Welcome to my Site

You can reach me at: bnbharty@gmail.com and I'll try my best to answer. I get a crazy amount of email, so PLEASE don't hate me if you don't hear back from me. Love ya!

Click here for my Terms of Use

Saturday, August 28, 2010

Day Off

First off, I wanna invite all of you to come and chat a Scrapbookgraphics! There's chats going on ALL DAY LONG. I'm gonna try and be there for quite a bit of it. It starts at 7am EST, and ends at Midnight EST. I won't be there ALL that time (lol), but I do have some time set aside for it :)

Click HERE to go to Scrapbookgraphics, and click on the chat tab :) It's inbetween "Info" and "help".

So my plan for the day was to do absolutely nothing. Well, get kids to school and such, but do nothing of consequence. I accomplished my goal for a little while - hehehe.

I woke up at 7am, and felt sick. I directed kids to get ready, and laid on the couch with a blanket. After they left at 7:30am, Jimmy woke up, and Jake too. They did their things, and I laid on the couch. By 8am, I'd put in a movie for Jimmy, and moved to my bed. I was beat. I went back to sleep, and woke up around 9:30am. Dang! Maybe it wasn't that long. I don't know. But I felt a little better when I woke up. Maybe it was 10am. I remember eating breakfast at 10 am. I bet that's right.

So I went and got some yogurt and a nectarine, and felt a little better with food. I helped Jimmy get ready for school, and walked him to the bus at 10:50am. He wanted a picture of his bus, so here it is.

It was sooooo bright, and my hair was SOOOO messy, that I didn't even look at the camera. LOL. Should have put on my contacts so I could have grabbed sunglasses.

Jimmy playing by the mailboxes

So since I was feeling a little better, I decided to go out. With Jake. Cause we never go anywhere with just the two of us. And it's his 13th birthday on Tuesday, so I decided to take him out for his birthday. Nice, huh?

Here's me before heading out. Yeah, I should have showered. OH well. It's my day off, remember...

We decided to go to Chili's. Jake was SO excited. We got sodas (usually just waters when kids are with us) and chips and salsa for an appetizer. He ordered a bacon burger, and I got the quesidilla explosion salad. Mmmm!


We went to Walmart when we were done, and Jake spent his babysitting/birthday money on Halo Lego toys. He was SO excited about it. He got one now (from the babysitting) and is saving one for his birthday. Which is Tuesday.

We just got those 2 things, then headed back home. I kinda wanted to shop ,but I wasn't really in the right mood for it. Almost, but not quite. And since I had 5 Diet Cokes at lunch, I figured I'd hold off on Circle K. LOL :)

We went home, he finished his last classes for the day, and I sat down at my 46 inch laptop screen and played on facebook. I was supposed to be doing something productive, but again, it was my day off. So I just played.

See my ouchie? I don't know how it happened...

At 2:40, I sprang up out of my seat, and Jake and I SPRINTED to the bus. It was already there. Oops. At least they waited for us. I think they were only there a minute or two. It helps that he's the ONLY kid that rides the bus. ROFL!

We came back, and in about an hour, the other kids were home. I decided to take a shower, since Captain America was coming home, and I hadn't showered since, um, yeah, I don't remember. hehehe. So I went in my room, and got distracted cleaning my bathroom. That's never happened before - LOL!

So after it was all clean, I took a shower. And got pretty. Cause it's fun to be pretty :)

So I decided to take a few "pretty" pictures. And the little boys wanted in too!






Then I came out and cooked French Toast for the kids, and I even ate a slice. And this is what I had for dinner. Leftovers from Chili's! Doesn't it look yummy!

And this is for any of you who are thinking of doing something you shouldn't do. hehehe. It's my "you'd better not" face. LOL! (Completely random, I know... I keep you on your toes!)
So after dinner, I sat back down at the computer and blogged. And here it is 7:19pm, and Captain America still isn't home from the field. He's texted a few times saying their moving the launchers "home", but they keep getting stuck in holes. Sigh. HURRY UP and come home, my dear :) I've missed you :)

Click on the link below to go to my account to download the PNG file, and leave some love if you like my work. Thanks!

Friday, August 27, 2010

Self-Portraitaholic

OK, WARNING. This blog is gonna be a big one. I know, they're all big. But this one is bigger. hehehe. Trust me :) We did a TON of things today :)

But first, here's my new WordArt Packs for the week. I don't know how I found time to make these, but I hope you like them - Click HERE to go to my store to peruse the selection :)







So you all know I use this as my journal, right? I don't know when it became that, but it has. Captain America and I went and looked back on it a few evenings ago, and I didn't used to blog about my life as much. Every few days I'd throw something in there, but not consistently. SO not the case now, huh? I like it. I've always had troubles keeping up with a journal, but for some reason, I can do this blogging thing just fine. And you know you all help motivate me, right?

