The Bead Gene

I've just spent the last two days going through old jewelry I've made...and believe me, there's LOTS of it!.  I do that periodically, not because I need more beads, but because I find I really have changed and grown in my jewelry making over the last few years.  Soooo, I pull things apart that don't quite "thrill" me anymore...expecially when I find something I made with crap and Swarovski crystals...things I made with cheap plate and fine silver or gold-filled on the same piece...you get the idea.  I had no concept of what I was throwing together several years ago...I just thought  that it "looked pretty" at the time.  Anyway, after taking everything apart (that's an all-morning affair on the patio in front of the T.V.), and getting everything sorted out into separate containers, I cart it all to my workroom to begin the laborious process of putting all the beads away.
Then (and only then) it hits me:  I have more beads than I'll probably use in a lifetime...!!!  Why don't I realize this all the time?  Well, probably because I'm not smacked in the face with it until I have to sort and put away!  Matching beads and pulling them out to create something is fun, fun, fun!  Matching and putting away beads is a pain, pain, pain.  But is that going to stop me from buying more?  Duuuuh....I'll give you maybe 1/2 a guess on that one!  There's always something out there that's gorgeous, that I'll use later, that "will come in handy" at some time or another.  Whoever gets my "stuff" when I die will wonder just what kind of life I had beyond beads!!!!  I don't suppose anyone is selling will power, are they?  I'll take one gross if they are!!!!
The weather in Central Florida is beyond beautiful...THIS is why I love living here...the jasmine is blooming, and we have many visitors.  This little guy was so busy slurping the blooms, he sat still long enough for me to snap him.