Sunday, December 07, 2008

Watta Weekend!

Things started cooking on Thursday afternoon, when I met up with a client at the local Target/Starbucks for briefing on a Santa home visit. She had photos of the key family members, with their names on the back, for me to memorize. She had written detailed staging instructions, schedule, and directions to her house that she says is too new for GPS or Google Maps. She asked if I had a Santa bag, because she had "a few toys" for me to hand out - turned out to be a LOT of bulky stuff that I spent a half-hour trying to find a way to fit into my big bag, popping a few stitches, and almost too heavy for me to carry.

When that was done, I came home and caught a brief nap before heading out to Elevation in Kennesaw where I needed to set up the bandstand early, then go into hiding and become Santa for shmoozing a party of doctors at Elevation at 6:30, followed by the band show at 7:00. Michael, the manager at Elevation, had a videographer shooting me (in HD no less!) partying with and playing for the crowd; by Saturday, he had put together a cute little video montage to use as a Christmas card. I'll post the link as soon as I get it.

Friday, I went to Norcross to teach the students I had to reschedule from Thursday, then back to Elevation for the Friday night show which was monopolized by a company party that makes furnishings for McDonald's (they distinguished themselves by leaving zero in tips).

Saturday I had cleared my day of students; got up way too early and drove down to Newnan for a neighborhood Santa show there. Adorable kids, and an elf who had driven 2 hours from Gainesville to help entertain them. No pro photographer, every parent (and grandparent) had their own camera, so lots of comedy there. Back to Roswell in time for late lunch, then up to Ducktown for the home visit (the one with the big bag and Mission Impossible planning). Hid my car, snuck in through the kitchen, then down the stairs to the family room where everyone was gathered (but only my client and her husband were expecting me). Passed out the gifts, gathered the small kids for a reading of Night Before Christmas, then made my sneaky exit. Got home for a nap and a breather before heading out to Elevation for the evening show. Saw some old friends and their wives, an unexpected pleasure, and my granddaughter Lauren made a rare appearance with her friend Claudia.

The coolest thing (by far!) of the evening for me was the liquid nitrogen margarita, pictured here. Amazing, with the fog erupting up out of the mixing bowl, just like one of Mr. Wizard's most spectacular demonstrations! And dangerously good too; if they make a pina colada like that, you better just call me a cab right now.

Sunday was the Santa show I had been most looking forward to, as I had booked it back around August; a Santa sitting at Alpharetta Country Club, shot by EagleShots Photography. The kids were adorable and some of the photos look good enough for magazines; as soon as we secure rights from the parents, I'll put some up. After that, home for an afternoon nap and a long day of hanging out with Barbara, catching up on TiVo and playing her favorite non-golf activity, Rummicube.

So, it's been a good weekend; tiring, productive, satisfying. I hope I can keep on suffering like this for the rest of the month.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Dear Santa George,
Just wanted to let you know that we enjoyed your show at Elevation last Sat. night. Hope to see you again!

keoni and Bonnie