Father-Husband-Marketer-Geek

There are signs beginning to show which lead us to believe D56 may emerge as a better, more focused company than the entity which purchased Lenox. With the 2009 introductions just around the corner, village collectors can exhale and expect to see a stronger, more focused village-producing company in 2009 and beyond. From the original Department 56 collectors group on Yahoo , one villager wrote: "I thought you'd be interested to learn what my friend found out this past week in a conversation with her former Michigan D56 rep. There is a strong effort afoot to "extract" the core D56 business from the Lenox abyss and keep some semblance of the village business going into the future. This has been rumored in postings by others here but it is the first time that I've heard something fairly definite and accurate from an insider. I think this news, coupled with the planned 09 introductions in the coming month, is another reason to be encouraged that we aren't on the ...

* I am thankful for my beautiful son Liam and the amazing smile he posseses. * I am thankful for my wonderful wife Rachael, who is the most radiant and caring Mother I have ever seen. * I am thankful for my brother and sister-in-law and their incredible sense of family. * I am thankful for my large group of friends who have grown with me since college to parenthood. * I am thankful for my workplace, a business of compassion, integrity and creativity. * I am thankful for many other things, many of which seem too trivial to include in this list. Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Elf Night is our annual tradition of gathering to watch the classic Will Ferrel film " Elf ". It's our fifth year and this year we had eighteen kids and around twenty or more "bigger kids". We made our traditional pumpkin spice pecan waffles for dinner, and everyone brought some other kind of Elfish treat. It was my son's first Elf Night, and he really enjoyed himself, showing off his almost-crawling skills, singing " Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer " with everyone, and sitting for the annual picture of all the children on the couch. Some people dressed as elves, and almost everyone wears pajamas -- just to set up the imagery for you! It's a great idea for a fun party.

* Williamsburg, Virginia christmas gift shop featured in the news * A Christmas Story House holds a contest: " What I Want For Christmas! " * More on the plan to downsize Department 56 * A family tradition in Seattle * Great article on animated Department 56 Village Buildings from HookedonDepartment56.com * Rockefeller center Christmas Tree gets its' top * Hal and Holly Moose made their debut at Build-A-Bear Workshops across America * Disney and IMAX team up for 3D version of "A Christmas Carol"

In the immortal words of Mr. Sam Cooke , "A Change Is Gonna Come". Not only do we have Barack Obama as president, an indication of sweeping change and newfound energy (prior to the election, I wasn't really polarized one way or the other) and the reintroduction of the American Dream, but now we're going to have a relaunch of our beloved Department 56, perhaps re-dedicated to the core line of villages. In another good move, the Krinkles will be sold externally of Department 56 . I personally think all the non-village production should move to a different company. Enjoy the video below as we wait excitingly for the new Department 56:

A commenter on the Yahoo! Group found this statement released by Lenox Corporation: "On October 31, 2008, the Board of Directors of Lenox Group Inc. (the “Company”) approved a scale-down plan (the “Plan”) for the Department 56 wholesale business which includes discontinuing its Everyday and Halloween product lines (Note from blog: Not Halloween villages, just the additional miscellaneous decoratives) and most of its basic Christmas lines, as well as its Forchino collectible line." "The Plan will be to focus the Company’s resources on lines that have potential to generate sustainable profits, such as Villages, Snowbabies, Classic Brands, Ebony Visions, Just the Right Shoe, Possible Dreams, Sandra Magsamen and a small assortment of Christmas products." "The implementation of the Plan requires the elimination of 53 jobs over the next three months, including 30 employees at Department 56 headquarters in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, 7 employees at Department 56 offices...