I have been a "farmer's wife" for quite some time now, but I have never gotten used to the lifestyle. I knew what I was getting myself into when I married Greg, don't get me wrong, but it's never quite as you imagine it will be. I suppose I'm lucky in the fact that he doesn't farm for himself, that lifestyle would be much more worse I believe.
I grew up in a relatively big suburb, my graduating class was 310 people. In a lot of states that might seem small, but for Iowa, that's actually pretty big, at least in the time period in which I graduated. I had never been on a farm in my life before I met Greg. I knew the experience was going to much different than I ever imagined. And after Greg and I started dating I knew that farming, in one way or another, would become part of my life as well because I knew it was way too important for Greg to give up. And I was o.k. with this....at the time. Then Greg and I got married, and although he didn't own his own farmland and didn't farm his own ground, what I had gotten myself into was almost just as worse.
Greg started out our married life together as an applicator. In the easiest way to explain that is he was the guy that got in a big machine and sprayed chemicals and whatever else onto farm ground and crops. This meant many lonely nights alone as he was out well to midnight trying to finish up the day's spraying orders. I didn't really like this one bit, as it would go on for weeks at a time. Not to mention that he was gone a lot of weekends working as well, which got to be quite a downer when you spend the whole weekend by yourself. But I knew he was making money for us, so I dealt with it. However, then came along our first child, and I suddenly became a "single mom" a lot of the time. This was hard to deal with, living in a small town, with no one you know, by yourself with your brand new infant. I really did not like that one bit.
However, he eventually moved his way up into Ag Sales. Which I was very excited about! Not only was it more money, but I was under the impression that he would be around a lot more. Which was nice seeing as now I had two children to deal with and I didn't enjoy being a "single mom" with both of them. He did seem to be around a lot more than when he was an applicator, but still not to the extent that I was hoping for. He still had to work late nights when the farmers needed a tank filled, deliver seed or a bar fixed. He still had to work weekends for the same reasons, although usually not Sunday because farmers were a little more respectful of that day. He also still got stuck in an applicator quite a bit because he was one of the only guys at work that could run a machine and run it well, so he often became the scapegoat to do the dirty work for other people, which pissed me off to no end.
Then came along a job with another company, same Ag Sales position, but a different company. And with this company came the promise that he would be a salesman and nothing but a salesman. Which gave me high hopes that his working weekends and late nights would end. And to an extent they did, but not as much as I was hoping. He no longer became the guy that had to go applicate because they were short-handed, but he was still the guy that had to fill anhydrous tanks and fix toolbars because they didn't have enough man power to be able to do it for him. He was in a somewhat new territory and it was HUGE! The driving distance from one end of his territory to the other was about an hour. May not seem like a big deal, but a huge deal when two different customers from opposite ends of the territory want you at the same time. It was stressful and tiring and still had him working late and some Saturdays, and me, by myself, a "single mom," now with 3 kids to deal with. We at least moved from our acreage out in the middle of nowhere to a house in a town, so I didn't feel so secluded and I was closer to things to do, but it was still lonely. But this is what I had signed on for when I got married to him, I knew what I was getting myself into...for the most part.
But as of today I'm happy to say that Greg has a new job! He will still somewhat be working with the same company, but he is technically hired by a new company. He no longer is doing Ag Sales, which I'm happy about purely just for his sanity. He loved selling and meeting new people, but didn't appreciate the farmers who thought everything was about them, no matter the time of day or what you had going on. And the farmers who thought it was not big deal to call you up to tell you to go "fuck yourself" because they weren't happy with the business, when it was something that was completely out of his control and couldn't help on his end of things. Now his job is Precision Ag something-or-other. I have to admit, I don't know much about it. All I know is that he mentioned a couple years ago that if a position came open, that's really what he wanted to do. He's still going to be Ag oriented and he's still going to feel like he's part of the "farming" industry. Now, though, he gets to sit in a nice little office, with pictures of the kids and their artwork framing the walls. He gets to wear nice clothes work and not worry about them getting sprayed with chemicals and oil and ruined. He doesn't have to drive around ALL day long to try to talk to farmers who seem to have sticks up their arses. And work is only about 15 minutes away now, no more computing an hour to work every morning! And it's working with computers and computer programs, which he's always enjoyed and had a small passion for. Plus he knows the other guy he's going to be working with, they are about the same age, and he really likes him, so that's awesome for him as well!
Plus, there are major perks for me as well! No more feeling like a "single mom" anymore. There will be no more working weekends, there will be no more working late at night because it's planting or harvesting season. If I need him to come home because someone is sick, he can leave whenever he wants. If I need him to come to a doctor's appointment with me or watch the kids while I go to one, he can do that too. There are times when he'll be able to work from home or take random days off if he wants to. His schedule is going to be a lot more flexible, which will be sooo different, but sooo nice and a very welcome change! Not only that, but we hear our benefits are amazing!
I cannot wait! He is going to be much happy with this new job, I can tell already. And I'm so happy he finally found out, a month is a long time to wait to see if you are going to get hired or not. I can't wait to see what this new job has in store for him and our family. We are excited to have more free time together and to get the opportunity to do a lot more family-oriented things. Especially when we decide to add to our family. Congratulations Hunny, I am so excited for you and so proud of you! Way to go!
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