Serious Clean Out

The dumpster arrived yesterday!  We have been going through closets and cabinets getting rid of stuff and clothes that we don't need or use.  As I said before, it feels good!  So, we decided to move outside.  It's kind of funny, none of this was thought out or planned it has just evolved into a major clean out. This all started with Asplundh showing up and trimming the trees in front of our property.  They looked terrible when they were done.   It looked like half of the tree was gone. They were very old elm trees and so we decided to have them cut down.  Then we decided to remove a huge old hedge in front of our home that looked horrible.  Actually, everything is looking pretty good now....  it's a blank canvas.  The front of our house is going to look very different when everything thing is done.  It's interesting, if the outside is a reflection of the inside, boy are we getting rid of a lot of junk in our lives that has held us down from being who we were intended to be.  And we are processing through that too!

We have a pole barn, our barn and a huge metal building full of some good things but mainly a lot of junk.  Example, as we were looking through stuff we had about 30 boxes of homeschool books and notebooks.  Fifteen years of notebooks for four children. Oh, my!  I did save it because I didn't know if there would be a problem when they went to college and I wanted proof of their work.  There was no problem, you just need to pass the ACT test.  Of course, momma wanted to look through all the notebooks and as I saw the progression of hand writing and learning, different memories came to mind.  Yes, I would do it all again but with major changes and I wish I could do it all over again with the wisdom I have now.  It was an education for me as well, and I developed a love of learning and reading through the homeschooling of my children.  I don't know what I learned in school but it wasn't much. But I did have a lot of fun.  I did have a wonderful eighth grade English teacher who was fresh out of college and I still remember the books we read.  George Orwell's 1984 and Animal Farm, we dissected those books, which at the time was boring to me.  :( 

I'm really glad we are getting this done.  I don't plan on leaving the planet anytime soon, but when I do all of this clean out will make things a lot easier for our children.  :)

Well, for the next month a lot of spring cleaning!