Anyway, that's why it's gonna be long today, because a lot was going on. I woke up a bit PMS'y. Yeah, that time again. Should have come on the 18th. What's the date? The 26th, 27th? Yeah, that makes me cranky. And no, I'm not pregnant. NO chance of that. Just to clear that up. hehe.

Anyway, I woke up, and went about getting kids ready for school. The whole morning routine. Jake and Jim were still asleep, so it was just me and the 3 middle kids.

See how lovely I look first thing in morning?

So at 7:30am, after kids were on the bus, I laid down on the couch and tried to go back to sleep. Captain America was in the field. The 2 kids at home were still sleeping. I'd been staying up too late cause Captain America's been gone. What would it hurt? I needed to be in the shower by 10am to be ready to get Jim to the bus at 10:50am, then go with the girls at 11am. I wanted to design for about an hour and a half prior to showering, so what does that make it, 8:30am for designing? That would give me an hour to sleep. PERFECT plan.

Until I got a call from Captain America, saying he needed me to drive out to the field and deliver something for him. And I swear I felt like throwing a fit like a 4 year old. Or better yet, a moody tween. I really wanted to. Instead, I tried to just not say anything, just get what he needed, and get ready to go.

Jimmy and Jake woke up right before I left, so I loaded Jimmy in the car, and got Jake started on school. We drove out to Tobin Wells, which I had NO idea where it was. Captain America gave me directions, and I was trying not to throw a "tween" fit about not knowing where I was going. Really, his directions were perfect. How sad is it that I actually WANTED to get lost so that I could be mad at him. Um, yeah, there were definitely some hormones at play...

Here's a few of the FOB buildings we passed along the way.

Me, still feeling grouchy
And here's Captain America with his Camelback. It's the water thingy that he left at home. Three times. But I digress... He was very happy that I brought it to him.

So Jimmy and I headed back to post, and he was STARVING. I guess I hadn't eaten yet either. And it was 9am. Did I mention that part? So we swung by Burger King, and got some breakfast sandwiches. I ate the egg and meat off of one and called it good. I was gonna go out to eat for lunch, so I figured I'd be good.

Jake and Jim really liked their breakfast :) I sat down at my 46 inch laptop screen, and proceeded to design. And research WordArt Pack ideas. I found 2 that I liked, and designed them. And then I looked at the clock, and it was 10:30. Sigh. I guess showering won't be in the cards for today.

I washed off the old make up, reapplied a new layer, brushed the hair, found some clothes (full body girdle was in order, since I was PMS'y...) and got Jimmy ready for school and his backpack packed and lunch and all. Jake was coming along nicely with school, and was excited to turn his music up when I left - ROFL!

So Jimmy and I walked to the bus stop, and waited for the 2 buses to come. LOL. Maggie was there too. And Hilary and her sister in law, Kimber, showed up to pick me up there. We got to talking about people taking random pictures of things, and how silly it was, until they pointed out that that's what I DO all the time. Waiiiiiit. It's cool when I do it, right? ROFL! So, just to prove that I was cool, I decided to take a picture of myself in front of the mailboxes (even if they weren't MY mailboxes). Because I could make mailboxes cool. hehehe.

Yeah, I look like I should be on planet of the apes. What's up with the monkey face????
Jimmy left on the bus, and I hopped in the car with Hilary and Kimber. Karen was meeting us back at my house, so we drove the 1/2 a block back to my place. hehe. I'd forgotten my big soda cup and some donate things, so I ran back in, grabbed them, kissed Jake again, and off we went.

To Carlos and Mickeys. Cause we LOVE that place :) Here's a few pics of us.

Hilary
Me, and just as I snapped the picture, Hilarys hand magically appeared. Hmmmm, how did that happen? RUDE!!!
Here's a better one of me. Minus the RUDE hands...
Kimber, NOT wanting to be in the picture
So we used to order Diet Dr Pepper when we came to Carlos and MIckeys, then they said that they didn't have it. Rude. So we'd always get Diet Coke. But we'd asked everytime about the Diet Dr Pepper. Well, this time, we got our Diet Cokes, and gave the waiter such a hard time, he came back with 2 Diet Dr Peppers. Yeah, don't know how or what happened, but all of a sudden, they have it again. hehehe. I think they were just out for a while (like 6 months or something crazy like that). Anyway, they have it now.

Here's me giving my Diet Coke a thumbs DOWN
And my Diet Dr Pepper a big THUMBS UP!

Our friend Karen
Veronica came a few minutes after we got there, but I don't know why we didn't take a picture of her.

