An Official Cheapskate

For those that really know me, it comes as no surprise that I am a cheapskate. Or perhaps a nicer way to put it is I am very practical. It definitely showed through on Christmas Eve. Elias had been talking about seeing Santa, so we went to the ritzy mall near our house to finally get the chance. We went right as it opened, so we only had to wait about 20 minutes in line. It weaved though a giant add for the new Narnia movie, an ice castle, throne (see the above picture), fake snow, and giant television screens showing a preview for the movie. I think the snow was Elias' favorite part (we haven't had any snow for many, many weeks here in Denver). As we neared Santa, I saw a woman asking for orders before people even got to the big man himself. Hmf, I thought. Do you have to buy the pictures before you even see them? I was going to be pretty peeved if we were required to spend $20 for Elias to sit on Santa's lap when I wasn't sure he was really all that interested, and I knew the pictures weren't going to be good. When it was our turn, I asked if we had to buy something beforehand. The woman said we could just visit. Sign us up for the visit only please...yes, I'm the cheap one. I'm pretty sure we were one of a very few people all day who didn't get their child's photo with Santa (no personal cameras allowed, of course). Elias told Santa he wanted a book for Christmas (I gave him that idea when we were in line), but that was about all he said. Once he was done, he couldn't wait to get back to the indoor playground they had. In fact, back at home, he mostly talked about how neat riding the glass elevator was. Santa didn't even come up. But luckily Santa still visited our house that night...good thing I waited to post this until now.