less is more

---

We have so much stuff, it's unreal. It's especially daunting when I'm trying to decide what to take (only taking bags on the plan, so that mean 9 bags for the family). I also need to purge the clutter, the junk and the no longer need it stuff. There is just so much of it!

We had a neighborhood garage sale this weekend. When the first person came up, I realized why people donate their stuff rather than spread it on the lawn for people to pick through. But, then it got better. There were the regulars--I actually recognized a few of my "customers" as Emily called them. I sold a few things to neighborhood families...passing on Emily and Nathan's favorites to some of our friends was fun.

The worst was when I cut my hand hauling stuff up from the basement, including furniture (a fold-up bookshelf and foldup desk). Why I still had this furniture, I cannot say. These things were from my very first apartment in San Rafael in 1992. I thought I was the coolest with my very own apartment furnished with my parents hand me down squeaky sofabed and my mish-mash of furniture. Oh wait, am I describing my past or my future?! I'm kidding...I think our apartment in Shanghai will be nice. Don't quite have one yet, but we are moving towards a lease. More on that when there's actual news.

I met some neighbors I had never met before--and gave a lot of things away which felt great. My spontaneous gifting seemed to be very much appreciated by all the recipients. In all, I made $150 and had a fairly good time.

I have been cleaning and sorting and purging the house for weeks but after the garage sale upheaval things are messier and more cluttered than ever. Mark is on my subscriber list, and I'm sure he's rolling his eyes and saying "nooooo" but by the time he gets back, my goal is perfection. I'm sure that's not possible, but I do expect he'll be blown away at my progress. It takes a mess to make a clean house? Is that a saying? It should be. In order to get rid of the junk, I have to take it all out of the closets, off the shelves, out of the toyboxes, out from under the kids' beds (the never-ending battles with both kids on that topic could be a novel). So here I sit, with what feels like the messiest house in the world, but I am surprisingly hopeful. I organized most of my kitchen and got rid of icky or redundant items (nasty griddle, one of 4 plastic cutting boards).

I also started a "take to China" bag--which will undoubtedly become a series of bags--and an "is this trash?" box. This box is for that stuff I'm finding that seems like trash, but might be the missing piece to a gadget or appliance we've been searching for and forgot about...Sounds like trash, I know. But after digging through the actual trash outside on Saturday for a silver metal link that in fact tuned out to BE the missing link to a puzzle of Nathan's, I am being more cautious with the cavalier toss in the trash with things I don't quite recognize. Like, I think that this Cannon battery/charger belong to a camera we no longer have...but just in case I'm sticking it in the ITT (is this trash) box for the time being.


The kids each have bins in there rooms for their take to China items. I'm starting to put winter clothes in these and as we get closer, I'll ask them to pick the top toys and things they want to take. Nathan has been strategizing about just which Legos he will take with him--and also the best means of packing them. Finally I gave him an old backpack and said just fill it up and that's how many you'll take. We'll see if that works.

In all of this organizing, sorting and purging, I'm realizing just how few things we will have with us and how few of the things I am used to having are going to be part of our day to day. I'm not going to have all my handy kitchen gadgets. My favorites--the food processor from Aunt Elaine and Uncle Larry (wedding gift 13 years ago and still works!) and the bright blue Kitchenaid mixer I love like a pet will sit at home awaiting for my return. It's just going to be different. I will likely cook less, there won't be any baking, and whatever appliances we acquire will be acquired with Chinese plugs.
We will take a few comforts from home, but we will have to choose carefully. Those bags fill up fast.


I talked a lot about the stuff, but I am getting even more distressed about leaving all my friends and of course family. We have a lot of great friends here and that support system is going to be hard to live without. I know I'll make new friends, but it will be hard to leave what I have and venture into the new. So instead of wallowing in the sadness, I'm trying to see as many people as I can, do as much as I can to soak up some memories of here, and then we'll go make some new memories. I'm still excited. Just also still scared.

I asked Mark to be my guest blogger while he's away. I know you would love to read his stories in his own words. Hopefully, I can post some stuff from him during the next 2-3 weeks. He's very busy, so no promises!

---

Comments

[Linda]

Sorting
Tossing, sorting, packing, giving away...all of this sounds uncomfortably familiar...except for the Take To China part. The boys nextdoor love their Legos, so I'll share Nathan's plight. Looking forward to hearing from your guest blogger!

[Suzanne's dad]

The urge to purge
I have been through "the great sorting" task that Suzanne is doing. Since we moved a great deal, I did it more than once. My last big purge was when Sarah was ill, so I did it by myself. I was not as thoughtful as Suzanne. I couldn't keep up with the volume of trash, so I just committed the floor of the garage and begin throwing things from the house to the floor. A giant volcanoe/mountain of stuff grew and grew. I wish I had taken a picture.