Paul came too. He was sad that he'd missed the last Carlos and Mickey's trip, when the other guys came. hehe. He was our lone male today :)


Hey Andrea (if you still read this), remember that time we went to Carlos and Mickey's and I got the Sombrero salad, and it KILLED me. It was super spicy, and made the lips burn and junk? And I drank SO much water, and soda, and such? Well, last time I got the Sombrero salad, it didn't effect me that way. So I thought that I was acclimating to El Paso. Yeah, not so much.

Here's a pic of my salad
And here's the 500 spicy devils that I picked out of it. THAT'S why I was dying. Those little buggers weren't in the last salad I had. Must just be luck of the draw with what meat you get?
See, I think if you look close enough, you can see fire coming off of my lips!
And this is that YUMMY stuff we got at Carlos and Mickey's that time that my blog follower, Pat from Houston, came to El Paso and took me out to dinner. I had a small taste, and it was STILL awesome. hehe. Veronica ordered it, and shared :)

We stuck around for quite a while, chatting and eating. Then headed out. But made a pit stop at the bathroom first. It as so pretty, I had to take a few pics. hehehe. Aren't these sinks wonderful?
Add ImageUs girls in the bathroom at Carols and Mickeys

So then we all loaded up in the car, and headed out. Veronica had other things she had to do, and Paul had to get back to work. So it was just Hilary and Kimber and me and Karen. And somehow, I got back seat duty. LOL! I guess Kimber gets even worse car sickness that I do. hehehe.

Here's my view from the backseat.
Karen and I in the backseat
We drove I-10 over to Savers, and donated our items to get our 20% coupon. Pretty tricky, huh? And while walking in, Hilary found this GIANT bug, and decided to try and catch it and scare people with it. Yeah, it was either too fast for her, or she didn't really wanna catch it - LOL.
And then we had fun trying on a BUNCH of fun stuff. Some seriously, and some.... not so much. LOL!

Yeah, this had a matching skirt. LMBO!
This was hilarious. It was riding coats. I think for dirt bikes or 4 wheelers or something. Maddie would know. I'm sure they were expensive to start out. $30 at Savers. Anyway, they had 2 of the same, so of course, Hilary and I had to model them. hehehe. They had big, hard pads inside of them. (think athletic cups in your shoulders)



I LOVED this jacket, but wasn't gonna pay $25 for it. Sorry, I'm just too cheap for that. It was name brand, though, so maybe it was a good deal. I don't know...
Lovely, isn't it (and if this used to belong to you, no sarcasm was intended)
Check out Kimber in the background, TOTALLY cracking up. hehehe

Hilary in the fur coat
Me in the fur coat. What's up with my nostrils. ROFL!
So I totally bought a long leather-ish gray/black jacket, but didn't get a picture of myself wearing it. I think I was afraid to release my death grip on it, for fear Hilary would take it from me. hehehe. Girl, if it fits me, it's too big for you....

I ended up with the jacket, and a belt, for $10. Not too shabby :)

Next store, Fallas Paredes. It's in the same shopping complex. And here's the hat again. The one that actually fits on my head. I'm telling ya, I should have got it. But it was $6. I'm too cheap to spend $6 on a hat...

Kimber in a hat
Karen in a hat
I bought an additional ring holder here, and some lip plumping lip gloss. When we got to the car, I tried it on. See, plump lips. Then I lost it. Seriously, I haven't seen it since this picture was taken. OK, girls, who snatched my lip plumping gloss? hehehe.
Yeah, why am I so white that I'm glowing? ROFL! I think I need to take another trip to the pool to tan...
So after Fallas, we decided to head to "that store I found with Maddie", but make a pit stop at Circle K first. I was in need of some Diet Dr Pepper. See how happy I am with my big refill for $0.79+ tax?
And don't forget this dude. He walked into Circle K after us, and Kimber was totally doing a double take. So Hilary goes up to the dude, and says "I really like your facial stuff, can I take a picture with you". hehehe. And, the dude stands up a little taller and smiles real big (yeah, he's smiling real big in the photo). TOOOO funny.

So we get back to the car, and decided that the dude needs a name. Cause we need a name to talk about him, you know. We think Tiny would be a good name for him, then notice that the white Suburban he just got out of says "Scumbags Tattoos" with a business logo. Scumbag it is! hehehe.

On the way to "That store I found with Maddie", a good song came on the radio, and here's me, singing my heart out! Into my cup microphone, you know.

Hilary singing too
Singing again, but why do I look so angry? ROFL!

So we got the "The store I found with Maddie", and looked around for a bit. Hilary needed some big belts to go with her long shirts from Savers. Yeah, what about this outfit? Keeper? hehe.
I can't make myself wear things like this - hehehe. But then, maybe it's not so much different from that flower around my neck? hmmmm.
Oh yeah...
Hilary sporting a blue flower headband
Kimber with the blue hat
So this is how most hats fit me...
This was our last stop, then we headed back to post. Kimber and Hilary dropped us off at my house, Karen went home, and I went in to see Jake. I gave him the rest of my soda for being such a good sport about my shopping trip today.

