Pretty Damn Lucky

The first 11 days of my 55 day vacation have been filled with wonderful, mindless, and crazy productivity. Just what makes a vacation wonderful. 

I have given up on making all my Christmas gifts. They are going to be St. Patrick's Day presents instead. The fabulous Christmas cards that are sitting on my table will now officially be Groundhog Day cards. Amazingly enough, I'm am cool with it. 

I'm loving the mega amounts of face time I am spending with a dear friend, and the mega amounts of phone time with another dear friend who is thousands of miles away. 

I spent today with my favorite five year old at the Children's Museum and tonight hanging out with some cool people. Afterwords I came home only to find that the cleaning fairy had visited while I was out. 

I've got a lot good energy and love in my life right now. My kitties, my friends, my family, not one but two good shoulders and my favorite five year old and my favorite seven year old. 

I am pretty damn lucky. 

55 days of vacation

This past Monday I started 55 days of vacation. Yep, 55 days, just a handful short of 2 months of unthinking bliss. 

I'm excited as this is the first significant break from graduate school that I have had. I spent last winter break heavily medicated with a three inch screw in my shoulder and last summer I spent in class so I am looking forward to a mindlessly productive 55 days off. 

So, what will I be doing to be mindlessly productive? 

1. Work out like crazy. I'm not losing any weight but my butt is definitely smaller (tape measures don't lie!)

2. Purge, clean. Repeat (nope, not related to number 1)

3.  Dive head first into the insanity that is finding a new internship

4. Find someone who would like to donate some Frequent Flyer miles for a Spring Break Fiesta (any volunteers?)

5. Reading 3 for fun books 

6. Promoting my new business like crazy. (Do you need ANYTHING scanned? I can do it!)

So those are a few of my plans. Plus lots of relaxing and snuggling with the kitties. 

My favorite kiddos

Hanging out with my favorite five year old 

and my favorite seven year old.

When?

When will cat fur be an accepted fashion statement? 

Come on, the cat is still alive, not like that poor mink around your neck or that fox hanging off your shoulders...

Dude, seriously.

Here is one last posting from the Scrooge train:

Things that annoy me:

1. The cat who has eaten ALL my ear buds.

2. Not being able to find my YWCA card (fairies, can I please have it back)

3. Cleaning/organizing the coffee table/living room floor and with in 5 minutes not so clean and organized.

4. Pointless busy work. 

5. Not being able to fit everything that I want/need to into any given day.

6. Downtown Saint Paul

7. Flu shots

8. Busting out 40 mins on the treadmill is impossible without actually eating in recent history

Okay, thanks for vent. 

Kitty and the Scrooge

I'm feeling a bit Scrooge like right now. I got home from a great few days with the family, sat briefly on the couch and decided to attack the dust bunnies lurking in the living room. Well, I quickly discovered that the bunnies were not so much bunnies but monsters on par with the abominable snowman from Monster's Inc. (although not nearly as cute). 

As I was attacking the dust monsters with a vengeance, moving furniture, changing slip covers (no, they are not just for old people anymore), and finding just about every cat toy the kitties have under the couch when one on my furry companions would not leave me alone. I picked him up and tossed him (don't worry, no animals were harmed in the cleaning of the living room) and immediately he was right back on whatever I had tossed him off of. I repeated the process and so did he. By this time it was a game.

I moved on to another project, de-dust monstering under my desk. At the beginning of my project I piled everything on my desk to keep it off the floor. As I sat on the floor under said desk, the same furry football from earlier decided to scale the desk. First, the yoga mat landed on my head, then a few random cords and almost a full file box. 

So, how does all of this relate to be feeling a bit Scroogeish? Dude, seriously, if I can't keep one of my furry friends off what he is not suppose to be on, how in the world will a tree survive? 

Things you pick up from the children

Tonight I sat down to enjoy a meal of left over mac and cheese with frozen peas that I was too impatient thaw out. As I was eating and honestly enjoying my meal it got me thinking what else have I picked up from the kiddos that I have worked with for almost 15 years (yep, you read that number right). 

