I Married a Junky

by Susan Tucker

For better and for worse. That's what I vowed on that sunny day in June eight years ago. Little did I know what I was getting myself into ...

It started a couple of summers ago. Hubby became preoccupied and would dabble around in the neighborhood. He'd get all fidgeting and finally shout out, "I'm just going to run down the street, Hon." I didn't pay any attention, as I was typically too busy wiping the Little Man's boogers or prepping dinner.

We had a second son and I noticed in addition to the neighborhood runs, he was spending a lot of time online. "I'm driving to Denver ... to pick something up." Hmmm? "Ok."

Then, this past summer, he became a full-on junky. Every Friday night, he was on the computer and every Saturday morning, he was getting his fix. My husband has become Garage Sale Junky!

Aside from the borderline hoarding, and the way-too-full garage, it really hasn't been THAT bad. We've been able to save some items from the landfill by fixing/updating and reselling. We've saved a ton of money on a few must-have's AND, we've actually made a little extra cash along the way (enough to pay for our summer vacation! Yeah!) SO, for the most part, it's a good thing that Hubby is a Junky.

The downside. My garage looks like this ....

And, when one has an addiction like his, it makes for the purchase of some very random items. Like these tiles that we will probably NEVER use (unless a rainstorm of extra cash falls and we can finally redo our bathroom).

I wish I were crafty like our Hipcycle Scholar, Leanna - then I could mimic her magazine tutorials and whip up a tiled garbage can, tiled bowl and tile coaster set. (Wait, maybe I CAN do that! Now if I could just find the time... ) OR enterprising like Chief Hipcycler, Andrew Sell and start an entire landfill-diversion business. But, I'm not. I'm just a way-too-busy mom who needs someone else to manage Hubby's junk and/or save the world for me.

Anyway. I have a garage full of stuff that he has happily because of his addiction saved from the landfill. My goal this year is to reuse as many items as possible, recycle the ones that aren't usable and find some time to upcycle the rest.

What do YOU think I should do with those tiles? Post your suggestions below.

Susan is Goddess of Marketing at Hipcycle. She spends her weekends chasing after two active boys, sifting through her husband's garage sale finds and attempting to work on upcycling projects of her own.