Kids came home from school, and I sat down at my computer to redo the Raingutter Regatta particiaption certificate from yesterday to work with our pack for today. I sent it to Walgreens, and ordered 50 copies. They have a special going on now. 10pennies, 11pennies, or 12pennies will get you 75, 50, 0r 25 prints for that price. Just use that coupon code. Good till Saturday. You're welcome, Walgreens...

Anyway, Captain America came home for a few minutes to change clothes for his softball game, so we did get to see him for a tiny bit. The kids and I ate a quick dinner, and headed out at 5:30pm to pick up the prints.
Tom in the car on the way back to post
Yeah, we never took out the Regatta track from Wednesday nite. Oops. You can see Eme in the backseat.
Joe eating his yogurt on the way to Scouts
So tonight was Pack 58's Raingutter Regatta. 2 nights in a row. hehe. It's a fun summer activity, so no complaints from the Hartys.

Joe got his boat kit, and here's the tables where they painted and assembled it.
Tom and I
Joe painting his boat green
Then they got to decorate bucket hats.


Jimmy
Eme making a name tag
Joe and his pirate boat
Eme and Tom making hats
Joe and his boat again

Here's Joe, outside racing his boat. Go, Joe, go! All the boys got the certificates and ribbons. It was nice. We were there for only about an hour, then headed to Captain Americas game.
It was pretty close to where Scouts was. We got there with 5 minutes left of the game, and we were down by 4 runs. But the clock was stopped, and people were arguing with the refs. I'm not sure what was going on, but there was a lot of language flying around. Yeah, not so cool. I've got little kids here.

Something about players not being legal on the teams. You have to be signed up to play with a certain team, and you can't play on another team, or something. I don't know. All I know is that people were getting fiesty with each other. And I didn't like the tension. Introducing a PMY's tired chickie into the dynamic wasn't such a good thing. I just sat there, and soaked up all the negative energy, I think. What's that all about?

They lost, by 3 points, and there was still a lot of language flying around. Not necessarily from our guys, (very little), but mostly from the other teams around. So I'd had enough, and I gathered up the kids, informed Captain America in the middle of the team meeting that I wasn't gonna let my kids be around that kind of language, and left. I know, I could have handled it better, but at least I didn't start screaming and yelling at people. I felt like it - hehehe. Funny how hormones clouds our judgment. I swear I was almost in tears by the time I got to the car. I wanted to sit and relax at the game. It's almost become my nightly routine.

Anyway, we had the talk on the way home about how we had to leave because people were swearing, and we don't wanna be around when people speak like that. It's not appropriate.

We got home and put kids to bed shortly after that. I don't know if they were tired or not, but I was ready for kids to go to bed.

I'd almost decided that I was gonna put an ICE complaint in about the language, and Captain America got home. I told him how I wasn't too happy about the language, and he agreed. He showered and got ready to go back to the field, and I started on the ICE complaint. And we quickly discovered that we didn't really know what to put.

But, in my hormonal fog, I thought he was criticizing me. Really, we should have taken a day to think about what to say in the ICE, and sent it in tomorrow. But we just got fiesty with each other. He was upset about losing the game and the other team possibly cheating, and I was upset because I'm hormonal. And the two didn't mix.

He ended up going back to the field and I was almost in tears I was so upset. Yeah, I didn't like leaving things like that. But he had to go. Sigh. And the evening spiraled from there. At least I didn't go and eat a bunch of food. I was kinda tempted, but I didn't. I sat down at the computer, and designed my last 3 wordart packs for my store. I cried a bit (cause that's what we do when we're hormonal), and felt sorry for me a bunch (we do that too), and had another little pity party or one.

Here's a pic from my evening. Lovely, isn't it
By the time I got all 5 of my products loaded in the store, I was feeling a bit better. I'd had a chance to text Captain America and few times, and that really helped. I try and imagine how hard it's gonna be when he deploys in January.....

I was craving some Herbal Peppermint Tea for my sore throat, so I made some in my 64oz soda cup. And yeah, that's a TON of herbal tea. I downed it in short order, and didn't need to wear the hood with my hoodie anymore. LOL. I was freezing earlier.

And you know what, now that I'm at the end of my day, I feel a lot better. When I started this, I didn't feel so hot. Thanks, girls, for listening! My plan for Friday is to stay home. ALL. DAY. hehehe. I've been going and running and doing a lot lately, and I think it's time for a home day. Sure, I'm supposed to grocery shop, but I think I'll postpone it. Maybe :) We'll see.

Click on the link below to go to my account to download the PNG file, and leave some love if you like my work. Thanks!