Glad-man Gardens

 Add a hose and a man/child and what do you get?  A really nice garden and a...man/child.

 Dave and I built this stone porch, and added greenery and water, Dave has done most of the work.  Mother Nature has added the various touches here and there too.

 I like the stars and stripes whirly-gig.

 I love this pot.  I love the plants too.  Nice job Dave.

 There are nice surprises in every corner of our garden.

Here the creeping myrtle has taken over this section and it looks like my little pond is floating in it's own section of another green pond!

I seriously hope you will stop by and sit a spell and enjoy our garden with us.

Roses make me GLAD

My hubby loves to garden.  Would you just look at this rose he plucked for me today?  He gave it to me with a kiss and a smile.  If only I could invent a way to make the smell convert fiber optically.


Now to keep it really real, here is another version of same rose and a bit more realistic and less romantic.  But 100 % Dave.  Ah, boys will be boys.

Gladly Home Alone

Dave and I are having more and more chances to practice being empty- nester's.  We are sitting here watching the Stanley Cup Hockey Final.  Or rather, Dave is watching the final and running out between periods to water or clip a hedge, and I am playing on the computer.  Christina has gone off to a concert with her boyfriend, Jordan is at school then off with her boyfriend,  Malaina is permanently (sob) off in L.A. finding a cure for Alzheimer's.  My husband and I have so much to talk aboot (deliberate Canadian accent).  

• Did you know that the Vancouver Canuck Goalee a man named Roberto Luongo, pictured above has broken the "Goalee Union"?  Apparently he gave negative commentary about the Boston Bruin goalee Tim Thomas.  A big no-no
• Then in the very next game, the above goalee was yanked from the game because he sucked.
• Then tonight  is game 7 so we shall see who wins the most important game of the Spring/Summer.
• I have found out that all four of our sprinkler valves to the sprinkler system are working now!
• But most importantly, he told me tonight that when he saw my picture in my most recent post, his heart went flitter/flutter, and he said he thinks I am still beautiful.  WOW!  I think I am going to like this empty nest business:)))

See?  Dave and I have communicated so well tonight that we have revitalized our marriage with just a few nice words and a hockey game.  Yipee!!

Fantasy Land

So we had an eventful summer, filled with mad characters!

(Where else but Vegas?)

It may look like he is copping a feel, but it was only fantasy baby, yeah!

Here we are at the LanDesk company picnic at Lagoon. Double dating with Tiny and Brandon.

Christina turned 18 a few days into September.  She got lots of goodies from Malaina.

 

I felt it was important for Christina to have a special piece of jewelry to remind her of number 18.

Christina needs to know all her dreams can come true, and she is indeed a princess.  I fell in love with this Cinderella coach at a shop in Disneyland.  The wheels even turn!!

YouTube - Bon Jovi Living on a Prayer

So it has been almost a month since my last post. I feel I owe and explanation.

Number One. I don't like to post without pictures.

Number Two. My camera got wet.

Number Three. My life has been empty without the camera.

Number Four. And my life has been kinda boring lately.....but

Now that she is fixed and perfect. And now that I have a cool video to post The Glad Housewife is reborn!!!!
YouTube - Bon Jovi Living on a Prayer
Click on the highlighted text above to watch my video.

All good readers of this corny blog know that I am a nut for Jon Bon Jovi. (with good reason, he's a fox) But, he is really an awesome performer. As this amateur video can attest. You will notice people of all ages in this video. On lady was there with her granddaughter. Very nice.

Dave gave me this awesome concert as a Valentine gift, and we really made a weekend out of it. He withdrew money from savings, for me to play with and spend, took me to Wolfgang Puck to eat, and got us a room at the Luxor. What a man.


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Glad Man Goes to the Gym

So Dave has been going gang busters at the gym.

He has lots of powdered whey protein drinks, and supplements that he takes too. There are times when he goes to bed at 8:00 pm so he can get to sleep and then be up to go to the gym by 5:00 am.

Since Dave has been working out he has not suffered any back pain. I think it is because he has strengthened his abs.He also gets his cardio in by gardening strenuously each evening. You can see his gardening prowess by the beauty of our flowers in the yard. And his "farmer's" tan.

He lost tons of fat weight, but has now started to gain weight back in the form of muscle. He has good genes I guess, he has not changed his pant size in the 25 years of our marriage.

I however, continue to change pant sizes on almost a daily basis.

Poison Def Trick

Here are just a few photos from the Def Leppard, Poison, Cheap Trick concert. Camera's were not allowed, but since when have I followed the rules?

Def Leppard

Good Sunset shot, at least I like it.

Dave and one of his best friends Steve, oh and he is also the boss.
I think they were either talking about business, or building their muscles, since they are gym buddies too.

