Losing a piece of my heart

My sweet Granddaddy passed away Friday night.
My heart is happy knowing he is in heaven with family and friends,
but I'm sad because I want him here with me.
I wanted to be selfish and have him for myself a little longer.
He was one of my first playmates & never gave me reason to do anything but smile.
Not a day will go by that I don't think of him
& remember the words he spoke this night.
My eyes hurt from crying & my heart hurts because i feel like a piece is missing.
Mr. has been more than great & has even managed to make me laugh a bit...
which my funny Granddaddy would have wanted.
But when the laughter fades and I'm left with my sweet memories,
the loss sets in & the pain in my heart becomes more apparent.
My family could use your prayers right now...
so, if you have an extra minute(which I know is hard to come by), please send one up for us.

Nuggets, Egg Blowing & The Incredible Hulk

Easter was just lovely...

My day was spent:
Helping hunt for eggs

[he was in it to win it]

[she had no interest]

[& she took her sweet time]

Dying eggs with my favorite nuggets
Some of us are over achievers and want to make an egg so lovely it's kept forever,
so we take the time to hollow it out...

[this is my, "Did you really think I'd let you see me blowing this egg?" face]
& Some of us dye our hand green and call it a day!

Swinging with the girls

[& then claiming that bad boy as my own mid-afternoon for a nap!]

& Then once most of the family had cleared out, I claimed that swing once again to snuggle up to and laugh endlessly with the fella that I'm going a little ga-ga over.

It was a day full of perfect little moments!
You can't really ask for more than that.

xo


Thanks for your comments on my chair re-do! You're all so sweet!
I really couldn't be happier with it!
For those of you who think you can't do that project, you're a bunch of sillies! I know you can totally do this! Yes, I'm talking to you!
& the pillow some of you are crushing on? Well, I made it , of course ;)
You can get your own oh-so-very-soon, in the form of a "Holy cow, 300 people want to read about me? Giveaway"! Get pumped, gals and guys!

Future Home

CONFESSION:
I buy things... HOUSE things.
You may or may not know that I do not own my own home just yet.
A few months ago I saw some lovely knitted Christmas stockings that just screamed
"Lacey, buy me! Your life won't be complete without me!"
I just couldn't imagine NOT having those stockings hanging on my mantel in my future home. I bought 4 of them. Yep, for my future family members who don't exist yet.
I am freaking Looney Tunes, y'all & I know it.
To make myself look a little less Coo Coo, Coo Coo, I only buy stuff when it's on super clearance.
& It seems that I only buy holiday stuff. Not REAL home goods.
A pillow here, a wall decal there.
That's my crazy.
Whatchagonnado?


Don't worry, I'm not buying paint (for the walls of my house that doesn't exist) or anything...
not yet anyway. ha.
To keep myself from becoming certified(I'm talking crazy papers, y'all),
I keep a folder on my computer that I fill with pictures of things I like.
Here are some Future Home Folder photos that are jumping out at me right now:

♥ The corner hutch, the painted brass chandelier, the huge painting and pops of turquoise... yummy goodness, I tell you.

♥ Slate grey walls, embroidery hoop art, cutie chair & wainscotting...
yes, yes, yes & yes.

Cheery little painted chairs. I will scatter them in different rooms & when I have extra company, voila! Gorgeous non-coordinated coordination!

♥ Oy, painted cribs are my new love. Future baby will look great in it, right?

Crazy bones. That's what I have.

Have a happy Thursday, loveeeers!
LaceyLouWho, Out.
{that was for you Sum}

[all photos via d*s]

Life and things that resemble it

Suddenly I'm 5 again. I'm sitting under my grandparents kitchen table listening to the adults talk about life. & I'm not ready for what comes next, because I don't get it. I feel lost.

& nobody knows I'm under here.
***
I sat at his bedside and stared at the television.
What do you say to someone you love so much
when you know their ultimate fate?
There was small talk over the football game.
There was chit chat about the nurses.
There were bits and pieces about our family.
He cracked jokes as he took deep breaths of oxygen through the mask strapped to his face.
He wouldn't be him if he didn't.
I watched as the numbers on the machines around us changed.
I worried about what they meant.
I tried smiling as much as I could because I needed him to see that smile.
I want my smile to stay with him wherever he goes.
While talking about family, ex-family, future family... I noticed the mood changing a bit.
Then it happened. My grandfather, the comedian, the story teller, got a serious look on his face.
He looked me in the eyes as he spoke his next words to me.
"Relationships, of any kind have to be hustled, baby. Sometimes there will be knock down-drag outs, but that's life. You've gotta keep trying. Both people... you've gotta keep trying. Sometimes you have to make yourself remember why you're there. That's love and life & it's worth it. I know that much."
I nodded and squeezed his hand.
"Well, Gan Gan... I'm pretty sure that's all anyone needs to know." ,
I said with a tearful smile.
I'll take his words with me wherever I go.

