Saturday, March 15, 2008

Dirty Little Secret - # 2

Last summer, I talked about my dirty little secret...the refrigerator door shelves. Truthfully, that was my only one...


...until lately.

I have to admit that I have another shameful secret that plagues me monthy....

and it is....

I have a stack of unread magazines that could choke a horse! I'm not talking a few, or several, or a stack... try 4 stacks! For a grand total (yes, I counted) of 66 magazines!! That's not a typo, people... 6-6 ! I have collected and tossed and stacked my subscriptions with the BEST of intentions for the last oh... about 3 years... and I FINALLY have had to get a grip on this beast!

Every month I've received my Oprah, Country Living, Mary Engelbreit's Home Companion and a few others here and there. And every month, I tell myself as I toss another issue onto the stack, "Maybe I'll come home tomorrow night and indulge in my magazine after dinner and read it THIS MONTH!!" And, well... you know. Not only have I not read these, in some cases, I've even gone ahead and renewed the dang subscription!! "OH, I can't NOT go without my Oprah! I know I haven't read them much lately, but this subscription rate is SUCH a good deal and really, honest...I AM going to start reading them every month. Really, I am!!"

Uh..huh.
Does anyone else have this 'issue'?? (hehe...)

So, while daughter and I were cleaning today, I decided to bite the bullet and dive into the various stacks I have around here and get things back in control. I sorted, organized by date...(um...the most 'offending' issue was an UNOPENED FROM THE MAILING WRAP issue of Bon Appetite - April, 2005 !!!).... and organize this dirty little secret of mine. There are tips from Martha on how to make my holiday table spectacular! There are tips for making over my house on a budget! (HA! Right!) If I want to know the secrets for shopping flea markets, all I have to do is read about it! Gifts made from the heart, how to organize my scrapbook supplies, growing an organic garden, which olive oils are the best, how to get a good night's sleep, and 6 secrets about men that they don't want me to know about!!
HOW HAVE I LIVED WITHOUT THIS KNOWLEDGE ALL THIS TIME??!??
Truly, I think the reason that this has happened is that for the last three years, I was too busy dealing with family matters that I didn't have the frame of mind to read all of these. And somehow, when one is trying to save - a person, a marriage, family life... reading about how to coordinate your bedroom paint with your newfound linens just wasn't a priority.
Within the last two weeks, I've received renewal notices from Oprah and Mary. ATTENTION!! Don't miss a single issue! Renew now so your service isn't interrupted! We don't want to loose you!!
Well, too late. You have. I've tossed them into the trash and will any future pleas for my money. By my calculations, I've got enough reading material to take me into 2011 !!
I've organize my 66 secrets into 3 containers... Oprah and Home Companion now sit in a bucket, Martha sits on the shelf of my primative table in the family room, and Country Living fills my Longaberger basket in the living room. All dusted, organized and just waiting for me to pick one and start reading!
Yeah...
right.

5 comments:

MeMeMe said...

Hello :) No you are not alone... I have a pile under my desk, a basketfull in the great room, several in the magazine rack, and another pile underneath my sofatable. And then I have a pile of cooking magazines in one of the closets in the kitchen :) And I also went to someone's house, and found a pile of magazines on a few occasions, in different places... so, we're all doing great!

Thank you for reminding me to tackle mine.

God Bless, i will be visiting again.
Jeannie

kimberly said...

i have the issue of owning and constantly buying tons of magazines......the same ones you get, plus coastal living.....(i don't get martha stewart living....she exhausts me!) :) but.....i devour them all....i tear out the pages of how i am going to change my rooms (every 6 months) and even then, i can't seem to get myself to throw any away.....so i have bunches everywhere.....maybe i can read mine and then GIVE them to you....yea right! :)

Carolyn said...

I am a little bad about magazines too. Let's make a deal....let's all read a magazine today!?!?!?!?

Carolyn

Simplicity Wins said...

You are too funny! I knew that no one else was allowed to break the binding of your magazines I just had no idea you had so many unopened. I, on the other hand, read them the day they arrive, I can't help myself, especially cottage living & country living...they are my favorites.

Chickenbells said...

Damn. I was just informed last night that Easter will take place at Foolsewoode this year, which made me think, "cruds...I suppose I need to clean up around here" A PILE of mags went into an already full basket of other ones...I have stopped all my subscriptions. I used to take magazines for inspirational reasons...Now I'm inspired if I don't roll out of bed in the morning and land on my face. I swear, when I was married, I read magazines ALL THE TIME. Now that I'm single, I have other things to do (I guess) Ohhhh...maybe I have a life? Or, I'm not trying to escape one that I had...tee-hee!!