest wait to see Santa ever.  She swore in a few junior elves on the line.  Their jobs were to 1) Wave at everyone they passed and say "Merry Christmas," 2) Smile with Christmas Cheer and 3) Try to be the best elf they could be all year long.  Elfredo, Pooh, Double-A, and Unicorn all seemed to do a good job as far as Shortcake could tell.

At the end of the day, Shortcake had her hated cowlick again.

Do not be mistaken, people. Elfing is a physical trial. Behind all the Christmas Spirit, is a body with sniffles and aches and pains and cowlicks.

First, there's the sleep deprivation that comes from getting up early to be at work on time. And tomorrow, Christmas Eve, Shortcake has to be there at 6am. That means waking up at 4am. That's so early!

Then, there's the subtle discomfort from standing all day. It creeps up on an elf, not manifesting until Shortcake has sat down. Or slept. And then the next time she stands, bam! A mild discomfort in the heel. Not enough to prevent action, but enough to announce its presence, with the promise of more to come.
And, yes, we know you're thinking "get some gel pads for your shoes." Shortcake has some. And she wore two pairs of socks for extra padding. Time is inexorable, and it will wear you down, like water lapping against a rock. Water always wins. So does time. And Shortcake's feet hurt much worse by day's end.

Then there's the sniffles. Shortcake can still breathe out her nose, so it's not too bad yet. Breathing through the nose is taken for granted until it can't be done.

And the tickle in the back of the throat. This scares Shortcake more than anything else. Her colds ALWAYS start in the throat. She talked loudly for 8 hours a day, with improper technique, (she's not an actor, you know) and the throat was sore by the end of the day. If it continued, it'd mutate into a full blown headcold with no voice, runny nose, stuffy nose, headache, fatigue, the works. So Shortcake sucked on cough drops (not the sugar free kind - she once had so many the aspartame gave her a stomach-ache, and she swore never again) and drank tea and overdosed on Princess gummi.vitamins and drank orange juice. And tried to go to bed at a reasonable hour. And tried to eat all her fruits and vegetables.

And this is after only TWO DAYS of elfing! The other elves have been doing this for five weeks! It's been a loooong season, and the effects are showing. So many elves have been sick. So Shortcake didn't complain about her minor woes; she just went out there and spread that Christmas Cheer. To help the other elves out. For Santa.

And now Shortcake is going to bed.  Good night.

Saturday - Shortcake's Back!

Yes, dear readers, we know Shortcake has been at Santaland all year.  But she was strawbossing all that time.  Today she was in full elf gear.  BAM!

Shortcake started the day as Gatekeeper, and everyone was thrilled to see her.  Fa La La and Pippin gave Shortcake hugs.

After a mere hour and a half gatekeeping, Shortcake headed to HR.  Right where she belonged. 

Teddy Bear & Shortcake, the best crowd control elves ever.

 
She spent the rest of the day in HR, on the front line, and deep in HR.  HR 2 is rough.  The people in line are tired.  Shortcake was tired.  And Shortcake was the only source of Christmas cheer.  About halfway through the day, Shortcake met a gaggle of 6-8 year old boys.  They tried to convince Shortcake she was not a real elf. Which is ridiculous.  Obviously, Shortcake knows what she is.  Elves come in all shapes and sizes, and wear comfortable running shoes for arch support, and do not have pointy ears.  J.R.R. Tolkien made up the pointy ears.  The boys tried to take Shortcake's walkie, claiming elves didn't need walkie talkies.  Shortcake asserted that elves did, indeed, have things like wireless communication technology, and she sent those ruffians on their way.

OH!  Two days ago Tannenbaum couldn't remember Shortcake's name, so he called her "Spongecake."  Spongecake?!  SPONGECAKE?!  Shortcake has never been so insulted in her life.  Fa La La almost fell over laughing after Shortcake told him this story.

Here's Spritz teaching an NBC news reporter to be an elf.

Thursday, 12/20/12

In preparation for the end of the world (it could have ended on December 21st, you never know), Santa baked.  There were coconut chocolate drops, chocolate chip peanut butter bacon cookies, sour cream cookies and gingerbread.  It was delicious.  Yes, Shortcake did eat her salad, but not until hours after the cookies.

While Santa got ready in the morning, he sang "O Holy Night," and then when it came on the radio, he played it he turned up the volume.  It is a beautiful song, but Shortcake things perhaps 9am is not the appropriate time to blast it.

A German reality tv show came to visit Santa.  Apparently, there is a tv show about a wealthy German family who travels around the world.  There were two little girls, and they came to see Santa.  Shortcake is so glad that reality tv is the part of American culture that got exported.

Santa had an event in the afternoon, so Shortcake took him and Spritz down to wait for the car.  They waited for 30 minutes.  The car did not come.  Why?  Because a car had not been booked.  Santa had a 15 minute break, then Shortcake took him back down to the new car that had just been booked.  And, yes, Santa travels in style in a black Cadillac SUV.  This event is notorious for transportation issues.  Harumph.

On a happier note, here's more fan art:

Merry Elfmas!

It's a snowflake with a drawing in the center.  Awesome.

Wednesday 12/19/20

We had long lines all day. Shortcake was so busy, and moving so quickly, she literally tripped over a child as she came out of the house.

Shortcake started the day smiling because Santa sang "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" with backup.  Everyone else in the room just shouted out things like "What'd he say?" and "Like Monopoly!" as appropriate in the song. 

Sprocket may be the best elf ever.  Ever.  There was a little boy who waited in a very long line to see Santa, and when he finally saw him, was kicking and screaming and would not sit still.  He was pulling his mom's hair, wouldn't stand up.  He was in major sensory overload.  His mom took him out, gave him some water and a snack, calmed him down, and brought him back for a reshoot.  Sprocket was the usher elf, took it slow, and completely turned the kid around.  It was amazing to watch.

Santa found this video on youtube.  It should bring a chuckle to your day.

Tuesday 12/18/12

It was a long, tiring day.  Shortcake woke up late, so she skipped breakfast, and then overcompensated with carbohydrates and forgot to eat lunch.  Santa had to visit the NYU hospital, while also staying at Macy's, and Shortcake is still learning how to work around Santa being in two places at once.  He can do it.  It's harder for the elves.

We had a bouncer front line consisting of Fa La La, Snowball, Teddy Bear and Jangles.

Spritz was a pirate for the day.  She greeted children with "Arrr.  Ahoy!  This way to see Santa," and then she would limp away.

That's Spritz and Sprocket, the hipster elves, with Santa.

Shortcake's friend Sarita came to visit Santa.

Santa had a great visit at the end of the day.  Three little girls came in, wearing ballerina tutus, and Santa told them they got to keep the cat.  The girls were so excited, they jumped up and down and their light up Ugg boots were blinking like mad.  They hugged their father, and it brought tears to Santa's eyes.

Shenanigans Monday

Good news!  Here's the video from when Santa went on The View.  Spritz and Sprinkles are with him.

Santa had a special event today, taping for the Today Show.  There were other VIP visits as well, and Santa was very busy with school groups all morning.  Unfortunately, the shenanigans are kinda under wraps, since what happens in Santaland stays in Santaland.  Except for what Shortcake puts on the blog, of course.  Not everything is consistent.

It was Veggie Monday.  Shortcake brought veggies and Veggie Straws and mint chocolate chip cookies.  Santa brought dip and veggies and chocolate covered bacon.