Hi Everyone,

The sleigh test ride is tomorrow, and I'm genuinely worried about the reindeer! Something is keeping them from performing up to their abilities. Donder is back, and says he's feeling better, but in general they're clumsy and grumpy and tripping over themselves.

This could prove to be a problem, since the test ride is just that -- only a test; for the real thing they have to pull much more weight and keep the pace up all night. There's no rest, and any weak members of the team mean more work for the others!

For my present-delivery navigation system, the Sled3000-GT comes equipped with a state-of-the-art GPS programmed with location information for every child in the world. (Google Maps would love to license our software!) In the driver's seat, I'll also have a device that quickly matches a particular request for a certain present with folks whose house we're landing on -- like a UPC scanner, basically. All the presents will have been minimized by the Present Compressor, which will de-activate immediately after I slide down the chimney. I'll only be in each house for a few seconds -- just enough time to leave the presents and grab a quick snack -- and then back up the flue to the next stop.

But all that can't happen if the reindeer aren't ready to leap back into action the second I'm back in the sleigh, to dash and dance and prance and blitz from house to house to house. What's happening?! They're just not themselves, and as we zoom towards the test ride and Flight Night, I'm getting very concerned.

Mrs. Claus tried to cheer me up at breakfast today by telling me a joke: Why did the elf push his bed into the fireplace?

I told her I didn't know.

He wanted to sleep like a log!

It was a great joke, but the only problem was that it reminded me about how sleepy the reindeer are acting.

Hope we can figure this out soon.

Love,

Santa