So here are a few that are screaming to be listed. Do you have any to add?

1. Eating frozen veggies frozen is actually very tasty
2. "Potty" tends to override more adult terms
3. "Puppy, kitty, horsey" tend to dominate animal vocabulary
4. When one has to go potty, one has to go now 
5. There's nothing better than asking "Why?" 70-75 times an hour (or minute)  
6. Forget the furniture, the floor is so much better

Brownie Police

Hey y'all, 

There are two VERY important corrections to the brownie recipe. You need 2 cups sugar (NOT 1 cup) and 4 eggs (NOT 2). Hopefully I am catching you before you made the attempt to make these. If not, a ready made excuse to make some more. 

Chocolate and cream cheese anyone?

A few weeks ago I went on a quest to find the best made from scratch brownie that was quick and easy to make to capitalize on the whole instant gratification deal. And boy did I find one that is incredible. We're talking better than Betty Crocker and maybe even better than your favorite Aunt Gertrude's. 

Ingredients: 

1 stick butter

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa (I use Ghirardelli) 

2/3 cup flour

2 cups sugar

4 eggs

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon vanilla

1. Completely melt the stick of butter in the microwave (glass bowl works best)

2. Add the cocoa to the butter and mix thoroughly. 

3. Add the rest of the ingredients and mixed everything together (the batter will appear grainy, but that is just the sugar)

4. Pour into a WELL GREASED and floured pan (I use a 7x9, or 24 cupcake papers for brownie bites)

5. Bake 32-40 minutes at 325 degrees (this recipe isn't too picky heat wise). Brownies are done when a toothpick inserted in them comes out clean. 

And what would brownies be without cream cheese frosting. 

Ingredients

1-8 oz package of cream cheese (full fat variety, as low fat/fat free is too soft)

1 stick of butter

Vanilla

1 cup powdered sugar

1. Let the cream cheese sit out 3-4 hours so it is nice and squishy. The butter should be some what soft but still firm.

2. Beat the cream cheese until fluffy.

3. Add the vanilla

4. Add the butter and beat well

5. Add the powdered sugar and beat well

(anything topped with this fabulous frosting should be kept refrigerated) 

At least when I make these two fabulous treats, I use all co-op products which means they are organic which of course means, they are health food. 

Enjoy!

At risk of being dramatic

I AM BOYCOTTING GREY'S ANATOMY!

After Dr. Erica Hahn's revelation on last weeks episode comparing discovering her sexuality to getting glasses, she has been fired. 

Here is the article from After Ellen. 

And the clip of Erica's revelation that ultimently got her fired. 

Ryanne got a visit from the tattoo fairy

Those of you who follow me on facebook may be dying to know the details...

I got to spend the evening with my favorite five year old and favorite seven year old last night. My favorite five year old bounded to the door when I arrived eager to show me his tattoos. He had started at the tips of his toes on both feet all the way up to his hips. Mom said she went to check on him because things were a bit to quite and he was standing buck naked in the bathroom concentrating intensely on his tattoo application. 

So in his eagerness to show me and to share the fun my favorite five year old asked if he could give me a tattoo. Being game for anything, I said sure. I've already got six so why not another one. 

I rolled up my left sleeve revealing the newest of my acquisitions, my favorite five year old was ready to go. After a brief discussion about the permanent tattoo already residing on my wrist and that yes, it really was permanent and was not going anywhere we were ready. 

The first tattoo was a nice little star fish. David was all excited and asked if he could give me another and I said sure. And another, and another, and another until I had five in total. 

It was the cutest thing in the world, he put the tattoo down, and then got it wet and held it to my skin and counted to 30, well almost. He then slid the paper off and began blowing on it so enthusiastically I thought he would hyperventilate. 

So last night the tattoo fairy left me with five new tattoos, two star fish, a sword and a skull, a skull and an octopus (I think). 