Rachel and Kelly are two of Dave's co workers.
Rachel is just plain silly, for obvious reasons.

Dave and I have been to many concerts this year. This was my least favorite. I did not care for any of the bands. But... I LOVE to people watch. This is dude with
a genuine
Harley Davidson Gray Haired Mullet.

Don't Get Caught With Your Pants Down.

Why do things come in threes or fours?

Death:

1. Ed McMahon
2. Michael Jackson
3. Farrah Fawcett
4. and that Billy Mays commercial guy.

Break downs..

1. Broken car, (did you know it is not good for the battery to sit at Sonic and have lunch and run the air con without the motor on?) Tiny!!! (under warranty, no cost)
   
2. back at home, the air con dies in the middle of a heat wave. (Our furnace is the car equivalent of a GEO) P.O.S. ( French for piece of s..t) Upgrade the whole thing $ 6,500.
   
3. a hose to the washer bursts and water spews all over the laundry room. (cat walks through it to get to her litter box, gets wet feet, clumping litter sticks to each paw and hardens like cement, and one legged gimpy woman is fighting 25 pound cat at 1:00 am in the kitchen sink to clean her paws) Then I have to go down and make a hole through the wet mess, so the cat does not have a repeat. Hoses $15.00. Clean mess...priceless
   
4. Gimpy woman's only entertainment breaks down when the modem to the internet goes kaboom. On Comcast's dime.
   

I have to hand it to my husband. He is the master of preparation. He keeps an emergency fund in the bank for just such issues. His goal is to have 3 months pay in savings just in case! It is untouchable money. Emergency's happen, and it is nice to wipe your brow, say "Whew", and just move on to the next problem.

Get Ready Dave, the tv is on the fritz, and I think the washing machine is next.

Crap Storm at the Not So Glad Home

Let me get one thing straight. I ADORE my family. I ADORE being a wife and mother. I generally even really like myself most of the time too. But friends, this week was so terrible that I was wishing I knew how to use Dave's hand gun on myself. Okay, not really, don't call the cops or the bishop or the state hospital, I wasn't considering suicide, but man what a week.

Two Friday's ago Jordan and Tiny had Gum Grafts. Oral surgery that, for Jordan's case was quite serious and precarious, but for Jordan it was a snap. She had very little pain, and was back to work full time on Tuesday.

But, for my poor Christina, her pain was never under control. (at the ER) The surgeon gave her Forinol. This was a drug I had never heard of and when I read the pharmacy drug information sheet, I noticed that it was usually used for chronic headaches. (Later in the week my Pediatrician had NEVER heard of it either).I thought this was a strange choice of pain medication, but I really put my faith in this surgeon. We called him the next day and said she was in such pain, he said he didn't feel comfortable prescribing Lortabs to her. So we proceeded as directed adding Tylenol and Motrin alternately. By Monday morning she was vomiting, and her bowels were completely stopped. (I stopped the Forinol on WED.) Thursday night we spent the entire night in the ER. They pumped her full of morphine, took an xray and some blood and sent us home. The ER doc did say the xray showed that she was full of gas and good luck working that out. I had her at the Pediatricians by noon Friday.
He took one look at her and got our story straight and sent her right to the hospital.

He said he can't count how many times he has had to clean up messes left by surgeons who just send kids home with pain meds and that's it. He didn't even want to talk to the surgeon. We got her there and they pushed IV fluids and poor thing was so dehydrated that she didn't start to urinate until the second bag was nearly gone, almost 10 hours later.

The Good Boyfriend

IN THE MEAN-TIME.....Thursday night while we are at the ER with Tiny, a 6'1" white male PERVERT was snooping through my 21 year old Malaina's dorm room apartment up at the University of Utah. Her dorm has a kitchen-living area and 4 private bedrooms. Her roommate closest to the entrance woke up startled to see a man sniffing her dirty laundry. She let out a scream and the man groped her and stole her underwear and bras, then ran out. The girls have no idea how many hours the man was there. Malaina was freaked out. She sleeps with earplugs and an eye mask and is a very heavy sleeper, could he have gone through her bedroom, did he touch her? Those are the questions she is asking herself. She is very distraught. So Several hours later, after fingerprints, detective interviews, locksmiths etc. she is a wreck. She packs up her bags to come home on Trax. Jordan picks her up in Sandy and takes her to dinner and a movie, then to top it off....to put a nail in the Gaddis coffin 'o crap.....

Jordan gets the mother of all Migraine headaches in the movie and they have to leave. ( When she gets a migraine it is Really bad and evil) Thank heaven Malaina can drive a stickshift and she takes her home. Jordan calls me in tears to check on her sister and I say :"Get thee to bed!!! Two percocets go now!" It was so bad that she woke up at 10:30 that night and was still sick and had to take two more tylenol pm's.