My sweet Grandfather is being sent home from the hospital this evening. Hospice and God are taking over now.
***
I think my 5 year old self will stay hidden under the table a while longer...
because it's scary out there.

Please keep us all in your prayers.
I need you now.

My Love,
Lacey

photo cred

The Big ONE

Happy Birthday to my adorable niece Squishy Baby!
Time is flying & I'm falling more and more in love with her.
She is just the most gorgeous, sweetest little thing & I can't believe she is already 1!

This is life before you know who you're gonna be... Fifteen.

My best friend and I were hanging out on a boring Friday night in the year 2000.
IN THE YEAAAAARRRR TWO THOUSAAAAAAND
IN THE YEAAAAARRRR TWO THOUSAAAAAAND...
(couldn't pass it up, right?)
We did what any normal 15 year olds would do when boredom struck.
Rent chick flicks, order pizza, paint our nails and talk about boys. DUH.
Never one to pay a delivery fee, we hopped in the car with my Mom and headed to Dominos drive through window.
We pulled up and waited a few minutes until finally a young guy came to the window and asked for the name the order was under...
I leaned over my Mom and said, "Lacey"
(Ya know... had to get a good look at the guy and see if he was a hottie or a nottie. There was potential.)
He nodded his head, closed the window & headed to the back to get our pizza.
I turned around to chat with my friend in the backseat, when I heard the guy open the window...
"Can I get your phone number?" he asked, routinely, to my Mom.
And then, as she put her hand to her chest & blushed, my Mom said the most hilarious/horrifying thing she could have said in that moment.
"Well... I'm flattered but I think you're a little young for me."

Thank God he wasn't a TRUE hotty ;)Mom & I at my friend's wedding last year
(excuse that squinty eye, I MAY or may have not been slightly intoxicated)


This post was made possible by
Writer's Workshop
with Mama's Losin' It!
& viewers like you :)

It's time for a little...

Where I'll be answering some random email or comment questions & sharing some pics from last week!

Let'd do it!

I mention a lot of "Best Friends"... if I had to choose one who would it be?
This is an awful question & of course it was asked by a man! haha! I am a very lucky girl and have many best friends. I have a group of about 7 girls I went to High School with and have stayed extremely close with since then that are absolutely BEST FRIENDS. Calling them, "good friends" or "close friends" is doing them a serious injustice! Then I have Mrs. Paul Reiser(of The Daily Dose) who is my numero uno, never let her go, soul mate of a best friend. We've been best friends since the day we met 21 year ago. Don't make me pick one out of that group of 7. I REFUSE!

How tall am I?

I'm 5'2 1/2"! I like to just round on up to 5'3"! I'm the runt of the family! When I was in 6th grade, I was taller than all of my friends(guys and girls)... everyone thought I was going to be SOOO tall. Well, you see... what had happened was... I stopped growing in 6th grade. Booo! Haha. I'm actually glad I'm not tall, but I would take an extra 3" just to stretch myself out so I could eat more potato chips :)

Does The WG know about my blog?

He indeed does. He's been here & seen it & seen all of your comments about him! Lucky they were all good! Haha :) He told me he felt like a creeper reading it after the first time he did, so he SAID he wasn't going to anymore. I have no clue if he stops in from time to time or not... and that's okay with me! I've got nothing to hide here.

(continuation of last question...)

I'm very close with my family... have they met WG yet?

I am freakishly close with my family, yes... and NO they haven't met him yet! He lives an hour and a half away, so it's not like he comes to pick me up to go out. It will be a big deal, "meet the parents" kind of thing for that reason. We've talked about it & we'll figure it out when the time is right :)

Family dinner for my birthday! My Mom and I have taken a picture like this every year since I was about 7! :) We hold up however many fingers I am. When I hit 21, we had to call in back-ups(hence, my sister's hand)!

Friday night my girls and I met in New Orleans to see our friend M in a hillarious play called Flaming Guns of The Purple Sage. She did an amazing job & we were so proud!(She's the one with the pink hair!)