Sadly though, the did not survive the swimming pool this morning. 

Scanning like there is no tomorrow!

Who out there has sleeves upon sleeves of negatives wasting away, product of the pre-digital era? I know I'm in the thousands of frames. Don't have time (or patience for that matter) to sit an scan all that film . 

Well, I've got a solution. Today I bought a film scanner and I am going into business for my self. 

So, if you have negatives that need to be scanned into fabulous, professional quality digital images shoot me an email (ryanne.underhill@gmail.com). 

31 cents per frame, scanned and dropped to either a CD or DVD depending on volume of images. 

Archival quality negative sleeving is available. Price will depend on the size of the job. 

p.s. I can do slides too!

Love/Hate relationship

You know, gotta admit that I have a total love/hate relationship with email (and text messages for that matter). 

The concept is simple enough, you sit down at the keyboard with what you want to say swirling in your head and within minutes (or seconds if you learned to IM/text before you could walk) the words are there on the screen, you hit the send button and viola! instant communication. 

What is even better than the instant communication of email is the even more instant communication of text messaging. I mean, come on who doesn't have a cell phone! A few numbers punched and a send button hit and your message reaches the recipient no matter where they are. 

So with the wonders of this communication, what gripe could I possibly have? Basically it boils down the lack of both verbal and non-verbal cues. It is so easy to read between the lines or misconstrue what the sender is trying to say, then get all offended and vow to never speak to that person again. 

Okay, maybe I am exaggerating just a bit but seriously people, a little discretion in what topics one choses to address via these means could go a long way. 

When I grow up

I got to spend the evening with a couple of really wonderful women. I laughed so hard that my everything from my cheeks to my belly hurt. Once things died down a bit the conversation turned to politics as so many conversations these days do. I said we need a bumper sticker that says "There is a village in Alaska missing their idiot" and they said why not make our own! So here you go.

Let me know which one you like better and we will see what we can do.

When I grow up, if I can have the sense of humor, and strength and spirit they have, I will be blessed. 

The count stands:

Option 1: 1 vote

Option 2: 2 votes

Who hasn't been there?

I am loving the lesbian story line on Grey's Anatomy. One because, well it is a lesbian story line, and two because they could not have chose two hotter women than Sara Ramirez and Brooke Smith. 

The most recent episode focused on the blossoming relationship with a REAL date between these two characters (Callie and Erica). And as I am sure we can all relate Callie begins to freak out about the potential of sex and the resulting conversations are hilarious. Who hasn't been there?

A few pics of my favorite 5 year old and my favorite almost 7 year old

A few posts ago I introduced my favorite 5 year old and my favorite almost 7 year old. Going through some pics tonight I found a few that were to precious not to share. Enjoy!

If Martha Stewart and McGyver Had a Kid...

It would look a lot like me. Wait, it is me! 

Who else do you know who can fix just about anything with a Leatherman (a.k.a. multi-tool)? 

Who can entertain the most bored of kids with some cornstarch and water?

Who makes 95% of all gifts? 

Who can walk someone half way across the country through the proper way to hang shelving on a concrete wall? 

Who takes apart their windows, strips them completely of 80 some years worth of paint AND sews the curtains to hang over the newly refinished wood work? That would be me.

My latest triumph, fixing a very expensive laser printer that everyone else had given up on. It took me the better part of 5 hours over a couple of days, a half a bottle of dish soap, a whole lot of screws and of course my trusted friend, the Leatherman. 

The problem: no one could get the toner cartridge replaced, in doing so the entire toner mechanism jammed and wouldn't move. There was no way to get the toner cartridge out, all hope seemed lost... until I got there. 

Armed with only my Leatherman (and not a clue about printer repair) I disassembled a few major components of the printer, all the electrical mainly along with several pieces of plastic that required intricate hand a wrist movements to dislodge but to no avail but next time I knew exactly what I had to do. Now, I just had to remember it until the next time I was in. 

