Glad for this Girl

Today was Glamour day at Paul Mitchell School of Hair Design.  

I think my daughter pulled it off.  I don't know how 

she does it.  Now if we could only keep the 

blond cat hair off of her black clothing.

Glad for 6th Grade

There are not many kids who can say they have had the same 6th grade teacher.  This particular teacher has been at all the educational milestones too. This is Christina's high school graduation, and Ron was there at our party for Malaina's graduation from college.  Ron Firmage was a very instrumental piece to the Glad girls childhood.  He really had lots of interests that he shared with the girls.  He really liked insects.  They had to do bug collections and learn the different classifications of insects.  Malaina refused to kill the bugs, so he allowed her to sketch them instead and put a spiral book together that we laminated, we still have it.  He also allowed Jordan and her friend Ashley to read the NSYNC Story, over and over and over as their books of choice.  I was his personal Schoolastic "secretary".  I sent out the book orders, handled the money, and bought books for the class.  Just doing that one chore for him really gave me an appreciation of his dedication to the kids.  It was a lot of work!


He liked to read out loud to the class.  They read some real thrillers of survival by Gary Paulson, and others.  There is a special spirit a good teacher has.  They have to love children, have patience and be devoted to learning.  Unfortunately Ron does not teach anymore. He works at the administrative level now.  The No Child Left Behind act has taken all the fun out of learning and teaching.  No more scuba diving, camping, or trips to Goblin Valley. I think it is a shame that good teachers are leaving teaching because of some silly George Bush law.  But that is another story.

Color me Glad

The Glads are obsessed with all things of India.  Chicken Masala, Chicken Tikka, Lamb Vindaloo.  Ganesha the Elephant god is a personal favorite.  I think he started my obsession with elephants.  But, more on that in another blog.  We love Bollywood, and especially Shahrukh Khan, the worlds most famous movie star (per capita).

We adore India and Indian festivals.  One of the tamer festivals is the Festival of Colors or Holi festival. The "Holi Festival" is a traditional Indian holiday marking the end of winter and the beginning of spring. It's celebrated with lots of color and lots of music and celebrated in ....wait for it..... wait for it...none other than Spanish Fork, Utah!

Yes, we have a Krishna Temple in Utah County. 

 

Lord Krishna is one of the incarnations of Lord Vishnu.

 I love Indian god art.  I realize it could be quite uncomfortable for many to look at.  It is quite graphic isn't it?  Everything in the art is symbolic.  Malaina could give a very good description of this.  When we lived in Malaysia we studied from the following book as a family about the major religions of the area.  It is really quite fascinating.

My daughter Jordan went to the celebration today with her friends.  Here are some fun photos:

I LUV the above photo.  It is the famous Jordan scowl-smile.  A rare thing to capture on camera.  Is it a smile or a scowl? 

I love all the world  and all it has to offer.  I am happy a part of India is alive and well in Utah County.  Namaste....

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!!

Guess Who Does What?

This is a funny quiz that the manager of this blog thought to put to the test....

Below you will find 2 photos. You must guess who's homework belongs to whom. There will be no clues given. You must deduct the answer for yourself.

Chemisty 481

Cornrows 101

Multiple choice

1. Jordan- Chemistry, Malaina- Cornrows

2.Malaina- Chemistry, Jordan- Cornrows



Leave your answer in the comments section. Do not cheat.

Hair Matters

My hair had gotten so long that I was ready to cut it myself. My hairdresser is popular, she is always booked a few weeks out. I was calling, and emailing for a mercy appointment, but it wasn't going to happen.

Finally the day came. Everyone was coming home with pretty hair cuts and color except me

Here is Malaina at a guitar ensemble performance. Note the pretty hair.

Now just look at the new colors of these two lovelies.

I especially like the fire engine red of this sunset photo of Jordan.

Christina looks great as a brunette with blond tips. Just a fabulous cut and color.

Jordan is outraged that I took a picture of her en deshabille' at the Courtyard in St. George last weekend.

And here is the magician, my friend and hairdresser Suzanne Benson Saleem.
You can reach her at the Haven Salon here :
801-379-0540

359 W 100 S Provo, UT 84601

Bridges and Rainbows

Malaina has taken the GRE or the Graduate Record Examination. It is the test that Graduate schools want to see when considering you for a doctorate degree. Malaina will be looking at 10 schools with good Molecular Biology labs to do her graduate work. Needless to say Malaina is run down, sick and tired. But will be graduating in April !

Jordan has moved back home. She is tired of room mates. So she moved in a couple of days ago wearing zebra print shirt, black slacks and heels. We are thrilled to have her and her 9000 pairs of shoes, coats, undies, and dresses back in the house.

We got our precious cats ashes back tonight.

They were returned in a really pretty cedar box. She was also put in a velvet bag with the Rainbow Bridge mentioned. I loved this poem and I think anyone who has lost a pet can appreciate it. You can see her lovely paw print below the poem.

Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge.

When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge.
There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together.
There is plenty of food, water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable.

All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor; those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by.
The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing; they each miss someone very special to them, who had to be left behind.

They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. His bright eyes are intent; His eager body quivers. Suddenly he begins to run from the group, flying over the green grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster.

You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart.

Then you cross Rainbow Bridge together....

Author unknown...

So it was Opera Night

Svetlana (also known as Malaina), Jordan and Me have season tickets to the Salt Lake Symphony and Opera.

Last night was Macbeth (also known as "Guilt will Kill Ya") Those of you who have never read Shakespeare's Macbeth, well in a nut shell it is a power-trip by Lady and Lord Macbeth to take the Scottish throne. Guilt eats them alive and they go insane with guilt and eventually die. Utah Opera did a really good job of Verdi's Macbeth. The tenor who played McDuff was very weak sounding however. The costuming was really clever, and I told the girls they should go as "wenches" for Halloween.

