Back on Task - Enjoying the Journey

Okay, the wedding is over. I’ve taken care of some lingering household tasks and I’m ready to get back to my empty nest project. I haven’t written anything since before the wedding because there hasn’t been much to write about until now. There’s still not a lot, but we (I include Jay) have made some progress.

Off and on for several days I’ve been “picking wallpaper”. It’s been a slow and rather tedious process because it just doesn’t want to come off easily.

A few days ago in the midst of picking at it I gave myself a little pep talk… here’s how it went… “Life” is not about getting to the destination… it’s what you do while you are heading to the destination. (There is an email going around that says something like that.) I agree with that, and I am determined to try and live my life with that philosophy. AND, to enjoy every part of the trip.

So, picking at stubborn wallpaper isn’t a thrill, but it doesn’t have to be a drag either. I don’t have to grit my teeth and dread it, I just need to settle in, get comfortable, and do it…. And enjoy doing it. I don’t have to do it non-stop either… there is no rush on this project; working on it is just part of my life right now. Getting it finished is a destination, a goal… one that I easily visualize, but my enjoyment of living my daily life doesn’t have to suffer from pushing myself… speeding along the highway. I can, and will, take the windy back roads enjoying the twists and turns and taking time to stop and smell the flowers along the way.

So… as for picking wallpaper, I plugged in a radio… got comfortable sitting on the floor or a chair depending on the height of my focus… got a drink, and some trail mix to munch on and just picked away. Yes, I’m also using enzyme wall paper remover too… which takes several applications to even start to work. This will take awhile and I accept it. Oh yeah, and enjoy it.

Finally I have almost all the colored stuff off the last walls, but that little film of whitish paper is still there in splotches. I will get it off eventually. Like I said before, the clouds come off pretty easily, it’s the other stuff that was under it that is the hard part.

When I put the clouds up, I sure did a thorough job. I can’t believe I did the whole inside of the closet too! … Even up high above the top shelf. I don’t think that older more stubborn stuff is under it though. The cream color that you see in the closet is one of the under-layers of wallpaper (not bare wall). I quickly peeled off the clouds and that part remained. I'm curious to see what little bits of history are hiding under that.



Jay has been working too. Saturday he cut drywall and put it up over and around the new door as well as in the ceiling where one of the walls used to be attached.

Yesterday Jay climbed up in the attic to do a little structural work while I kept on keeping on with the wallpaper removal. Funny how it’s taking me longer to get if off than it did to put it on.