Today, again armed only with my Leatherman and a bit of knowledge gleaned from my previous experience I skillfully disassembled everything that I did last time. Called the assistant over to remove a a few key screws while I prevented the toner drum from slipping, thanked the assistant and TAH DA! out popped the black toner that was causing all the problems. 

Skillfully reassembling the printer (with only one screw and a small piece remaining homeless) and loading not one, but two colors of toner, calling for someone to print something (anything!), a few tense seconds and WALLA! the printer worked. 

I am the heroin of the office (not to mention up to my mid fore arms in toner). 

Did you know that...

Printer toner is magnitized (who knew)

Dawn dish soap works well to remove toner from skin 

Digging around in a laser printer necessitates lots of Dawn dish soap 

That I am actually the love child of Martha Stewart and McGyver. 

Once you go fresh you can't go back.

Well, I am back on my veggie kick. No new ones the big skillet of veggies I sautéed for the week a head but still some serious yumminess. 

Those of you who know me well, know that there can never been too much garlic or too much cayenne pepper in anything that I cook (although I do draw the line at my morning cup of oatmeal). On top of these two wonderful flavors I typically dump a bunch of chipotle pepper puree in as well. Well, I hope your sitting down, because tonight I branched out and used curry as the main flavor (there is still a 1/2 a bulb of garlic in it). 

Quick trip to the Wedge left me with a pepper, and a head of broccoli (and some fantastic Wedge curry chicken salad). Hm, I spent $50 and that was all that really sticks out in my memory (and a bag of chips and some food for the Aliveness Project). Wow, next time, maybe I should go with a list. 

Anyways, as Sundays are the days that I cook up a big batch of something for lunches all week,  I was already scheming what I could whip up with that and some shredded free range chicken on my ride home. So I'm washing, dicing, chopping and shredding all these nice fresh veggies, and to my dismay I forgot tomatoes! (in my defense, as a general rule I HATE tomatoes but they aren't bad cooked with lots of other stuff) 

(Let me preface the next part with this disclaimer: I have made a point for the last nine months to only eat fresh or frozen veggies from the co-op as they taste so much better. Some of you may think I am nuts and that a vegetable is a vegetable but no.)

To rectify this without having to go back to the Wedge, I dug deep into my cupboard and pried out a can of Roundy's brand tomatoes that was hidden behind all the organic co-op brands. I opened the can and dumped the contents into the pan and was so disappointed. There laying in my beautiful creation lay slimy red lumps. 

 Long story made only slightly shorter, canned veggies BAD, fresh or fresh frozen veggies GOOD. Lesson re-learned. 

Seriously...

Another Saturday spent avoiding homework. Seriously (and I know that this comment is going to bit me in the ass sooner that later, given we are in Minnesota) where is the snowy icky cold weather? It is far less appealing to frolic outside when it is 50 below, unlike today when is was 74 and sunny. So not homework conducive. 

To enjoy this weather, I hung out on the patio at Common Roots cafe getting to know a new friend. After that, we took a walk to my favorite art store. I went home, bound and determined to get some homework done. I procrastinated for a few more hours and then decided to head to another art store and the grocery store on my bike. A few hours after that, I am procrastinating by updating you all on my procrastination. 

But it is starting to get dark, I've open up Word and dug out my syllabus, maybe I'll get a bit of work done. 

However, if you would like to help me procrastinate feel free to give me a call, or better yet, just come and kidnap me. 

Inner Workings of Sarah Palin's Brain

I'm not that political, but one of my favorite people is and I happen to walk into her office at the right moment. 

Here are the workings of Sarah Palin's brain laid out in a visual representation. 

Reading to my favorite almost 7 year old.

Every Sunday night I get to spend time with my favorite five year old and almost seven year old. During our play dates we read a lot of books. Well last night the reading included a book on how girls and boys are different and yes, where babies come from (It's Not the Stork, which for the record, AMAZING book). 

