Well folks it's Christmas Eve here at penguin central, and to state the obvious, Merry Christmas one and all. As usual these past 8 weeks have gone by like the blink of a penguins eye, with my sidekick Jake and myself manning our stations for about 15 hours a day (12 hours a day in November and 14-16 in December) to get everyones penguin orders out and to their destinations in time for the holidays.  Just to toot our own beaks I'm proud to say that this year we topped our old record 99.65% stellar on-time penguin delivery rate with a new record 99.85% successful on-time delivery tally (and we were steroid free).  Sadly, our perfect season was thwarted when UPS dropped the ball on an overnight package to upstate NY on Friday, and a Priority Mail box was pilferred off a porch in Philly last week. I know there were a couple of international orders that were touch and go as of Friday but I'm cautiously optomistic that they made it, as I didn't hear from any irate foreigners today. With Christmas falling this year just after a weekend, the urgency to get out last minute orders dried up for us by Friday, so I was actually able to leave the "igloo" for an extended period for the first time in weeks, venture forth into the world and shop for presents for my family. It really is a weird feeling after doing nothing but taking orders, making labels, packing penguins, tracking orders, stocking, re-stocking, etc., for all my waking hours for two months, and then being let out into the world. But I'm sure I'll adjust. I don't know how many of you have ever been to my Penguin Place igloo, but other than the fact that it's filled with penguins, it's not the most exciting place in the world. In fact some folks find it a tad depressing. We're talking about a 500 square foot windowless former artists' sculpture studio, with concrete floors and ceiling and 12 foot high walls, in an old factory building on the Brooklyn waterfront. The one huge redeeming part (other than it's filled with penguins) is that it's the back part of the loft that my family and I live in, so even when I busy working most of the day, I get to see my wife and two little girls whenever I want. But there have been plenty of days these past couple of months that I don't see too much actual daylight. I rationalize by telling myself, hey if the penguins in Antarctica can go without sunshine for months at a time, then so can I. Of course, without my sidekick Jake it wouldn't be much fun at all. Jake is a buddy and part-time assistant movie director for indie films here in NYC, and lately part time has been extremely part time, which means he's been very happy to be my penguin helper and sidekick whenever the penguin holiday shopping season rolls around.  Good thing for me the movie business is so fickle, as we all love having Jake around. He's funny, a great helper and an all around good guy, and I couldn't think of anyone else I'd rather spend two months with in a windowless room, selling penguins (professionally speaking). In fact he's become so much part of my family (penguins and otherwise) lately that my six month old daughter Rose may be a bit mixed up as to who's her daddy. Fortunately, the rest of my family is not as confused, but it's still as good a reason as any to give Jake the sack. Actually, Jake is starting grad school in a couple of weeks and sadly his penguin elf career may be coming to an end along with his employee of the month streak. Anyway, sorry I've neglected the blog for a bit, but it was either blog or get your penguins orders out the door and I choose the later. I'd like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and I hope all your penguin wishes come true, and if not just about everything will be on sale starting the 26th.