We Glad girls always, always go out to eat on Symphony night. We like to try new restaurants that we have never gone to before. Tonight was Thai Lotus, 212 E 500 S. SLC, UT. Well, I always order everything HOT, as in spicy HOT, and at Thai Lotus, they burned all my taste buds down to little nubs. I was sweating, and in lots of pain, but the food was awesome. We had Som Tam (green papaya salad) their version was missing the dried shrimps, too bad. Then we had Ginger Beef, umm.., Then came the Pad Thai, and the Green Curry Chicken. All were very, excellent. I love Thailand and the beautiful men dancers; all the best female dancers are men impersonating women. The most beautiful woman Dave ever saw was a man dressed as a Thai dancer.

I am the second most beautiful woman he ever saw.

How Not to Dress for a Date

So here is poor Jordan after oral surgery today. Yes, this is her 2nd surgery in as many months, it seems that we like to subject our kids to torture, but we get 'em plenty stoned afterwards. Sorry Jordan. It hurts to be beautiful.



She has hay fever today, and experienced the WORST date ever last night.

So, she accepted a date from this guy who she met online. O ME, O MY. He showed up wearing a jewel encrusted shirt, studded belt, embroidery (all over) stitched jeans, white pointy cowboy boots, and man bracelets. She says even the old people at Mimi's thought she was with her fashion stunted gay man- friend. His Escalade was adorned with magnetized photo's of himself.

When they went into Barnes and Noble to buy a copy of "The Secret" for Jordan to read; so she can reach truth and enlightenment. (She thinks he thought he was a prophet, not a Hindu). The construction workers didn't even give her the time of day, all their attention was on the guy. Anyone who knows Jordan knows THAT ain't going to fly. At least this guy's "loser qualities" were out in the open, most of the guys she dates are hiding something behind a handsome face.

Then he dropped her off at her house, turned on the headlights of the car and was Whoot, whoot, whoot ing to Latin music really loud. He was proclaiming his expertise of Latin dancing and was showing her his moves. Then he grabbed her and told her to dance. She wanted to crawl into a hole, she was so mortified her neighbors might have seen the spectacle. She made a B line for the door. She got inside and didn't know whether to laugh or to cry. Either way tears were rolling down her cheeks when she told her roommates about it.

First off

• Why does my daughter attract such losers!?
• She is so nice, and friendly and and they are all so dumb.
• She has more first dates than anyone I know. Several in any given week.
• She thinks she finds a winner and then they turn out to be closet FREAKS!

Secondly ( this goes for all you nice girls out there)

• Even our stake president admits that there is a shortage of good men out there. What you see is what you get. Men have already put their best foot forward on your very first date and yeah... good luck with that. Invest time and money in yourself via education. ( spoken July 2009, to my face and hers) This from a man who has 3 sons. My pediatrician has sons...you should hear him rant about boys. You would not believe the number of RM's who have tried to take liberties with my daughter.
  
• Stop dating for a period of time. Really, STOP.
  
• Cancel the internet!!! Stop texting. Stop, stop, stop!
  
• Find happiness in your own darn self, sista.

Now readers with sons. I am not including your boys in this post. Just the losers who have already chewed and spit my daughter out.

The Sexiest Thing to Happen to My Kitchen in a Long Time

I don't need to go into ANY kitchen store anymore. (shhh don't tell Dave) I now have everything I could possibly want. With the addition of the 14 cup Cuisinart, my "life is full". I have every single thing I need to cook, bake, slice, dice, mash, mix, puree, whisk, blend etc...

I would however, like the 12 inch All-Clad skillet.... hmmm..

I must give props to my 7 cup Cuisinart Classic on the right. I bought this little workhorse while a poor starving student at Wymount 18 years ago. It has and still will continue to preform flawlessly for me. It is almost like a child to me, and yes, it has been to Malaysia.On another note, look how cool this photo is of this hummingbird. I like how his wings are beating so fast you can see through them in this shot.

I like how the cat, Sugar is as big as the young adult, Jordan.

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.

The Thong Strap That Was Heard Around the World

So while we were on Skype with Malaina, who is about 6,500 miles away in South America, we got a tiny bit silly. Wouldn't it be funny to see how sensitive our video and audio feed is via Skype, by testing the quality with Jordan's thong underwear strap?Well I am happy to let you know the quality via Skype is very good. You can rest easily this day knowing that all is well with the sound and video quality.

Fab-Friday Night Concert

I spent another wonderful evening with one of my daughters. We went to the King's Singers concert at Abravanel Hall in Salt Lake City. I had seen them a few years ago with Malaina. They are probably the best harmonic men's vocal group I have EVER seen or heard. They recently won a Grammy for their album Simple Gifts.

We started off by eating an Elk Burger at Fudruckers at Southtown Mall. I figure, my figure could use the low fat meat, and since my husband is an outdoor's man, and he put in for an elk tag, I would give it a try. OMHEAVENS, it was really good; it was much less gamier than I thought it would be! I have to figure (get the pun?) out a way to mimic the salt they put on their fries, and the recipe for the baked beans. I also need to make the toffee recipe from Rocky Mountain Chocolates. Umm good.

We hopped on TraxI just love the way Trax let's you off at the front door of Abravanel Hall
If there is a prettier Symphony Hall, I ain't' seen it yet.
Tomorrow I blog about the Valentine's Day Gift I bought for myself at the Gateway.

It truly was a spectacular evening; Thanks for inviting me Jordan! Oh, and I bought another cookbook at Barnes and Noble. I went to Sur la Table, but was sort of disappointed, I could not find one single item that I had to buy. I have everything! I left empty handed!!!