I arrived innocently at 6:30 like I always do and my favorite almost seven year old was sitting in the living room reading a book. I check in with mom and got a few tickles in on my favorite five year old. As mom left I walked into the living room and my favorite almost seven year old asked if I would read with her. 

I said sure. She had specific paragraphs that she wanted me to read. We were doing well, I named all the organs and explained the different functions of each organ (try explaining vas deferen tubes to an almost seven  year old).

We were going along swimmingly (no pun intended) until we got to the picture of a man and a woman under the covers in bed (the woman was on top no less). And she asked what they were doing. I started with the very generic, "they are making love," or "having sex." That was followed with "what does that mean?" I have to admit, without missing a beat I launched into a very detailed, age appropriate and short version of just what was happening under those covers. (I'm assuming you are all familiar with the process, if not, drop me a line and I can fill you in.)

More impressive than the skillful answering of her questions, what the fact that I did not blush, I did not stumble AND I satisfied her curiosity. 

I managed vas deferens but seriously, can someone please explain to me the whole foreskin and circumcision debate?

Yeay! Yeay! Yeay!

Okay, so I used to have super flexible shoulders, we are talking gumby like shoulders. But a bit over a year ago a kick ball game changed that (well, only 1/2 changed it). So tonight in class I am doing a bit of stretching at break cause I have been sitting for the better part of six hours. I reached my left arm over my head and down my back and I brought my right hand behind my back and reached up. Not only did my fingers touch but I could grasp my hand together!! 

It has been over a year since I could do that! Am I excited? Hell yeah! That means rock climbing isn't too far off!!!

Not so much

Okay, so at the end of the last post I lead all of you to believe that I was off to the Wedge to buy some more yummy vegetable goodness. Yeah, didn't happen. 

I found a yellow cake mix in my cupboard that screamed "Make Me" so I obliged. In doing so I realized that I didn't have the required chocolate frosting. So I headed to Kowalski's and bought Barq's root beer, vanilla ice cream, marshmallow matteys, and heavy cream. So much for my campaign of eating well (at least for the evening).  

Now I have a bit of a problem, I have 24 wonderfully beautiful yellow cupcakes topped with home-made chocolate ganache. Anybody want to help with my problem?

Mmm, yummy

So in attempt to eat well I have been buying all sorts of yummy veggies. Well, actually I don't know if they are all yummy as some look down right weird. With all that said, someone somewhere recommended them or told me they are good for me so I thought I'd try.

I have discovered winter squash to much hilarity. For example, while trying to cut one in half a few hours ago to remove the seeds I ended up with the two halves flying in opposite directions, kitties running for cover and then spent the better part of the next 15 minutes picking up seeds.

However, the end result was so worth it. With a few teaspoons of olive oil, some sea salt, and a whole bunch of garlic I ended up with yummy squash fries. They were nice and crunchy and a little bit sweet. Perfect with ketchup.

Well, I'm off the Wedge. Wonder what new veggie I will find next. Any suggestions?

Oh, and if you want to make them yourself, spread them out on a parchment lined cookie sheet (yeay! no dishes), bake at 425 degrees for 40-45 minutes, flipping them over once.

Enjoy!

Yeay Kitties

So this post it totally thanks to my friend Maggie, who posted this video first. 

Anyone who has a cat will understand. 

And for good measure, my kitties: Libby (left) and Gabe (right)

 

Raise your hand and repeat after me...

"I promise to never be one of those parents at my child's sporting events. I will not coach from the sidelines, I will not continually yell at my child to do this or that. I will sit back, take pictures, be supportive and cheer when appropriate."

I had the privilege of taking my favorite 6 year old to soccer practice tonight. It was so much fun watching all of them run around, having such a wonderful time. The under 8 crowd is my crowd, I coached this age for two years and loved every minute of it (well maybe not every minute but pretty darn close). 

