Zero to chaos in three minutes or less

Sometimes my kids are with me in my Cow Art and More office. I do my best to keep them occupied with something productive while also keeping an eagle eye on them. If you're a parent, you know how quickly things can go from perfect to pandemonium in a wee couple of minutes.

In my life, it happens when I'm on the phone.


Meet my youngest child.

A serious flirt.

And mischief maker.

And he eats....A LOT. In fact, if you ask him, he will tell you his name is Chunky Monkey.











His father and I are completely prepared to get the phone call from school one day that he has run his underwear up a flagpole.

(And is using his charm and good looks to get out of having to scrub the entire cafeteria floor as his punishment.)











Why am I worried about such things at such a young and sweet and tender age? Because of what he can do with a couple of markers in just three minutes.



Who knew that in the time it takes to take a phone order from a customer that you can paint your hands with a marker.












And if that wasn't enough, he wanted to show me he artistic talent and could use the complimentary color orange on his arms to set off the color purple on his hands. (If you're trying to calculate a score for this masterpiece, using two colors in under three minutes does increase the difficulty factor by 0.3).













So if you ever call to ask a question, place an order, or just otherwise chit-chat, remind me to check on Chunky Monkey and make sure I have all marking elements (including my collection of 64 different colors of Sharpies) in my possession.

(By the way, I can't wait to get a note from school today asking me to keep my child home until his fungus has resolved.)

Am I superwoman? Hardly.

I get the comment from amazed and bewildered people from time to time regarding my many hats (veterinarian, jewelry artist, art gallery owner, mom, agnerd, volunteer -- and not necessarily in that order depending on the day).

"How do you get it all done?"

I don't know that I do anything much different from anyone else, but here's my take on how I get things done (outside of my magic wand):

1. I don't sleep much. Caffeine and I are close friends, and I don't spend much time with my head on a pillow. While this let's me get a lot done, I am working hard on trying to change this. I have a sneaking suspicion that it's affecting my health in not a good way, so this one has got to get remedied sooner rather than later.
2. I don't do anymore housework than absolutely necessary. Not kidding. I do my best to make sure my kids go to school in clean clothes and don't get sick from a food borne illness, but the rest gets done......whenever. My little peeps (or Hurricane three boys as I affectionately refer to them sometimes) can destroy a house in minutes. Seriously. So why spend hours (yes, hours) cleaning up only to have chaos again in a matter of minutes? I have just learned to live with the chaos and not have people over to visit without 3 weeks notice and a cleaning crew scheduled.
   
3. This next one is a biggie. I didn't even realize my advantage here until a couple of years ago. My husband works at the grocery store. I send a list with him every day or two and I almost never have to go. I figure this one saves me three to five hours a week, easy.
   
4. I don't watch much TV. Okay, I do like watching a few shows, but when I do, it's on the DVR or online. Zip through the commercials and that 1 hour show is now down to forty-two minutes (and I'm usually making jewelry while I'm watching).
   
5. I have a great babysitter. She is fantastic at helping to keep my kids in line and fed...and my kids LOVE her. (More than me sometimes as they have been so kind to share as I'm taking away their favorite monster trucks for beating the crap out of each other.)
   
6. I spend every possible moment doing something. This probably isn't quite the best as my brain probably does need some down time, but if I've got a minute, I'm busy. The ten or fifteen minutes I might have waiting on a client or getting to my next destination early is perfect for catching up on blog reading, sending out emails, or returning a few phone calls. And since I also spend a lot of time in a vet truck, I subscribe to some killer business podcasts and listen while driving.
7. I have the best, most supportive spouse in the world. Parenting is something we both do. He knows when I'm in my office working that he's in charge. I can't also thank him enough for the help he gives me in the business.

I am anything but superwoman. I just play her on my blog.

Let me hear from you. What do you do to get through your day?

Monday's agriculture website - Krazy Coupon Lady

Okay, so this technically isn't an agriculture website, except we all have to eat right? As the price of gas and grocery shopping continues to squeeze wallets, who hasn't thought about using coupons? There are tons of couponing sites out there, but the one I've been using most lately is for the Krazy Coupon Lady. Not only does the site list the sales and coupons for a variety of grocery stores, it also shares coupons for major department store chains. The site also gives other tips for saving money and points to other links that share coupons. For me, the most useful part has been the listings of the items on sale at my local grocery store, plus a link to an online coupon to make the item an even better deal. It also has a "10 day boot camp" article to make you a bona fide coupon shopping "krazy lady".

Valerie D'Ortona book signing

In case you missed Valerie D'Ortona's book signing of "Big T's heart is in Me!", the latest adventure of Isabel and her friends, please read the article about the National Donor Day event at Santa Fe College. Valerie wrote the book as a tribute to her son Tony, who was killed in an automobile accident in 2008, but went on to save several lives by being an organ donor. The event educates people on the importance of organ donation.

Picture credit: Valerie D'Ortona, left, stands with State Senator Steve Oelrich at the National Donor Day event at Santa Fe College, Gainesville, Florida, on February 14.