So let's recap Friday:

• Mother on crutches
• Sick Child in the hospital
• Distraught victim adult daughter, barely holding herself together.
• Drastically ill third daughter, with no one to care for her.
• Husband who is ready to wire my jaw shut. (poor guy..it ain't easy living with 4 women including one freaked out wife and mother)

Here I am clucking over my chick

Sunday afternoon, I am still worried about Tiny, she has a low grade fever, and is not sleeping well. She is able to eat, but is too weak to walk and try to keep her bowels moving. I stay home with her while Dave takes Malaina back to the "U". The University is moving them to a new building and apartment, and is going to provide counseling. I hope she can get through the week. I think she may opt. to stay and Grandma and Grandpa's house. Jordan is better and is the least of my worries, except that she has a boyfriend she really likes.... but that is a whole other story.

Dave and Cindy still have the energy to race to the car at the end of a rotten day.

Advanced Baking 310

Happy Birthday to Malaina and Dave.

This is the last big thing I have made for my family before the big operation on Thursday.
if you have not made a "real butter-cream" you are missing out

This recipe is from the May 2009 issue of Bon Appetite' Magazine. My photos are above. The magazine's are below. I think my cake looks better than theirs.

Mile-High Chocolate Cake with Vanilla Buttercream

The attraction of mile-high desserts is undeniable. Here, the base is a chocolate cake that is then filled with not-too-sweet buttercream. Covering the cake with white frosting would make it too sweet; instead a chocolate glaze drips down the sides. For tips on putting together this beauty of a cake, see How to Make Buttercream and How to Assemble a Layer Cake.

16 servings

Recipe by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito

Photograph by Brian Finke

May 2009

Ingredients

cake

• 1 1/4 cups hot water
• 3/4 cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder (such as Scharffen Berger)
• 2/3 cup sour cream
• 2 2/3 cups all purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/2 cup solid vegetable shortening (preferably nonhydrogenated), room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 cup (packed) dark brown sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

vanilla buttercream

• 5 large egg whites
• 1 2/3 cups sugar, divided
• 1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
• 1/3 cup water
• 1 pound (4 sticks) unsalted butter, diced, room temperature

chocolate glaze

• 5 oz high-quality milk chocolate (such as Lindt), chopped
• 5 oz bittersweet chocolate (54% to 60% cacao), chopped
• 1 1/4 cups heavy whipping cream
• 2 tablespoons light corn syrup
• 2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes, room temperature

Special equipment

• Candy thermometer
• Instant-read thermometer
• Offset spatula

Preparation

cake

• Butter three 8-inch-diameter cake pans with 1 1/2-inch-high sides. Line bottom of each pan with parchment paper round; butter parchment. Dust pans with flour; tap out excess. Whisk 1 1/4 cups hot water, cocoa powder, and sour cream in medium bowl until smooth; set aside until mixture is cool, 20 to 30 minutes.
• Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 325°F. Sift next 4 ingredients into another medium bowl. Using electric mixer, beat butter and shortening in large bowl until well blended and smooth. Add both sugars; beat until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating until well blended after each addition. Mix in vanilla. Add flour mixture in 3 additions alternately with cocoa mixture in 2 additions, beginning and ending with flour mixture and beating just until incorporated. Divide batter among prepared pans (about 2 3/4 cups batter for each) and smooth tops.
• Bake cakes until tester inserted into center comes out clean, 50 to 55 minutes. Cool cakes in pans on racks 20 minutes. Run knife around sides of cakes to loosen. Invert cakes onto racks and cool completely. DO AHEAD Can be made 1 day ahead. Wrap in plastic and store at room temperature.

