Sunday, December 18, 2011

Twas the weekend before Christmas and all through the house...

Greetings, merry blog friends. 
Welcome to another exciting edition of what went down at my house this past weekend.
:o)
 {recipe here}
I'm pleased to announce that I am officially ready for Christmas! Oh, you might be really jealous right now. You might be thinking, "Ugh. That DebTurtle is so dang organized."  Well, yes...but I had to be done a bit early this year to allow for the shoulder surgery I'll be having tomorrow morning. {Hm. The life of DebTurtle doesn't seem so awesome now, does it?!?!}

Anybody want a cat? Part II:
At first I thought it was just that big lug of a cat Whiskers Jay. Never would my sweet little Fancy Jane be so naughty as to mess with my little Christmas kitchen vignette. Turns out that this little tree is made of plastic which is exactly what Fancy loves to eat, so I've been cleaning up plastic-pine-needle-laden-cat-vomit for three weeks now. And Whiskers has been a monster where this tree is concerned. So when I heard the crash and found my vignette in this shape I was officially over it. I took the tree down. {That'll teach those cats!}

And the exciting news from our backyard is that Doug and I are the proud growers of the cutest little tiny baby tomatoes you've ever seen. :o)!!!
~sigh~

I made some more white chocolate goodness for a friend who is gluten-free {found the recipe here, but I used popcorn, M&M's, and cashews in the mix}:
Had a fun time shopping with Carrie on Saturday afternoon,
and we had lunch with our dear friend Janae too.

Planning ahead because of my surgery, I've spent the past few weeks baking mini-loaves of nut breads and freezing them to use as Christmas gifts. I've made banana-chocolate-chip-walnut bread, my grandma's zucchini bread, and I tried a new recipe for orange cream cheese bread that is a real keeper! {Stirred some chocolate chips into a few of the loaves because I LOVE orange and chocolate together. It was a huge success as far as Doug, Carrie, and I are concerned!}

I put together a bingo game for our upcoming Christmas gathering. I used all the names of our family {we were one short so I included "a guest" - someone usually shows up with a friend in tow...}. As each person arrives you check off their name...  {Note from Uncle Doug: You can't check off a name until that person is in the house.}
I made a spreadsheet in Excel and just moved the names around, sorted them, copied, etc. until I had 16 unique cards. I'm excited to see how it goes.

I finished up all the rest of my wrapping, including this one for my SIL {don't look, Laurie!}. Isn't that deer just the cutest? {It was a free printable I got here.}
Phew. Glad that's all done!

So, I've been nursing a tear in my right shoulder rotator cuff for about a year and a half now and I'm finally getting it taken care of. I will be oh-so-glad to have that behind me! I've been crafting like there's no tomorrow these past few weeks, and my shoulder is paying the price. After tomorrow I'll be out of commission for a while - not really sure what to expect in terms of recovery but you can bet I'll be chomping at the bit to be back in the game. I have a few posts scheduled for this week, so until I return:

Wishing each of you an amazing Christmas time full of
love and laughter and surrounded by people you love.
~~

21 comments:

Amy said...

Dear Deb, I wish you all the very best of luck for your shoulder surgery - may it be a complete succes and may you recover quickly and thoroughly!

To all in the Turtle Household, the merriest of Merry Christmases, we wish you a safe and happy holiday and every best wish in the world for 2012. :-)

Anonymous said...

I hope tomorrow's surgery goes well, and you'll have a quick recovery! You've been a busy lady, so take the time to rest while your shoulder heals. Happy Holidays to you and yours!

Love your Christmas banner!

Unknown said...

I really hope there is a whole post coming on the orange loaf, because that kind of tastiness deserves SO much more than one quick line in a post. ;)

And it's too bad that you created this post before we made our pretzel treats tonight. I think that was the perfect way to close out a good weekend-before-Christmas. Love you lots and good luck in your surgery! xoxo

Susan said...

Good luck today - hoping it is a complete success! Merry Christmas!

Fiona@staring at the sea said...

Lots of lovely yummy goodness. That tag is so cute, I think I have it (or something very similar) 'pinned':o)
I hope the surgery goes well and that you make a speedy recovery xx

debs14 said...

Will be thinking of you and hoping that the surgery goes well and you are soon back to normal. My husband had that surgery a couple of years ago and it really did do the trick, shouldn't have put it off for so long!
Wishing you a happy Christmas, and lots and lots of good wishes for 2012.

scrappyjacky said...

Hope the surgery goes well and the recovery is super quick.
Happy Christmas to all in the 'turtle' household.

helena said...

Wishing you successful surgery and speedy recovery - remember to be kind to yourself while recouperating.

Off to look at your orange loaf link

Sian said...

WE are all hoping that your surgery goes smoothly and your recovery is a quick one Deb. Lots of love from all of us here x

Cheri said...

Deb - thinking of you today! Hope the surgery is quick, easy, uncomplicated and successful! And that the recovery is a "piece of cake"!

Sue+Scott said...

Good Luck Deb with that shoulder surgery. Yuk! Wishing you quick healing and a speedy return to everything you love to do that requires a shoulder. I miss you. Sue

Alison said...

Been thinking about you today Deb...hope all goes well and you take time to recuperate!
Hope you all have a wonderful Christmas!
Alison xx

Maria Ontiveros said...

Merry Christmas to you Deb, my dear friend! I hoping for a fast recovery. We do much less for the holidays, but I'm looking forward to Family Jeopardy definitely!
Maybe Carrie can post about how your recovery is going.
Hugs,
rinda

Becky said...

Wishing you all the best with the surgery today. Hoping you recover quickly and have a merry Christmas xx

Stephanie @ La Dolce Vita said...

BEst of luck deb! Hope the surgery goes well and that you make a speedy recovery! xoxo

Rhona said...

Glad to hear you are out of surgery and wishing you a speedy recovery. Will be keeping you in my prayers.

Hope you have a wonderful Christmas and wish you all the very best for 2012
xx

Beverly said...

Hoping the surgery went smoothly and today you have good drugs. Be a good girl and don't overdo, the rehab takes awhile and you mustn't be impatient ;) I'm sure Doug and Carrie can handle anything that you need done. Thanks for the gf treat link, I'll have to make some for the SweetGirl. And like Carrie I am hoping to see a whole post in 2012 devoted to the orange cream cheese!

Pure Ella said...

Loving all the goodness that comes out of your house and out from your crafty hands ;)

I hope you are doing after the surgery my dear.
I'm sending big 'get well soon' and Christmas hugs right now.

May you have a merry merry Christmas and a quick recovery!!!!!
xo
Ella

Margaret said...

My favorite is the tipsy tree. Somehow, it makes you seem a bit more like the rest of us.

humel said...

The Children found the Christmas kitchen vignette photo hilarious (sorry....)

Love your tiny baby tomatoes :)

Irene said...

That toppled tree brought back memories. LOL Best of Luck on your surgery.

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