Random movieclip location without overlap?

Hi,

I am working on a flash file that imports xml data. This data gets run through a for loop and each xml child gets its own movieclip called menuItem. Then the various instances of menuItem are randomly placed on the stage. However, they always overlap to some extent. I don’t want this.

So, how would I make sure they don’t overlap? I looked at the hitTest function but it seems to require 2 different movieclips to check for the collision. I only have one movieclip with multiple instances.

I’m using Flash CS4 and AS3 obviously.

Thanks!