Thursday, January 31, 2008

Cupid, we're ready....bring on the chocolate!



My latest, cutest find.....the scalloped edged chalkboard sign. I found this on sale in Old Town Spring. It inspired me to get out the valentines and hearts.



This hangs above the sink.....also known as my "home office."



This sign is one of my favorite sayings. I am not sure the right people around here read it. Or comprehend it. But it can't do any harm. The right people being "my sweet little valentines."

Just a reminder.........you can click on any picture to enlarge it.

Monday, January 21, 2008

Tip for the day.......

Do not attempt to ride in a car built for dwarfs for 2 days/22 hours with your 22 year old "know-it-all" daughter and her very hairy cat........if you are large and also Know It All and are not very fond of cats.

Jordan and I arrived safely back to Cypress around 4:00 this afternoon. I flew in to Phoenix late on Thursday evening. She surprised me by meeting me in the baggage area. We got to eat out and shop around Scottsdale on Friday. Saturday was packing and cleaning and shipping 8 extra large boxes and waiting for people to come pick up excess furniture and stuff and running errands like oil changes and returning cable boxes and then checking in to a hotel for the night. Whew! I was exhausted. I took a shower and hit the bed. Jordan took a shower and went out with her friends one last time. That's the difference of 27 years.

The drive from Phoenix, AZ, to Cypress, TX, is the longest drive in the whole United States. And here's the real funny part. We may be making it again real soon. I am not supposed to talk about this but who really reads this blog..... Jordan has an interview on February 4, with the organization she just interned with and they may be offering her a full time position. Which is what she really wants. Of course, they couldn't do it before I flew out there to move her back. That would have made too much sense and saved the Hackneys way too much money. We are the Hackneys and we prefer to throw our money away on things such as shipping 8 extra large boxes of crap across the southwestern US....only to turn around and put them on a UHaul, which I am sure will cost a fortune, in a few weeks. But after our long, very long........did I mention LONG.....trip back, I am voting for Chuck to do the next trip! Please, everybody VOTE FOR CHUCK!

I didn't take any pictures but it was beautiful there. It reminded me of Palm Springs, CA, which I consider to be one of my favorite places. Clear skies, palm trees, perfect weather and mountains in the background.

Jordan, I know you are reading this.....so let me say for the record, that I love you more than life. However, I think in God's great plan, he made 22 years olds ready to leave the nest. I know you are ready to leave this nest. I witnessed your maturity these last 5 months as you ventured out alone in Scottsdale and made an impression on your co-workers and bosses. You found your way around the area and made it your "home."

You have so many characteristics of mine .....independence, adventurous spirit, wanderlust, animal lover,...some of the good ones. But then you seem to have some of my pesky quirks....like moody in the morning, stubborness, "know-it-all", having to always have the very last word. You are my first born...you have been the first pancake....the one you practice on. You will be the first to leave this nest. Just know that this "leaving the nest" thing is new to me from the "mom" side.

I am thinking in God's perfect plan, he put a parent and their child in a very small car for 2 days straight and threw in a cat to be sure that they would be very ready to be apart. Because God knew how much that parent and that child loved each other.

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

The Secret of Life is Enjoying the Passage of Time...

....a quote by James Taylor. I love that quote and that is exactly what I have been trying to do lately. It has been 2 weeks since I have posted and I guess I have been enjoying the passage of time. Uh, maybe "enjoying it" is a stretch...but it hasn't been a bad year so far. I am taking the resolution thing slowly....getting into the mood...getting ready to start resoluting. However, as you know I am a full blown carbohydrate/sugar addict. If there was a rehab for people with my addiction, I am sure I am ready to be intervened with. I am not going to blame my childhood (it was lovely, although I do remember a lot of cinnamon toast...my first hit). I think I may have been bitten by the sweet little candy fairy who hung around here during the holidays. And there must have been a chip fairy although I never saw it.








The Christmas got packed away and I thought I would pay a little tribute to the New Year before Cupid heads to town.
That one little Santa is still out because he stays out. He is from Chuck's childhood and he has priveleges that the other Santas don't have. And the green and white plate is from my Grandma Willie....my Daddy's mother. We ate off of these plates when we went to see her. Cinnamon toast ....or heavily buttered bread toasted under the broiler in the oven....so much butter it was not crunchy toast, but soggy toast (see I have few memories of my childhood, but I can recall the bread in detail...does that scream addict?)

Oh, and if you read this post regularly and you saw Chuck hardy, har, har laugh when he was opening his present from Cameron....here is where that ended up!

Oh, no HE DID'N....



Oh, yes, he did.

I also want to share the book that Cameron made for me for Christmas. Well, it's just a picture of the outside but let me see if I can explain it. It's called altered art. She took an old book and "scrapbooked" some of the interior pages and the outside cover. It is really neat and it is so special because she made it. It is full of great quotes, like the James Taylor one. And full of lots of pictures of our family with captions found in magazines and such. When I opened this gift, there was a message telling me to look for it on the bookshelf. It was stuck amidst all the books, so it took me awhile. Now I have it sitting facing forward .....because I am also a black & white check freak/addict. Cameron has always liked making us surprises for gifts....last year she crocheted me some houseshoes.



I want to share a quote from the book Cameron made. I am getting addicted to quotes. Don't addictions run in 3's? Anyway....

This is a quote from "On Children," The Prophet Kahlil Gibran

Your children are not your children...
They come through you but not from you,
And although they are with you, yet they belong not to you.
You may give them your love but not your thoughts,
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow,
which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.


Now, I know it's a little deep. But anyone who has gone through the teenage years may find solace in there somewhere. When they are pulling away and becoming someone different than the child who would lay on you and kiss on you and hold your hand in the mall....remember they really belong to tomorrow. And really didn't we?

On a lighter note......another quote from a sweet soul...Winnie the Pooh.



I am heading to Scottsdale on Thursday evening to help Jordan pack up and move back.
She really, really wants to stay out there...but at this time, no job opportunities. We are going to do a little sight seeing on Friday (Chuck probably thinks I am going to a museum, but sight seeing to Jordan and me is Old Town Scottsdale....full of cute shops), then packing up her stuff and cleaning her apartment on Saturday and driving back on Monday and Tuesday. I should have lots to blog about after our trip.

Tuesday, January 1, 2008

do this....

name Julia Langley Hackney....pronounced jewel ya although some say Jew Lee Uh

craft of choice paper and decoupage these days; painting on canvas with acrylic in the past

camera Kodak Easy Share C613

music on the radio/today's country; cd's Deena Carter, Rascal Flatts, Dan Fogelberg

work space
kitchen island

style
eclectic leaning towards traditional

color preference
reds complemented with greens and black & white

childhood ambition artist; comedianne (my Carol Burnett days...I wanted her job)

fondest memory playing by the creek behind our house....digging in the mud for hours

retreat
my bed

wildest dream to see Europe

proudest moment watching my oldest child cross the stage to receive her college diploma....looking forward to 2 more of those moments

biggest challenge
keeping my mouth shut

alarm clock
6:30

perfect day 70 degrees, no clouds, soft breeze... being outside digging in the dirt....I discovered "gardening" in my 30's....very satisfying to me.

first job
babysitter....I still can't believe someone left a newborn with a 6th grader. I kept trying to wake it up to play with it.

indulgence warm donuts that melt in your mouth

last purchase frame from J.Jill

favorite movie The Waitress

inspiration talking to God for daily inspiration; going to stores for decorating inspiration

my life getting better all the time....I know I am blessed and I am learning to really appreciate all that I have.