Count Down to China

It is August 1, and our trip is for August 25 - 30. I am slowly finishing the items on my to do list. Tomorrow I will go to Los Angeles, again, for the visas. Then finish the quilt. Then shop for gifts. This is becoming a very tiring trip and I haven't even left yet.
There are other things on my agenda as well. Like the plan to work through some cook books and get rid of the useless ones. I have had no time to experiment. No time to read and sort.
And what about that plan to downsize the fiber stash by making stuff? Well, I bought 3 fleeces and sent them to the processor. I have washed some, spun it and knitted up about 4 ounces of the yarn. And though I did knit 4 items earlier this year, I have only managed to move about 1/2 pound of yarn out of the stash. I would say that my stash increased by about 7 pounds of fiber and about 5 pounds of yarn. I am moving in the wrong direction.
And what about that quilting thing? Jeri, did you just by about $50 of thread? really! What were you thinking? Now I have a color for every opportunity. It was on sale. And already, the selection came in handy for my daughter's quilt.
It seems that when I try to let something go, more stuff fills the space. So I have decided that when I get back from China, I am not going shopping, or even looking, for about 6 months. It is groceries and nothing else.
This brings us to the prompt for this blog- time - space and the relationship to getting things done. When there is too much stuff, there are too many choices and I spend too much time thinking and planning. This stuff also takes up space which causes clutter and inefficient use of time trying to maneuver around all the stuff or find things. It has taken me an entire week to get the courage to take the folding chairs to the garage and put them away. I was afraid that stuff will come into the house (which it did) and caused me more confusion about what to do first.
It is wonderful to live in a world with so much choice, yet it is also a burden. I look at the fleeces I have washed but not processed, fleeces processed and not spun, yarn spun and not woven, project on the loom not finished. Knitting projects lined up for years. Quilting projects to last a lifetime. or Two.
And I am not the only one with this problem. E and I are still trying to move parts of his parents stuff out of the garage after 4 years.  My mom's stuff is still in the trunk of the car.
I am grateful to live in a place that has so much, so many opportunities, such variety and the time to explore it. But I also want to go to the beach and just relax sometimes.
I have promised myself that I will not shop in China. No tea. No silk. No Jade. No trinkets. No, no and just NO!
Now to get myself organized for the next project- finishing the quilt, washing more fleece, and cleaning a bathroom.