thankful thursday

things i am thankful for this week:




**my firstborn. kaitlyn rocks. and i'm so proud of her. (me so lucky.)




**good friends and family who helped me out whilst vacationing with my man. it always helps us have a better time if we are not stressing about the kids--thank you to my megan, kristin, & heather g. for hooking a sistah up.

**yet ANOTHER photo opportunity to portray myself as a crazy cat hoarder on this blog--i'm afraid dave & martin have us completely wrapped around their little cat claws. what suckers we are!

and for the record: i do NOT condone them laying on my kitchen counters. it irks me to no end. AND i wipe them down every day with clorox wipes. (not that it makes a big difference. who am i kidding?)

these fat cats think they own the joint:


and pretty much they DO.

**this little piece of info about khloe's prenup made me shake my head. and then wonder if it was time for me to re-structure my marriage agreement with russ to reflect my true worth. i'm just saying that nobody is concerned if mindi or her family gets lakers tickets. WHO'S TO BLAME HERE?

we stayed in scottsdale for russ' 40th birthday and here's what we learned.

**staying in the casitas at the camelback inn is the way. to. go. (note to self: re-think your hatred of cacti in the use of landscaping. but ONLY if you have full-time gardeners on staff.)




**climbing to the top of camelback mountain makes you a BAD ASS. if only in your own, 40 and nearly 40-year old minds.




**it IS possible for man to live on chips, salsa, & guacamole alone.




**taking the tour at taliesin west is SOOOOOO worth the 38 dollars a piece.

and that frank lloyd wright was a GENIUS.




**yes, the sunsets in the sonoran desert are all they're cracked up to be. especially if seen from the spa pool.



**also, it's best to see the desert nightlife from a comfy chair surrounding a fire pit. (even better? a dude playing acoustic guitar.)




**dinner at a swanky steak restaurant for the big four-OH! can be lots of fun~




**there are many, MANY sides to forty. but i think russ enjoyed the 40 separate gifts that i prepared and wrapped and gave to him during the day.  he knows that i would only make this much effort doing something so labor intensive for the one i TRULY loved.  and he was right.  i love this man.  he is my family and my protector and my safety and i will always remember this magical trip.  i wanted to make it special for him because he's more than earned it.



**you can, indeed, go through a whole vacay and only take one. single. photo. together.



**note to self: THIS was the song of this trip--sung two different nights out by the fire AND at the piano bar. we had never been particularly fond of it before this trip.  now it will always be the song we fell in love with while falling back in love with each other in scottsdale.........

thankful thursday

things i am thankful for this week:

***the fact that blogging, indeed, still pays--you get notes and coupons like these from friends who know you have a sad and unhealthy love for your felines. (louise--you RULE. muchas gracias~)

**this little person. she's so extremely advanced--must get it from her mother?

102 random thoughts from mindi

1. i don't like to do crossword puzzles.
2. because i think it makes my brain work too hard! (see here).
3. except for the one in people magazine--i t allows my freaky, useless pop-culture knowledge to SHINE.
4. plus, being able to pencil in the answer to 'who dated robert downey jr. in the late 80's?' is priceless.
5. (sarah jessica parker.)
6. i love the sound of my cats purring.
7. mia loves the sound of them licking her lips.
8. with lots of tongue.
9.  gross i know.
10. i love my '02 acura mdx--i just want it to keep running forever.
11. i'm sad to not be going to u2 in las vegas this month. :(
12. like really really sad.  FOMO sad. 


13. but going on a trip here with russ to celebrate his 40th birthday makes it all better. :)
14. i still am not entirely sure what ROTFLMAO means.
15. but i have some interesting theories.
16. i'm loving this album right now.
17. very goth-opera rock.
18. i especially love this song. i think it positively reeks of desire.

19. kinda makes me want to wear black lipstick and throw my bangs in my eyes.

20. i just put carmex on my lips for the third time in less than an hour.
21. when the world ends and my supply runs out, that's when i lay down and give it all up.
22. my trainer made me run last week.


23. i HATE running.
24. i think that, when all was said and done, it was about 13 miles.
25 she informed me it was barely 4.
26. i think she might be calculating it wrong.....?
27. i still love carbs.
28. and i still love cheetos.
29. they are my convenience store indulgence.
30. along with diet dr. pepper.  already implied of course.
31. studies show that traveling makes you 77% happier.  i love to hear it. 
32. i love that when mia says martin's name, it sounds like she has an english accent.
33. "awwwwwhhh. mahhhtin!"
34. we are having her switch citizenship to show her country of origin as great britain.
35. just like madonna!



36. mia + martin + scissors = NO WHISKERS.
37. i wish my younger children wanted to brush their teeth.
38. sometimes i feel like, in the mornings, they open up their mouths and a cloud of black smoke from the depths of hell emerges.
39. i take ibuprofin almost every day. ***2019 UPDATE THIS IS WHAT HAS CONTRIBUTED TO GREAT AND COPIUS AMOUNTS DESTROYING MOM'S SPINE.  TOTAL BULLSHIT.***
40. it SUCKS to get old. i wouldn't recommend it.