Once our girl was changed, we headed out for some drinks!(& there she is on the right without the amazing pink hair!)

Doll Face turned 1 on Saturday! I can't believe it! She's getting SO big and SO smart! Love her to pieces! How funny is this picture? haha! After her birthday party, I hopped in the car and headed to WG's for the night :)

Sunday morning we woke up and headed to the river with a bunch of friends to go tubing as a little post-bday celebration! (You park your car at one end and they bus you up the river to a drop off point where you grab a tube and hop in. You float your happy self down the river with friends and drink! Amazingness.) We decided to make it a trashy hat party... hence my lovely hat :) (If you know the rest of the phrase on my hat, uhm, please excuse me! It was just a joke!)

This one little butterfly was freakishly attracted to WG.(I think he named it Bill?) He would fly away and then come right back to him! I know how you feel, Bill... I know how you feel. :)




Hope you all have a lovely weekend! :)

xoxo, Lace

Tell Me Bout' The Good Ol' Days

Writer's Workshop:

Tell us about Grandpa

He's been there since the start, but he's not my biological Grandpa. I'd never have known or cared had I not been told. He called me "Lady". I'm told that's all he'd ever called me from the moment I came home from the hospital. I'm not sure I've ever heard him say my real name. I liked that about him. Paw Paw and I loved to sit on the swing and talk. He always sat to my right, and I would hop up on the swing and squeeze up next to him as close as I could get. We would talk and laugh and sometimes sing until my Grandma called us in for dinner. I loved him so much... still do. Though there was no blood between this man who meant so much to me and I, he was the Grandpa I had been given by God. To me, that was stronger than blood. I miss him everyday. When I close my eyes, I can still smell him. I can feel the flannel of his shirt, see his gorgeous smile and hear his deep country voice. It's all still with me.

He's still right here with me.

Happy to you, Mamare!

Today is my Grandma's 73rd Birthday! We call her Mamare, because she felt she was too young and hip to be "Grandma". She was right. She's a beer drinking, quick tongued, church going, first to help kind of woman.

Doesn't she look GREAT?

I gave her a vintage card I made for her in 1996 that my Uncle found in a box of pictures. It says

"Though you may be growing older, you'll always remain beautiful and sweet!"

I still mean it.

Happy Birthday, Mare! I love you!

Wondering what's up with the title for this post? It's how my sweet Monkey Man sang Happy Birthday to her! "Happy to you, happy to you, happy to you, Mamare!" What a cute little nugget!

Tuesday's Tribute: The Boy Next Door

A Jay and Deb Production.

The Boy Next Door: I CALL HIM GAN GAN

I grew up in the house next door to my Grandma & Grandpa. I call them Nanny & Grand Daddy. From the moment I could baby talk(which I did for a long time because I was the baby in my family & not one person felt it necessary to correct me because it was "cute"), I dubbed my Grand Daddy "Gan Gan". Not one other grandchild had called him this, so I don't know why I did... but it stuck. I don't think I even realized I was calling him something different from everyone else! Gan Gan was a great playmate for me. He would sit on the porch and watch as I made sand pies(similar to mud pies... except I would substitute mud for sand because it's what was on hand... I was a regular Rachel Ray, I tell you!), and then he would actually take them inside and place them in the oven for me. My Nanny would find them later after we'd long forgotten about them & I'm sure my poor Gan Gan would get a mouthful, but it never stopped him. He was also a big fan of Beauty parlor and would allow me to wreck his face with my Bonne Bell makeup, God bless him. & Then there were rainy afternoons where we would sit in the den and watch some of the mail order cartoons my Nanny would buy us. Grand Daddy would sit and laugh with me like it was the first time we'd seen it. He was one of my first playmates, you see? I love him so much for that.

One afternoon(I believe my Mom and I were just getting home after a kindergarten field trip) I announced to my Mom "I am going to Grand Daddy's!". I remember her grabbing my hand to walk me over and saying, "You don't call him that! You call him Gan Gan!". "From now on I am going to call him Grand Daddy!", I said with a smile. My Mom says that's one of the saddest things she's ever heard me say. By the time I was 14 I was back to calling him Gan Gan... the whole Grand Daddy thing just wasn't me, apparently! I think I realized how sweet it was that only I called him that. It's our thing.

I was 2 in this shot. I'm pretty sure he'd still let me make him over if I asked :)

WHAT A MAN!