I've been busy giving birth to diarrhea's baby and will have to postpone what I had planned for this week.  I was able to work on my painting a little before all the fun began!  Ahem.  

Since I am down anyway, I (and by I, I mean my husband) am going to be switching the site over to a different server.  There may be a few hiccups.  If you have linked to any of my posts you will have to relink in a few days.  My button should still work fine.  Thanks for your patience!

I decided to repaint the neck and go for a more colorful, less realistic, approach. I want to paint with more of a chunky, interpretive style, but it seems like things always turn out different than I intend them too.  I suppose it's ok to let the painting turn into what it wants to be.  I finally, with the help of my friend Scott, figured out how to get the gold color of his guitar parts.  It still needs something but I don't know what yet.  Strings for one.  Overall, I am feeling better about it though.  Glad I pushed past the ugly phase.  The first of many, no doubt.

I won't talk about how I fed the kids their cereal out of tupperware this morning because I forgot to run the dishwasher, and I won't tell you about how I then parceled them out to my friend so I could catch up on some work (sit on my butt looking at gardening catalogs). I will, however, talk about my idea to write an occasional post about productivity.  Bwahaha.  

There are three possible explanations for why I have extra time on my hands to spend blogging, painting, gardening, etc.  One: I neglect my children.  Two:  I only have two children.  Three:  I'm really good at managing time.   Regarding number one: I have given it honest thought.  I feed and dress my kids everyday before 8:30.  I stop to play/read/wrestle with them whenever I get the impression that they want me to and am fully capable of putting other things aside when I'm needed elsewhere.  I don't think they are neglected.  

I have heard people say that the third child is a real doozy.  Currently, my kids play really well together and are a good combination of ages 2 and 4.5.  Things are going well, so with regards to number two, I am not letting my brain go there yet.

I'm going to confidently claim that number three is the answer.  People often ask me how I have time to do "extracurricular" things.  It seems as thought there's an undertone of disapproval in their voice when they ask me.  Boy would I love to be a fly on their wall.  I would like to see what they are doing that makes them NOT have time to do the things they want to do.  

When I attended the ALT Summit conference in January, I listened to Sara Jane talk about what it was like to go from two kids to three and still find time to illustrate.  She then said something along the lines of, it's our responsibility to see to the needs of the family, but we forget that WE TOO are part of that family.  What about our needs?  I NEED to create.  It has taken me a few years of struggling with the mom vs. real person dilemma to realize that I'm not healthy if I don't make time for myself.  I'm a resentful, impatient, and angry mother when I'm not experiencing measurable success in something; and successes in motherhood are VERY hard to measure.

At this point I consider myself an advocate for "Free Time".  I consider myself an excellent manager of time and hope none of this comes across as conceited.  I said I wasn't going to mention the moments of disfunction that occur on a daily basis for us, so I won't use them now to prove my humility.  

On with the program.  The first of hopefully many tips on effectively managing time and increasing productivity that I have for you is:

Follow a Schedule and Keep a Routine

Daily

Every morning I do the same things in nearly the same order.  I shower, dress, read, open my curtains, let the dog out of the kennel, and make the bed.  If I open my bedroom door before these things are done, I am instantly mauled by ravenous children.  They have learned, because of consistency, that I am not available until that door opens.  I change the boy's 13 pound diaper and put clean clothes on him immediately so that it's done and I don't have to think about it again.  After this, I put him straight in his high chair so I don't have to chase him down again.  Everything I do is a preemptive measure to spare me from doing more work later.  I let the dog out and open the kitchen curtains.  My daughter feeds the dog as I make everyone breakfast.  (The kids like the routine because they know what to expect and can even help).  

My whole day is not planned out so robotically, but for chaotic moments like meals, coming home from school, and bedtime, a rigid routine can be very calming for everyone.

Weekly

I try to have specific tasks assigned to days of the week.  Laundry on Monday and toilets on Tuesday...Toilet Tuesday...sounds like a great blog category.  Or not.  Once again, this sounds rigid, but it increases my chances of always having clean underwear and keeps things, like dirty toilets, off my mind.  

Flexibility is fun, inevitable, and necessary.  It is up to you to determine when you will do what, how flexible you will be, and how much of this advice is right for you.  A routine will bring order to the otherwise chaotic task of being a mother.  A schedule will bring attention to unoccupied gaps, otherwise known as free time, for you to fill with things that you desire to do but didn't think you had the time.  

Don't let anyone, including yourself, tell you that your desires are impractical, unimportant, or impossible.  

Picture in your mind the scene from Cinderella where the step-sisters are trying to make that weensy shoe fit their (probably normal sized) feet. One of them shouts, “I'll make it fit!” and, with concentrated effort, tries to sardine her foot into the glass slipper. This is how I feel when trying on shoes at thrift stores. It never fails that the cutest shoes are almost never the right size. Of course I try them on anyway, and of course somebody is ALWAYS watching. I'm inappropriately bent over, one hand clutching the shopping cart for balance and one pant leg rolled up as I take aim. Then I'm trying not to shout expletives because my foot ricocheted off whatever tiny shoe I tried to shove it in and I just twisted my ankle. Dejected, and feeling like the jolly green giant, I put the shoes back, secretly hoping any onlookers think it was because they were too big.