Tonight, I was reliving those great memories when this guy started yelling at his kid from the sidelines. Remember this kid is 6 years old, dad is yelling things "like cover your mark, run up field, now down field," my question is three fold. First, do you know how old your child is? Second, are you the coach? And finally, do you realize how big a jerk you are being right now (and that you are ruining for the rest of us)? 

As a coach I have kicked parents off the field (thankfully none of them retaliated violently), but given that it was not my child enrolled in the program I kept my mouth shut. 

But seriously people, IT IS JUST A GAME! 

Once again, raise your hand and repeat after me...

Harry Potter is so applicable to real life! (or so this blogger thinks)

"Okay, so you know that one part in the Order of the Phoenix where Kinglsey and Mad Eye were discussing Dumbledore's choice in prefects (Ron vs. Harry) and Ron walked over and Mad Eye said you him, 'Obviously Dumbledore thinks you can withstand most of the minor jinxes that authority figures tend to attract.'"

Yep, that is the example that I used in class today to explain why I don't think that I would be a supervisor. Nope, that is not the first time that I found the perfect Harry Potter reference for a current situation.

Maybe it is time to put the Harry Potter down and back away slowly.

For all things Harry Potter visit the Harry Potter Lexicon.

Becoming a professional juggler

This semester is proving to be as crazy as the last. I am loving my classes, well, two of them at least. As for the third, at least I've got great people to keep me company in it.

It's been an interesting juggling act, with the most death deifying feat being trying to wedge a paying job into all of it (versus the required 12 hours a week for a non-paid internship). But hopefully I've found my fit. I will be starting at the end of the month as a Home and Community Support Staff with Saint David's. I will be working with two families, one with a 7 year old boy, and another with a 12 year old girl.

Great way to get experience with EBD, and possibly a great way to lose the shred of sanity I have left. I am excited to start, but breaking in new families is always a bit of a challenge (that some times leads to hilarious results).

And we're done

It is official, I received the letter in the mail that says I am permanently but only partially disabled (3% to be exact).

Okay, so let me back up for those of you who haven't been following the drama. 15 months ago to the day I separated my shoulder playing kick ball (yes, kick ball, with 4th graders). Rounding 3rd base gravity got the better of me and 190 pounds plummeted to the earth with only my left shoulder to break the fall. 

For whatever reason my  body simply didn't like the hardware that they attempted to use. The first attempt with two buttons and fiber wire failed when one of the buttons cracked the bone. The second attempt was a screw (see picture). Well, 10 days after surgery I went in for a recheck and my bone had started to spit the screw out (four threads were now out of the bone). My surgeon, who is one of the best orthopedists in the country, could do nothing more than shake his head. He had never seen either of these occurrences in any one else before. 

So after two surgeries and 2 hardware removals, plus a failed ligament graft and having about an inch of my clavicle removed I am back to doing everything that I did before the injury, which in itself is amazing. No one was sure I would have normal use of my shoulder again. 

New Camera

Well, I broke down and bought a (another) camera. While I LOVE my two Canons (Digital Rebel XTi and 40D) that have each taken thousands of pictures each. I just really needed a camera that I can keep in my bag. So I broke down and bought a Nikon (eek!) CoolPix S550. 

With this camera I will be ready to capture any and all random moments from tattoo getting to game playing and birthday partying. 

For my high end photography fix I am still Canon all the way, but this Nikon is pretty nice.

Peace Jam

I was lucky enough to spend this weekend with an amazing group of young people at Peace Jam. To hear about their incredible work in their communities and to participate in a massive service project on Saturday. 

I seized a once in a life time opportunity Saturday morning after listening to the amazing Desmond Tutu and his daughter speak to an auditorium full of high schoolers (and you could hear a pin drop!).  When the group was dismissed I jumped up on stage and got my picture taken with this amazing man. 

Later in the weekend I also had to opportunity to speak with his daughter and also got my picture taken with her. 

It was an amazing weekend, spent with two amazing young women.