vanilla buttercream

• Combine egg whites and 1/3 cup sugar in large bowl of stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment; scrape in seeds from vanilla bean.
• Combine remaining 1 1/3 cups sugar and 1/3 cup water in medium saucepan. Stir over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Attach candy thermometer to side of pan, making sure that bulb of thermometer is immersed in syrup. Increase heat; boil until temperature registers 238°F to 240°F (soft-ball stage), about 5 minutes. Immediately remove syrup from heat (use within 2 minutes).
• Meanwhile, beat egg white mixture on medium speed until very soft peaks form (mixture will be slightly opaque).
• Increase mixer speed to high and slowly pour hot syrup down side of bowl into egg white mixture in slow steady stream; beat until meringue forms stiff peaks. Cool meringue in bowl until lukewarm (instant-read thermometer will register 100°F), about 30 minutes. Do not beat.
• Start beating meringue again on medium speed of stand mixer. Gradually add butter, 2 to 3 tablespoons at a time, beating constantly until absorbed before adding next addition. Continue beating until buttercream is smooth. (If buttercream looks broken or curdled, place mixer bowl with buttercream over medium heat on stove burner and whisk with large whisk for 5 to 10 seconds to warm mixture slightly, then remove from heat and whisk vigorously or attach bowl to stand mixer and beat mixture again on medium speed. Repeat warming and beating buttercream mixture as many times as needed until buttercream is smooth and no longer curdled.)
• Using serrated knife, cut each cake in half horizontally, forming 6 cake layers. If necessary, trim any domed tops of cakes to form even layers. Place 1 cake layer on platter. Drop 3/4 cup buttercream by tablespoonfuls over top of cake layer, then spread evenly to edges with offset spatula. Top with second cake layer, then spread 3/4 cup buttercream over. Repeat with 3 more cake layers, spreading 3/4 cup buttercream over each and pressing slightly to adhere. Top with 6th cake layer (do not spread buttercream over top cake layer). Chill cake at least 1 hour.

chocolate glaze

• Combine both chocolates in medium bowl. Bring cream and corn syrup to simmer in heavy saucepan. Pour hot cream mixture over chocolate; let stand 2 minutes. Whisk chocolate mixture until melted and smooth. Add butter; whisk until melted. Chill glaze until slightly thickened and glaze drips thickly when poured slowly from spoon, 30 to 45 minutes.
• Spoon glaze around top edge of cake by teaspoonfuls, spacing drips up to 2 inches apart and allowing glaze to drip slowly down sides of cake. Spoon remaining glaze over top center of cake and smooth with offset spatula, covering top completely. Chill cake until glaze sets, at least 1 hour. DO AHEAD Can be made 1 day ahead. Tent with foil and keep chilled. Let cake stand at room temperature 1 hour before serving.

Hungry for More? If you have a question about this recipe, contact our Test Kitchen at askba@bonappetit.com. To see more recipes like this one, check out our Diner Desserts Slideshow.

So... Baby Arrived

My sixteen year old baby finally arrived in CA. We packed her joyfully off to Sea World. A place we had never taken her. And frankly, a place we will never go again(Except with future grandchildren). It was just a glorified zoo. We were the only people there with just our teen. But we really did have a nice day together.

Here we both are getting ready for the Shamu show.

As you may have read previously, this child is crazy about Barbie and yes, she took one home with her.

This is the next best thing to snorkeling in the Caribbean.

Poor Christina has endured being the baby at home alone for several years now. She has been the only child at many of our vacations together since Jordan and Malaina have such strict school schedules, and couldn't get away. Dave and I realize this is precious time with her and we DO NOT take it for granted. She is ours for just two more years of school; I know she will want to fly the coop shortly after graduation. Sigh....

Empty Nest

We had a trip to California planned months ago and as it turned out, Christina would not able to join us for 4 days into the vacation. She got a ride down with her friend Tesha and her friend's dad Art later in the week. We went without her and decided to spend 4 days alone.

This is the classic photo of two people who don't belong.
We are at Knott's Berry Farm without kids. Gray haired and old and painfully alone.
We sucked it up and had loads of fun anyway.

This ride below (which we rode 5 times) went screaming fast and was the best fun of the day.

As you can tell, I was riding solo on this ride. I still had fun and we rode this one about 5 times total too.

Here we are in San Diego,

This is the aircraft carrier Midway (the island). She saw action in both WWII and The Persian Gulf.

I loved the radios. I played with every toggle switch in the joint.

I love toggle switches.

I will post more about our time with Christina on vacay.

Indian journey

Namaste'

Join me for a trip down memory lane.

I just love Indian God art. It is very symbolic. It also makes me want to go out and eat something really hot and spicy and amazingly wonderful. This picture is Shiva, his consort Parvati and, their child Ganesha the wonderful elephant god. And below is my funny guy with a huge sculpture of Ganesha taken in Hampi, India a few years ago.Did you know that nobody really knows how many Indian deities there are? Some say it is over 330,000! Here is an amazing place. This is an ancient ruin in Hampi where each thin column in the whole building has a different musical pitch. So when you play them in concert, there is a magical sound of vibrational music. No one but tourists who pay the guards a "special fee" may touch the posts at any time now. Wow it was hot that day.Shopper's Alley in Bangalore

You can see my head at the very bottom left of this photo.This was Bangalore during the Festival of Lights "Depavali"

This is Sandra doing an amazing henna art job on Tiny.
Typically brides have this done before the wedding.
I love the colors~~


This is our host's son Manan one of the beautiful children of India.

More beautiful children of India.
Any way you look at it India is Incredible!
And, as little as I like to travel, I would go there again in a heartbeat.