White Trash

        Trash. every farm has it! There is always gonna be some trash when you live in the country and have as many acres as we do.  I hate trash! I hate clutter! It causes me anxiety every time I step out our back door. So much so that at times I will start to have an anxiety attack. 
     Now, we are not lazy white trash country folk.  My husband works seven days a week, 12 hours a day. We run a successful business in the agriculture field.  We don't sleep in, or sit and watch movies. We don't even own a T.V.  we don't take vacations except maybe an overnight trip to the family cabin once or twice a year.  We work our asses off!!  My husband works at least 70 hours a week. I help him with the business, homeschool our kids, do cubscouts, girlscouts, church...etc.  We are very busy people. Plus we grow most of our own vegetables, fruit, meat, and eggs.  SO WHY DOES OUR FARM LOOK SO TRASHY!!!!
     My husband is a genius, no really, he is seriously a genius!  But when it comes to details and cleanup or appearances, he doesn't care.  That man has worn shirts with holes in them, the same dress shoes for 10 years and a layer of dust in his 60 thousand dollar truck an inch thick!!  He is brillant with the big picture! But when it comes to organization and tidiness, he is the world's worst!! Now he is organized enough to get the job done.  But he is the type that leaves cabinet doors open, bottle lids sitting there, clothes on the floor next to the hamper. 
       I learned right away not to nag.  He works so hard that I don't mind taking care of the little details.  But I have a clutter anxiety issue and it really gets to me sometimes.  I am a fantastic organizer, I like to think.  But when you are as overloaded as I am, organizing takes a back seat.  So, back in 2008 when I became very disabled,  the clutter and trash around this place became out of control!  Now this is not an episode of hoarders by any means.  But it is embarrassing!
    Over the past few years, I have struggled to keep our home clutter free, organized, and well even just clean.  The outside, I gave up on years ago.  So now that we are moving to the new Victorian farm, which happens to be the 5 acres next door,  the task of cleaning up our current 5 acres is daunting!! This overwhelming task falls on my shoulders.  My husband doesn't even have time to move us, and he has the added task of ripping out part of our fence and extending it around the new place for the safety of our animals and children from the busy road. Plus building new garden beds which are very important to our healthy lifestyle, and moving the heavy stuff i can't move. All while still working 70 hours or more a week!   
    So I started this past week cleaning up the backyard, which is about an acre.  I started off making a trash pile and several different keep piles for wood, wire, fencing, etc... Then i sectioned off the side of the house and started a keep pile for the shop equipment and other things I did not want our dogs to get into.  I put the kids to work, picking up little pieces of trash and moving light stuff(thats a whole other post).   And now after about 4 days of working a few hours in the mornings outside, I am about two-thirds done!!! My husband is floored!!! He never thought I would get even a 10th of it done.  I explained to him that, I can get a lot done when I am focused on one thing at a time and not multitasking in 10 different directions.  Which is what I usually have to do with, homeschool, church, our business, housework, my health issues...etc.
     I am very concerned with being careful not to throw my back out.   I have a spinal fusion, peripheral nueropathy, and hormonal migraines.  But so far, I am doing very well with all the physical work. I figure that by the time we are done and moved in to the new place, I will be in the best shape of my life, which is a bonus for me!!!!   I got to thinking about it all and realized something very important in all of this.  This is the first time in 8 years that I have been healthy enough to work like this outside and it feels great!!!!!   So this move is even more exciting for me, because it means that we will have a fresh start with everything in its place, twice the space and organized buildings for all our STUFF, and no more CRAZY WHITE FARM TRASH!!!!