The magazine fiend that is me

People.
Entertainment Weekly.
“O” Magazine.
Reader’s Digest.
Essence.
Parenting.
Fitness.

So, what do all these magazines have in common? Besides being fabulous periodicals, they also happen to be all the magazines I find in my mailbox on a weekly or monthly basis. And yes, I know that I have a problem!

But in my defense, one subscription was a gift from a really good friend when Preston was born. (Parenting – Thanks, Nicole! I learn something new from every issue.) Two of them helped my coworker’s granddaughter’s school buy some really nice things. (Entertainment Weekly and Reader's Digest) One was a steal using the annual Time Friends and Family Discount (Essence ... $11 for a year). I got a pretty good deal on O, too. And who doesn't love Oprah?

I bought Fitness from the HSN when Preston was about 4 weeks old and sleeping for 15 minutes at a time. It was an impulse purchase brought on by sleep deprivation and the promise to myself to get back in shape. (And we all see how that's been going.) I have no justification for People. It's my guilty pleasure. My annual Christmas present to myself. I look forward to unwinding every Friday night with it.

It seems like I've always had magazines around me. I love reading the articles, looking at the ads -- it's a great escape. I can remember getting my Weekly Reader in elementary school. My sister and I had subscriptions to Highlights as children. And it's just grown from there. My mother was the same way. I can remember her having subscriptions to Ebony, Psychology Today and Reader's Digest, as well as educational magazines from her professional organizations.

In the past I've had subscriptions to Sports Illustrated, InStyle, Time, Ebony, Jet and others that I can't recall right now.

I actually thought I had a handle on it, until last week when I received three of them in the mail at once. But I'm not worried. I think the Parenting and Fitness mags expire early 2009, so the coffee table will find some relief. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that I have a hard time recycling them, even after reading them from cover to cover. And I do read them all every week or month -- from the first page to the last.

There's one more. I don't have a subscription because they don't offer them, but I look forward to the first of each month so I can pick up a copy of the latest skirt! magazine. It's free and full of great articles for and by women. I like this one so much that I've gone to their website to look at their contributor guidelines because I've always wanted to be published. I am a writer, you know! And with the family, friends and coworkers I have ... I've got lots of material. Maybe next year, because for now, I'm just going to enjoy reading.