I came downstairs to make a card about four hours ago, but then I stopped in to check the SCS forums to make sure that I hadn't missed anything huge in the past few days. I had. Somebody got a new catalog in the mail! So instead of making a card, I've been devouring the new catalog threads. We stampers can certainly be a single-minded bunch of people at times, can't we?
After devouring the new catalog threads and seeing what made it from this past year's mini catalogs, of course I had to sort my stamps, current from retiring. (Am I imagining things, or is this beginning to sound like, If you Give a Mouse a Cookie?) 
Would you like to see the numbers and pictures, now that I've finally sorted and counted my retiring stamps and my still-current ones? I have 57 sets left, as well as 17 backgrounds. (Yes, I have a backgrounds fixation.) But here's the big news: I have 53 sets retiring, as well as 3 backgrounds. (In all fairness, several are SAB sets or hostess sets--sets that we know will retire after one year.) I have another 15 sets that retired previously, that I thought I just had to hang onto, but that I haven't used in a year. . . That's a lot of stuff, isn't it? The good news is that my shelves (pictured on the right) which were crowded now have all kinds of space for new stamps!
Someone asked in the tips and/or questions thread what I do with my retiring stamp sets. If I love them, I keep them. If I don't have a good replacement for them, I keep them. Other than that, I part with them because my house would be overrun with STUFF otherwise. My customers get first pick, and whatever is left usually gets traded or sold on SCS. Occasionally I resort to e-Bay, but I must admit that I buy more on e-Bay than I have ever sold. (Hi, Cindy and Lindsay!)
Is there a point to all of this retirement-rambling? Well, I'd love to tell you that I have considered my ways and that I will acquire fewer things this year, but it might not happen. I am as eager as the next person to see that new catalog and make that prioritized list. You know the one I mean--the one with "Things I need on my first order" all the way down to "Things I might like, but not now."
I'll try to avoid the forums tomorrow night so that I actually stamp!
