Well, Our Christmas Shopping Is Half-Finished....

[dawn_felagund]

Yes, you read that correctly. Last night, Bobby and I officially began--and finished--half of our Christmas shopping.

Picture it: Dawn sitting at the desk, painting Meryth's cloak in a color called Goblin Green; Bobby sitting on the couch with his laptop surfing SCUBA sites. Now Bobby and I had made an agreement that Christmas this year is not going to be the exorbitant affair of years past. It has always been my philosophy that holiday monies are best spent doing things that will be memorable in years to come rather than buying junk that will be under the bed and forgotten by the New Year. Anyway, at last, I got Bobby to agree. Since we decided to pursue this whole underwater-as-a-hobby-and-career thing, we have been eyeing up a camera called the SeaLife camera, which is a top-of-the-line digital camera that functions both above- and underwater. We decided that rather than driving ourselves--and each other--nuts with piles of unneeded gifts this year, we would split the cost of the SeaLife camera, which we will both use and enjoy.

The SeaLife camera with all things included--including the strobe--costs (hold on to your seats, misers) $999. Yes, one of those "if I end it with a nine then no one will notice how dear it is." Harumph. You can buy the camera by itself for just over $500.

Returning to our happy picture of Dawn with green-painted lips (from licking my brushes all of the time; that detail in AMC does not come from nowhere) and Bobby surfing using the latest in Internet technology, Bobby suddenly blurts out, "Oh my god, I just found our SeaLife on sale on scuba.com--the whole package, strobe and all--for $500."

Silence falls.

"That's pretty cool," Dawn says, after verifying that the usual price is in fact about a grand, and goes back to painting Meryth's cloak--and her lips--a nice even Goblin Green.

More silence but one with a vivid imagination can hear the wheels turning in the House of Felagund.

"Soooo..." says Dawn.

(Now, just as background, Dawn is the Official Skinflint, Cheapo, Miser, and Tightwad of the House of Felagund. Bobby has to put her back in line all the time. Just the other night, at the movies, Dawn wanted a soda and realized that she had forgotten her coupon for a free one. "Oh, well," she said. "There's always next time." "Dawn!" Bobby shouted. "You can still get a soda!" "But it's four dollars for a medium....")

"Soooo..." says Dawn the Penurious again. Bobby gives her a careful look. "Are you going to get it?"

"I don't know," says Bobby, who has had enough ill-fated run-ins with his miserly wife to have learned to ask, "What do you think?"

"Well," says Dawn, "if we think of it logically, it seems foolish to wait three months and pay $400 more for something that we want to get anyway."

"True," Bobby agrees.

"We can put it on the credit card and pay it off when we set aside money for Christmas. And we can even keep it at one of the parents' houses so that we're not tempted to use it until Christmas. Then it will feel like we got it then anyway."

"True," Bobby agrees, and silence falls again. A few minutes later: "Soooo...should I order it?"

Now what do you think the outcome was?

(Though perhaps in honor of her penny-pinching forefathers, Dawn did advice to wait to add the $60 wide-angle lens until a later time.)

Comments

[frenchpony.livejournal.com]

Dawn, you are indeed a woman after my own heart. (Although my preferred method of acquiring expensive things is to wait and ask for them as birthday or Hanukkah presents.) Yes, dear God, yes, get that camera at five hundred if someone is offering!

And four dollars for a medium soda that's mostly ice anyway is utterly insane. Bobby knoweth not whereof he speaketh.

[aramel-calawen.livejournal.com]

Four dollars for a soda is insane... I get about 20 dollars' budget --converted into USD-- per week, for food (5 days, 15 meals) tuition (about 4 dollars for a tutor, who's a student from the university) plus any other unexpected things like notebook fees and whatnot, and still manage to have about 5 dollars left by the end of the week most times. But then, things tend to be cheaper here. I can get lunch for about 80 US cents and breakfast for about 5 cents.

4 dollars for a soda. Yeesh.

[1lady-so-divine.livejournal.com]

LoL, weren't we talking about this at our get together?:)

at least you have the peace of mind that you got it cheaper than what it normally is. Like I was telling you yesterday, I almost got a cheaper digital camera until Brandon pointed out the one I have today which was more expensive(the route he goes), my Doc Martens cost the same as his though, lol, they're boots that are in the mens and women's section though.

[niothwen.livejournal.com]

Now what do you think the outcome was?

I approve of sales. Yay!

The real question though should be: "Now do you think I'm going to be able to wrap my precious in sparkly paper and put it in the back of the closet till Xmas?"

I think you will.....but since I'm feeling tormented and abused by having to read slash by weekly installments, I'll let Morgoth have some fun I think you will....but you shouldn't. My parents are both photographers and feel a new camera requires a three-day trip to some exotic location to break it in and make sure everything works well, that there is no distortion in the lens, etc, etc, before the return/exchange clause runs out.

I'm sure there is some truth to this besides the obvious fun factor. Anyway, congrats on the new camera......and if it does sneak out of the closet, remember to post the pics here.

[sinneahtes.livejournal.com]

Okay, these days I'm scared to spend more than $5 at once, but... a...digital camera... that functions... underwater?!

*drooooooool*

:D

[tarion-anarore.livejournal.com]

Those take such nice pictures!!! I wish my mom had had one when she was trying to take underwater pictures in Hawaii.

I'm the same way at movie theatres! I definitely don't feel bad about smuggling in candy! (Especially once when the theatre was in trouble, so took away student discounts. Needless to say, that theatre is no longer in business!)

[digdigil.livejournal.com]

Personally, I think you let Bobby order the $500 camera. And I hope you painted your toenails green instead of blue to match your lips.

[ithilwen.livejournal.com]

Congratulations on your Christmas present!

[rhapsody11.livejournal.com]

Yes, you read that correctly. Last night, Bobby and I officially began--and finished--half of our Christmas shopping.

But it is still Summer! This is also where both our worlds are so apart. We don't do gifts with Christmas, we used to get gifts with Sinterklaas, but once I quit believing in him, that stopped too. And after the past years drama's caused by my brother, the Christmas spirit as in celebrating with family is killed too. Aaaanyhow :) Last year I got such an unexpected present from an author named Dawn Felagund and up to this day I still frequently read the story named 'The Gift'. Maybe because it reminds me that gifts don't necessarily are only given around Christmas...

{{{hugs}}}