Twelve Days of Christmas

At 5:00 AM this morning I heard it again - jingle, jingle, jingle.  I knew I had exactly 45 seconds to hop out of a nice warm bed, throw on some clothes, grab a coat, and get outside.  It’s been like this for a week now but, on the positive side, we are a little more than half way through.

Santa Claus once again picked my cul-de-sac as a test area for his pre-Christmas flights.  Twelve days before Christmas he shows up and leave a small gift for the kids living around us.

He asked me to help again this year.  Fortunately, it’s a pretty simple task.  All I have to do is evaluate his approach to the cul-de-sac and his take off.  I need to report if he comes in to fast or if on take  off he needs more clearance because of the cars, light poles, etc.  It’s a pretty simple job – if you like getting up at 5:00 in the morning.  So far he has done an amazing job flying that sled.  This morning was no exception.

I was shivering when I climbed back into bed, then Char and I had the following conversation:

Ralph:  Man, is it cold and dark out there.

Char:  You know, you can tell him you don’t want to do it anymore.  He’ll find somebody else.

Ralph:  WHAT?  You can’t tell Santa Claus no!  Besides, I owe him.

Char:  What do you owe him?

What Char didn’t know was earlier this year I asked Santa for a favor - a huge favor.  Our daughter, son-in-law, and granddaughter had moved back to town and I had asked Santa if he would include our granddaughter, Taylor, in his pre-Christmas flight.  Santa doesn’t like making more than one stop in a town so I fully expected him to tell me no.  Much to my surprise he just smiled and he and said he would be glad to.  I owe him.

Each morning, just like the kids in my cul-de-sac, Taylor, gets a small gift leading up to Christmas.  Our daughter, Tiffany, sent me this picture. It seems like Taylor really likes her Santa hat.

Getting up at 5:00 AM isn’t so bad if it makes kids smile.