It goes both ways. Just a few days ago I bought an amazing pair of red heels (I have been looking for some for a while) that were about half a size too big. “I'll just curl my toes up when I walk,” I say with optimism, but my feet strongly disagree. After about two hours of clomping around like a teenager on prom night, I realize that band-aids on the backs of my heels just won't cut it. I'm going to have to get some shoe inserts or something.

I have met people who give me the “your feet are your foundation and improper support can lead to all kinds of health problems” lecture. They have ugly shoes. They are also the kind of people that don't feed their kids refined sugar or let them watch TV, and as a result, are very well behaved kids. But they are also the kind of people that have ugly shoes.

I say, my boobs are gone, I started going gray at 23 and I don't (by personal choice of modesty) wear short skirts although they would certainly balance out my cankels. I haven't much to cling to at this point, therefore, I am going to wear sexy shoes! When I'm 50 I will stop dying my hair and get some orthopedics. But until then... “I'LL MAKE IT FIT!”

I very much wanted to embed this video, but it won't let me.  You have to watch it!

3 lucky people will receive one of the pictured belts

made by The D.I. Denizen!

There are 4 ways to enter the giveaway.  You may do each option once for a total of 4 entries per person.

1.  Leave a comment on this post.

2.  Link to my blog on your own blog either in a post, or by pasting my button on your site.  Be sure to tell me in your comment where to find this link so I can count it! 

3. Retweet this message: RT: @thedidenizen Double Decker Belt Giveaway at http://bit.ly/anZCsF Mmmmm, free stuff! 

Click HERE to automatically open Twitter and retweet it.

4.  Follow me on Twitter.  People who are already following me will be automatically entered.  All like 13 of you.  Haha.

I am excited for this, my first, giveaway on The D.I. Denizen!  Entries close at 11:59 on Thursday March 4.  Good luck!  

Want to make your own belt?  Read the how to HERE.

I am very excited to say that my kitchen make-over has been featured on Fresh Nest Design.  I have known Erin since high school and we even shared a college roomate for a while. Anyway, that's my claim to blogworld fame.  

Go check it out!

Just this week I discovered these things called Blog Parties where they use Mr. Linky, or MckLinky, to let you share links of cool things. It's just a bunch of people sharing links to projects they have done, before and afters, etc.  I have participated in these already and I think they are going to be quite addictive!

Check it:

Between Naps on the Porch, Metamorphosis Monday

A Soft Place to Land, DIY Day

The Shabby Chic Cottage, Transformation Thursday

You will spend hours following links...don't say I didn't warn you!

I got this idea from seeing a few doubled up belts at Anthropologie.com.  I don't think I could ever bring myself to pay $34 dollars for a belt, and I had the sneaky thought that I could figure out how to make something similar for $3.  Here's how:

1.  Choose coordinating belts, preferably ones with D-Ring fasteners.  If you choose belts with holes, keep in mind they might not line up exactly.  Make sure to choose belts that either fit you or are too long.  

2.  Start at the buckle end, as close as you can get to it, and make sure the buckles stay aligned.  Using a zig-zag stitch, stitch the belts together making sure to stay in the middle.  Stop sewing six inches from the end.  This six inches will be your belts "adjustability", meaning, the belt can fit your waist in several locations. 

3. Cut each belt to the same length.  Use a zig-zag stitch on the raw end to keep the end from fraying, turn it over, and stitch into place.  

4. A third, fourth, or fifth? belt can be added in the same way, but don't cut the extra length off your belts until you are done sewing them all together.  The tension of sewing them may cause one belt to stretch longer than the other or the insides of the belt to ooze out.  Cutting off the extra last will ensure that they all end up the same length in the end.

Enter the giveaway to win one of my double decker belts!

It doesn't look too much different, but I worked for about two hours. I did his overall straps, the neck of the guitar, and a few other things.  This is a rotten stage for me.  Things only look halfway good.  They lack definition, and until other things get painted they will continue to look dull.  I have to try not to think about it too hard or I won't want to keep painting.

Overalls and Electric Guitar, Part One.

The number one rule to follow when trying to find good deals at thrift stores is, look well and look often.

Look Well. Thrift stores racks often resemble a smelly pile of dirty laundry, especially to the untrained eye. Most often, nothing jumps out at you. Most often, the clothes look like the rotting carrion of a teenagers closet. Yet, somewhere, deep inside the junk, is something of value.

Look Often. It's not likely that you will find exactly what you are looking for on the first try, but the silver lining to thrift store shopping is, you might find something better; something you never knew you needed! Come back the next day, or in a few days if you're too wimpy/ashamed to become a regular.

Follow the rule. If you don't, another more persistent person will find all the good stuff...like me!

The picture is of my haul for the day. Three dresses, a purse, and two pairs of earrings. I find it funny that my purchase is often, unintentionally, color coordinated. I mentioned this to the cashier. She was unimpressed with my observation.