42. i'm trying to work on my potty mouth.
43. some days are better than others!

44. i have a child who shall rename nameless (secondchildsecondchildsecondchild) who will NOT stay off facebook.
45. i am considering putting her in a support group.
46. and limiting her to no more than two quizzes/applications per day.
47. i want to BEAT the evil forces who plot my misery and demise by churning out 50,000 new facebook quizzes every 24 hours.
48. all i know is that whoever invented those things is laughing all the way to the bank.
49. i recently cut off all my hair which was a bit stressful.
50. it takes longer to do your hair short than long.
51. ****2019 UPDATE: that bitch jody told me i had to cut my hair off because i was "way too old to wear my hair like that.  it's sad and depressing."  i was 39 EFFING YEARS OLD!!!! eyeroll eyeroll eyeroll i hate her.****
52.  i have always wanted a big old fat pony tail that you can barely hold together with a big black elastic.
53. have you seen my mom's hair? i still have hair but not that much tbh.
54. plus my mom can not do hair.  she can do nearly every thing else in life but not hair.

55. i hate that when my older children have homework, it really translates into "project for mom".
56. didn't i already graduate from high school?
57. i think i might just be the only person in the universe who hasn't liked the office this season.
58. i've held off saying that publicly until i watched only about half of it last night and then russ took it off tivo.



 the last good episode imo was the wedding.



60. i also loved jim's "michael scott pie chart".

61. i don't like blue gum. only green gum.
62. which makes me a bit of a freak.  it just is.
63. just saw the movie inglourious basterds--and it was INTENSE.
64. but one of the best movies i've seen in many a month.
65. that quentin tarantino is one sick and twisted mind.
66. which makes him even more attractive as an individual and a director. 
67. life's biggest mystery: why is it that every time i put socks into the washer, i end up with at least 2 with no match?
68. i don't get into politics. it gives me a headache.
69. but i admit--this made me laugh:


70. kaitlyn wants to drive everywhere right now.
71. which scares the living daylights out of her mother.
72. will the worrying never cease? ugggh.
73. i realized today that it's past time to clean my blinds.
74. because when i open them, i tilt them UP, so that i can't see the dust.
75. i need an alice like carol brady kept in her back pocket.


76. and that radical shag haircut.
77. why am i still chuckling at typing 69?
78. what i really need (translation: want) is to rip those ghetto blinds right off the windows.
79. and have them magically replaced with plantation shutters!
80. without having to pay for them.
81. maybe i could have a fund-raiser quiz on facebook to support my lavish lifestyle request?
82. i could charge people $1.00 each time they took it!
83. but then i'd go broke paying chandi's bill.
84. i can't decide what to dress up as for halloween this year.
85. i have been in a huge blogging slump for a while.
86. and can't decide what i need to do to snap out of my funk.
87. but i'm pretty sure plantation shutters would do the trick.
88. i loved this picture that chevy chase drew on jimmy fallon:


89. it's a cat. walking away.
90. i am determined to NOT get sick this winter.
91. does that mean a whole lotta hand washing?
92. we are leaving for disneyland in 33 days.
93. but i still have to sell a kidney in order to help finance the ordeal.
94. i feel that it is a small sacrifice to make for the happiest place on earth.
95. i desperately need a new bra.


96. i want to go to dillard's and have a professional 'fit me' for one.
97. i hear it's supposed to change my life.
98. i want santa to bring me an i-phone for christmas. **********************************************MOST IMPORTANT 2019 UPDATE--this is october and i am asking for the iphone for xmas.  publicly.  hmmmmmmmmmm.***************************************************************
99. santa informed me that i need to work a little harder on my 'good girl' qualities.
100. but where's the fun in that?***********2019 UPDATE THERE WAS NONE!!!!!!!!**********************************************************************
101. if you want somebody to help you with directions/reading the map, i'm NOT your girl.
102. i think that crippled stripper is one of the greatest band names. ever.

mug love

when i first started blogging and decided to use this photo as my blogger id, people wondered what it was--it was small and hard to see, so i thought i would give it the attention it deserves, nay DEMANDS, and document my child-abuse for dcfs to see.

this was abbey at the pool with a refill mug of diet dr. pepper. if you look closely, you will see that there is another one, waiting patiently in the wings, that she had within sipping distance. so that there was ALWAYS AN OPTION.

yes, i let my children drink that horrific stuff at a young age. and yes, they have probably already contracted various forms of cancer/brain damage/stunted growth/learning disabilities/crohn's disease as well as bad sense of fashion AND direction directly as a result of consuming this evil liquid.

but, BOY! were they ever happy!

martin in the water bottle carton

**kitties that do funny things that i feel like i have to "hurry and grab the camera!" 

it's like when you want to take pictures of your kids but a bit sicker.  and more fulfilling.

thankful thursday

things i am thankful for this week:



**the chance to have a REALLY GREAT NAP. and to do it with those who really appreciate it. and who MIGHT even have it down to a fine art form.



for the beautiful sunday morning spent up at sundance last weekend---the colors were breathtaking! the weather was perfect and the company was even perfecter. er.

i definitely think that old bobby redford really knew what he was doing: