Shoulder after 5 days

Hooray! I got to take a shower today! Feeling pretty good, still have my arm strapped to my side, I have pretty full usage from the elbow down, but cannot move my arm away from my body. The first time I am allowed to to that will be in the Physical Therapists office on Monday. My left hand has served me well this week, I have camped out in the basement, slept in the reclining sofa; have a bathroom, TV and fireplace at my disposal. We borrowed an ice-water pump from a guy at work and I think that has helped immensely. I am going to attempt 4 hours at work on Friday, I think that will be enough!



Last Week:

I am nervous and yet anxious to get this over with. I have been having increasing pain in my right shoulder, long story short: Having it surgically repaired. The only other surgery I have ever had was when I brought an infant home with me, (and he was adorable!).

I know for sure I have a bone spur and some issues with the A/C joint. Once ththe doctor slices me open and has a look inside he will determine if there is also Rotator Cuff damage. Yuck.

I have instructed Laura to take lots of pictures, but not to post anything. I'm certain I will be downright stupid on drugs. Not planning on doing anything but sleeping and reclining. My dominant arm will be useless and strapped to my body.

I have spent the last 2 days tearing Christmas down and repacking everything. We are also trying to get a room ready for our niece, Elise, who will be moving into the upstairs guest room. That closet is FULL of off-season clothes and junk, so we have been trying to empty some of it out. The downside is I am certain I have done more damage moving and lifting than I should. I am so sore that it is actually helping me get ready for the whole ordeal. Fortunately I have lots of sick leave from work, a bunch of free Redbox coupons and a couple of really good helpers to watch over me.

Weekend creativity in the kitchen

I had a busy weekend getting ready for parties, my grandson, Ashton, turned 5 and had an "all things Spiderman" birthday, so I made him a cake for the occasion...

He had a pretty good day!

Then on Sunday we had our annual "Grandma's Christmas Party". This was an event started by Grandma Betty Tobler years ago where all the "adults" gathered for dinner and a white elephant gift exchange. As the circumstances have changed and people have moved away and grown up it has become an extended family gathering AND white elephant gift exchange. ANYWAY, I experimented with a twist on layered jello.

Using some Knox gelatine and regular jello in pans I came up with this:

I made two pans of jello, after it set I cut it up into small cubes and then mixed it in with some dissolved knox gelatin and a can of sweetened condesed milk.
I lightly greased my bundt pan, stirred it all up and put it in the fridge to set.
The revealed jello mold showed that the jello cubes had floated, I think I needed to wait a litle longer until the condensed milk/knox mix had set up a little more.

I solicited opinions and everyone said it was delicious. It was pretty, tasty, and was gobbled up!

We missed all of our family that used to live in Utah but can no longer attend! Merry Christmas Tobler's!!

Festival of Trees

One of the highlights of the Holiday season in Utah is the annual Festival of Trees charity benefit for Primary Children's Hospital. Each year people decorate and then donate Christmas trees, wreaths and gingerbread houses which are then sold to the highest bidder. This year my company bought this tree and had it delivered to my office. I sit directly across from it and look at it all day:

This tree is magical! The details are charming. The tree purchase included the "fake" fireplace, rocking chair and all the accessories.

This little elf got himself tangled in ribbon!

This little guy teeters on a stack of packages (and a basketball) to decorate the top of the tree!

Most of the trees donated are done in honor of someone, often children who have been patients at Primary Childrens. There were others donated for family members who have died and even one for a missionary who died while serving his mission this year. This tree is for Mikayla, she is 15 and is currently battling cancer. She survived Retinal Blastoma as a baby and is now fighting a cancer they attribute to the treatments she received while being treated as a child.
Walking the isles of the festival is beautiful, alive with the sparkle of Christmas, but it is also heart wrenching as you read the stories associated with each tree.

The obvious question is what are we going to do with it when the season is over?? The maintenance crew is wondering that too!! They will find a closet somewhere in the building but in the meantime coming to work is like a trip to the North Pole!

Getting Ready

We got this job done before the weather turned nasty, before Thanksgiving even.

I do the front of the house that I can reach with a ladder, but the climbing on the roof part I leave to my kids. Laura has inherited this task from her brother.

But I help!

We could use a little snow now that we are ready!

More cruise news

Cruise ships are famous for their towel folding.. here are a few of the ones that were left on our bed..

One of the amazing features of cruises is the endless supply of amazing food. This was especially true for me! I literally had my own personal chef who made Gluten Free meals tailor-made for me. They made me GF pancakes, french toast, pizza, bread, blueberry crumble and even veal parmagiana. The best thing, however, was this chocolate melting cake! I cannot describe the warm, rich, chocolaty goodness!! I had it 3 nights!!

This trip we saw the inside of the medical unit! Unfortunately, I did NOT witness the event. Karl was on stage with other passengers who were learning the dance steps to "Thriller" and he fell off the stage! He was looking at the instructor and literally danced off the side of the stage into a stairwell. He was certain he broke his hand because it swelled up immediately, but ship's X-rays were negative. He's still got some pretty impressive purple bruising on his thigh. I was in the restroom and his brother was in the gift shop so we missed this "America's Funniest Videos" moment!

The next morning, while still chuckling about Karl dropping off the stage, we took up some mini-golf on the very windy top deck. Mardie and I were giggling as Gareth proceeded to nail 3 people with his golf ball and a not too gentle club stroke. Not 3 at once, but 3 different people with 3 seperate attempts! Oh, I'm laughing even now! :)

Ohhhh, good times.

Swaying back and forth

I have had the good fortune to go on a cruise, 4 times now. Each and every time I return I spend the first day home feeling like I'm still on the ship, gently swaying.....

So we had a wonderful time, relaxing, overeating, and surrounded with Caribbean breezes.

We traveled with Karl's brother and his wife, Mardie. I don't ever remember not knowing Mardie, I am fortunate to have a sister-in-law that I have adored my whole life. Anyway, we sailed to the Grand Cayman's and Cozumel, Mexico.

Today I will feature our adventure high above the trees in Cozumel (Island). We took a Zip-line excursion.

I was a little nervous climbing the towers, knowing I was going to be pushed off the top. I was wondering how the Mexican regulatory building codes were inforced. Nevertheless, we were harnessed, helmeted, and clipped in place and then pushed off the platforms...

They have helpers at the end to prevent you from crashing into the back wall at the arriving end... Karl nearly took one out on a speedy run

Karl was a little more free spirited than I, holding his arms out while I was clutching my ropes!

We spent a little time enjoying the warmth and the view

Picture perfect day!
I asked why the trees were braced up in the shopping area and apparently because hurricane Rina threatened 2 weeks ago, that is what they do to get ready.

Each evening the menu offered a selection of food that you might never have eaten buy wanted to try. I never did either of those options. But here Karl is eating frogs legs. "mmmmmm, just like chicken" he says.

Here is a yummy Ice cream swan, also consumed by Karl.

Next time, towel creatures and Sting Rays!

Halloween Fun!!

Beware! There may be an overload of pictures -- but we had a great weekend. Karl and I went up to a friends (2nd) home in Heber, Utah where we had a wonderful, spooky scavenger hunt that led us from clue to clue in the Heber valley. We were looking for a headstone in the Heber City Cemetary, we dug up one clue that was buried in a box with a live mouse! Another was submerged in a pond, another locked with a key.... Great fun!

Sunday night was a family party...

We had slimy food...

Costumes......

Maci, Tessa & Ashton

After dinner we had a haunted treasure hunt of our own that started in a graveyard..

The next clue led to a locked clue in a well.....

Then a clue in a swamp...

A vampire left a clue in the woods..

After the treasure was discovered we frosted cookies!

Happy Halloween!!!