4-1/2? Well, not really...

I thought about crossing another "new" item off the list today on my 50/50 challenge.  And this would have been accomplished by not doing something, rather than doing something new.  But I caved...sort of.  Let me explain further...

I have a problem.  My kids would say a serious problem.  You know how you've purchased a pair of shoes or an outfit you've never worn?  Or for the men, how you've bought that new tool that is still shiny in your garage?  Well, that is me and scrapbooking.  Twice a year we have the Scrapbook USA Expo.  It is huge.  Tens of thousands of women shell out between $12-$75 just for admission.  Usually I only pay the $20 early admission rate which gets me a goody bag too.  I then shop for the latest and greatest scrapbooking items that I never use.  I have boxes and boxes and boxes of the stuff.  I do sometimes use the paper, glitter, rubber stamps, embossing items, markers, die-cuts, etc. on crafts projects.  But in the 15 years I have been here I have only made one full scrapbook page and that was at a church event.

My intentions have been good.  As the baby of the family I am on the one with the empty baby book and an envelope full of photos.  I vowed my children would have their young lives well documented.  But the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.  I have boxes of photographs, tons of scrapbooking supplies, and empty albums.  Trev does have one baby book to be proud of, but only because his Auntie Pam had way too much time on her hands in those days.  She was a little busier by the time Ariel came along, so she is the one who now feels left out, as I did all those years ago.  How do I know this?  She tells me regularly.  I even started buying the page kits where everything is all cut out.  All you need to do is add photos and glue.  I must have at least 100 of those alone.  But still no finished pages have come from them.

So the Scrapbook Expo is in town this weekend.  Did I really need to go and see the latest and greatest?  Did I really need any more supplies?  Shouldn't I actually do some scrapbooking before buying more?  No, no and yes.  As of this morning I had resolved I would not go for the first time since they have held the bi-yearly event.  I could count that as something new.  But on the way back from the shop my car took the wrong exit, the one that leads to the expo center.  Two hours later, not only had I been around the Scrapbook Expo, but I also had managed to take in the Gem Faire next to it.

I am proud to say I purchased nothing.  Scrapbooking, it seems, no longer compels me to purchase unnecessary items.  There were a few things I might have liked, but not enough to stand in a line with 40 other women purchasing them.  I could have dropped some serious cash on jewelry at the Gem Faire, but again I have plenty that I never wear.  It seems I am finally growing up and becoming fiscally responsible.  Only took me 50 years....