And don't forget trips to the veterinarian for unusual and weird illnesses and injuries. Think you have a large vet bill from the spaying and neutering your dog, vaccines and flea prevention. Here's our veterinary bill for 2009:

The office is where I think I spend most of my time. Office work, computer work and answering phones take up more time than cleaning cages. As a business owner, not only do I perform all the presentations and the cleaning but also the basic day-to-day chores that keep a business up and running. It doesn't happen without planning, dedication, developing new skills and lots of problem solving. When I'm in the office you can find me doing a smattering of many things like: bookkeeping and accounting, creating new spiels for new shows, inputting customer information in our data base, talking with advertisers, creating new up to date fliers and forms, sending confirmation emails and reminders for upcoming shows, billing customers and logging in payments....the list can go on forever. The computer is always on, one phone- either office or cell phone is with me at all times and so is my calendar for the current and upcoming year as well as forms needed to book a show while on the road.

 My desk is always cluttered no matter how hard I try to keep it clean, I have sticky notes taped everywhere along with a dry erase board with notes, my collegues phone numbers and web addresses and books on every type of animal I own from the bugs to reptiles to mammals. My visits to Office Depot are never ending and office supplies account for ahuge chuck of our expenses. See for yourself.

• Advertising: 2008: $12,588   2009: $14,128
• Office Supplies: 2008: $4,365 2009: $2,264
• Internet and phone: 2008: $8,385  2009: $5,193
• Professional and legal fees: 2008: $385   2009: $425

THE SHOWS

The Creature Teacher presents over 450 shows a year. This means working nights and weekends plus weekdays too. We give shows 7 days a week from early morning to late evening. On weekends, we book between 2 to 4 shows every Saturday and Sunday, with Spring and Summer being the busiest seasons. We schedule our "days off" months in advance or we would never get any days off at all. During summer, the majority of our business comes from day care and libraries with over 65 shows every month from June-August. We do take a vacation twice a year but not for more than 5 to 7 days away. Friends and family are kind enough to "babysit" for us as the animals and the facility still need to be maintained while we are having fun. While on vacation, Robyn travels with her cell phone & blue tooth as well as her laptop computer so we may still book shows and answer emails and attend to office work while on the road.

When scheduling 3 to 4 shows or more in a single day, efficient scheduling is key. Most days I leave just enough time to travel from one point to the next with a few minutes to spare for potty breaks and a quick run through Subway or Taco Bell. Sometimes, it doesn't always happen that way. Some days, I have a school show in the morning and a 3 or 4 hour break until the next show which could be an afternoon birthday party or scout troop in the evening. And with birthday parties it is imperative to leave time for photo sessions and balloons animals afterwards and still arrive on time for the next party in another town.

The Creature Teacher travels 45,000-50,000 every year. Sometimes we are on the road from 5 AM to late in the evening depending on where we travel and how many shows we have scheduled for the day. We also travel through all kinds of weather and terrain including ice, snow, thunder storms, rush hour traffic, rough dirt roads, one lane highways and battle through construction sites, wait through backed up roads due to traffic accidents and have to find addresses, houses and other facilities in the dark. When you spent as much time on the road as Robyn does, you learn to carry many items with you to help make a day on the road easier and more convenient. Here's just a partial list of what you might find in our van on any given day:

SHOW ITEMS: posters, drapes of tables and wagon, clean towels and newspapers, jug of water, liter bottle of hand sanitizer, hay and pellets for the rodents, nail trimmers, harness and leash, extra T-shirts, lollipops and pencils, Beltblaster PA system, Mapsco map book (just in case the GPS can't find an address or losing connection), baby wipe container and bag of refills and a roll of paper towels.

PERSONAL ITEMS: snack food, water bottle, sunglasses and reading glasses, pens and yearly calendar, gym bag (in case I have time in between shows to get in a workout at the Y), small amount of lunch money for the day, small bottle of hand cream, small bottle of Advil, Garmin GPS, extra T-shirts (in case an animals messes on me during the day), a box of kleenex and one can of Fix a Flat flat tire foam.

Ron takes the van in for servicing every 3,000 miles which may take a month, two weeks or as little a few days. Yearly membership to AAA is a must as since I moved to Texas in 2001, I've have had at least 4 flat tires while traveling which required their prompt service. Here's our "on the road" expenses:

2009 Meals: $551

2009 Toll Tag: $120

2009 Gas:

I do still, however, need gas stations and fast food restaurants for those all important potty breaks as I haven't figured out how to store a port-a-potty in the car!!