The Best of Times; the Worst of Times

It was the best of times; it was the worst of times!

Well, well, well! Another Christmas season is winding down. The years go by so very quickly now, it's almost inconceivable. The holiday season has been a real whirlwind for Santa and the North Pole. First, Mrs. Santa Claus and I are moving our headquarters. In July, she secured a job with a software company in Lindon, Utah. (I know, as if baking cookies and taking care of the elves and reindeer weren't fulfilling enough!) I went without her company nearly four months. When you are married to the love of your life; your soul mate, four months seems an eternity. It was really lonely without her. Things are just better whenever she is around.

When the lady of the house vacated the premises, that left me with the job of facilitating the move. I vacated the premises on September 30. We had lived in our place ten years with the residual ten years accumulation of crap. The move was probably one of the hardest things I have ever had to do physically and emtionally. It was especially difficult because Andrea wasn't there to help make descisions, and give moral support. But that's the way the Christmas cookie crumbles sometimes. I would have never gotten through the move without the angels/elves that helped me. God was very kind in blessing me with these folks: Jack McLaren, Bob DeGoyer, Ziff Nelson, Jannine Hagerty, Bob Hagerty, Brenda French, Ryan White, Wes Byron, Stephen Kohler, Abeal Mendez, Shaun Jury, Marcus Hoskins, Nathan Watts, Anthony Holden, Matthew Knowles, Harry and Deborah Bohnner, Stephen Landis, and Bishop Steve Bills.

I gave away stuff and threw stuff out, but there was still an awful lot left. (Mrs. Santa and I have both agreed that we have to pare all our belongings way down. We don't want to become like the nut jobs on the reality show, "Hoarders", and end up in a sea of crap that we have collected.) Anyway, the moving van arrived at 10:00 a.m. September 30, and didn't leave 'til 9:45 p.m. Yikes! Like I said, we have a lot to pare down. We filled the entire moving van. I am so glad that is over. I never want to go through that kind of move ever again!

My very generous cousin, Donna Ellsworth, and her equally generous husband, David Ellsworth, opened their home to me after the move so that I could work at the costume shop in October and fulfill my Santa contracts during this holiday season. I can never repay them for this over the top generousity. I will be heading on up to Utah on Christmas Day, leaving the Ellsworth home behind, as well as a life time in Los Angeles.

On October 1, the day after the move, I went to work for my good buddy, Tim Dietlein, owner of Glendale Costumes. Tim is definitely one of the good guys, and has been a wonderful friend throughout the years. In fact, one of my favorite things every holiday season is doing a family Santa photo session with Tim, Brenda, and the kids.

It was great working with old friends again at the shop like Mario, Angela, Lisa, Salette, Jason, Amanda, Clayton, Jessica, and Mark. Also, I have become really good friends with some of the repeat customer base who are sure to always show up: My good buddy, and great character actor, Dan Roebuck; producder, Jane Sansom; designer, Anne Clossfarley; and "The Closer" cast member, Corey Reynolds.

And so, Halloween, and the big move came and went, and all in all, Santa survived. It was the best of times; it was the worst of times. Anyhow, that's how Santa sees it!