I have "issues"....

I have "issues". Pun intended.

I can't remember exactly when it started, I'd like to say 10-15 years ago, when I started making bears, but wait, I remember when I was a teen, obsessing over the latest 16 magazine wondering which star was going to make the cover, and is it worthy to clip and save those pics?

Yep, I love magazines.

I have always kinda known, that I have problems with this. My biggest issue is paper over all. I need a really good organizational system that's easy to stick to. Yep. That's all I need.

And the sure will to stay out of the magazine aisle.

I'll never forget the time that I had a garage sale, bundled up some old bear magazines to give away. Neatly tied with a piece of jute. Organized by YEAR. come on people help me out here!

Nothing.

nada.

I remember watching as my ex carried them to the car. He knew. DON'T take those back in the house! LOL. I let him. I still think about those old magazines.

I can't say as I "hoard" them per se, more of a "I really love them lots". But it's gotten worse lately. I buy them, and then a MONTH later realize I hadn't read that magazine yet, so I probably should get on it. Then I skim, see a couple good ideas, put them on my scrapbook desk and maybe, MAYBE use one or possibly two ideas from one issue. That one issue that cost me $5.35 (10% off at Walmart).

I thought I was doing pretty good when I took a huge stack, handed them to Amber (a new scrapbooker) and said "Enjoy them if you like, and if you throw them away, never ever tell me so."

And she hasn't.

And I'm dying to know.

Or not.

Then while reorganizing my scrapbook room, I found a stash that I'd completely forgotten. While getting a suitcase out for our honeymoon, I said to myself "what the heck is in this bag?" Only to open it and find magazines I've not looked at in several *years*

I can tell you what the problem is. With the older magazines, I want to make sure I don't throw away issues that I was published in. In the newer ones, I want to take the time to go through them and pull out the good idea.

But that creates a whole new problem! bits of paper.

I have problems with paper did I mention that?

No wonder I ended up working at a newspaper, owning a craft store, scrapbooking, photography... all things that come in contact with paper on some level.

So this morning, out of the blue, I picked up a magazine where the person on the cover has been annoying me for a year. Really, and I started to pull out all the layouts I liked (I'll get there) and tossed the rest of it in the recycling. Then, I just randomly picked up 2 more.

OK, I can do this.

I didn't even flip through it.
It was my favorite magazine.

*deep breath*

So I pick up my camera and take a picture of my obsession. In the process I decide I will find TEN magazines to throw away.

I will not give them to a friend.
I will not thumb through them.
I will not put them in a cute little magazine organizer.
I will not store them away.
I WILL recycle them. That's it.

I found 10.

*hyperventilate*

I buried them at the bottom of the recycling bin, which will be taking to the center today. *sadness* Now, I need to do that 72 more times. I don't think I'm exaggerating.

And now, before you think that I'm walking in aisles of boxes stacked to the ceiling, that I buy clothes because it's just easier to buy something that's new than to wash the old stuff, that my house smells something between dead stewed rats and cat crap. Nope. It's not. It's just piles of magazines, 29 deep, here and there, tucked away for the world to not see my dirty little secret(s).

It could be worse. Trust me, I've seen and dealt with so much worse. There are ppl with REAL problems out there and I hope that they can get some counselling or medication to deal with their obvious hoarding problems.

In the meantime, I am going to stop picking up scrapbook magazines, which won't be hard considering that despite my "help" all but 2 have gone out of business!

So Um, anyone need any magazines?
Anyone?

Bueller?