Wallpaper Woes

Ever stripped wallpaper? If you said, "No!" keep it that way. I love this new house of ours, don't get me wrong. Wallpaper, though, it's everywhere! Seriously, there is not a single room that isn't papered in some way, shape or form. The living room won't stay. Problem is, it's covering the whole room and it's vinyl. I must say, they used top of the line wallpaper. I fear it will never come down. I decided to start on the kitchen border since it looked like it might be easier and if not at least a smaller task. What a mistake that assumption was.

I decided to invite my sister-in-law over to help. She's got a death wish, I guess, and loves to strip wallpaper, she said. I fixed her quick. We bought 'The Paper Tiger' it's a round hand held contraption that pierces millions of tiny holes in the paper for the remover to penetrate to better reach the glue underneath. That's the idea, anyway. It sounds better than it is. I finally broke it. We tried fabric softener, first, as a glue loosening agent. It made my house April Fresh, but did little else. Then it was time for the big guns. I'd bought DIF, a wallpaper stripper solution. It's supposed to dissolve the glue. Yeah, right. Nothing dissolves the glue- nothing. It also smelled pleasant and not as over powering as the fabric softener. 

We followed the directions to a T. Still, the paper scraped off in teeny tiny little pieces leaving the backing and glue behind. My sister-in-law was artfully able to remove the backing, somehow. I was not. Everywhere I did still shows the underneath of the paper. Grr.

Finally it was time, after about three hours, for my sister-in-law to leave. She had to meet a bus at home with her daughter on it. That's more important that my wallpaper, I found out.  :(  I was left alone to my own devices. Gulp. I did very little over the next few hours. When I gave up, finally, I still had about 1/3 of the room to go- seriously. 

I bit the bullet and took on another session a few days later. I got a good amount done. Still, it's not done. I've given up. The hideous border remains just enough to taunt me every time I see it. It's hard to miss. 

I've resigned myself to failure. I am going to have to suck it up and invite my sister-in-law over all the damn time or hire someone. If a professional has the same hard time we had, it'll be prohibitively expensive. The funny thing is, the living room, which I hate, matches our furniture beautifully. It's just so not me. Wallpaper, in general, is just not me. The kitchen matches my dishes. The bedrooms match our bedding. Why do I want it down? Maybe I don't. Hypnosis to make me love it might be the best solution.

Wii Addiction

We got the Wii for Christmas. My kids never once asked for it. That hardly stopped me. It sat under the bed for about a month. I wanted to open it up and try it so badly. Finally the big day came. The Wii was a hit all around, thank dog. It might have been the first thing we set up from all of that present carnage. It was instant wonder.

The kids only ever play it now when friends come over. It is, after all, the ultimate party device. It seems every time anyone comes over the Wii is the center of attention. We have a tween girl karaoke game with a microphone. We have Guitar Hero, which is plain impossible, I decided, after another adult friend and I made complete asses of ourselves one night trying like hell to master it, only to be miffed.

I am addicted to Wii Sports (which the system comes with) bowling. If you know The Dude (what my friends call me in honor of The Big Lebowski) you know she likes to bowl. I am so much better in Wii bowling than I am in real life. I think that's the case with everyone because my young nephews have me beat, hands down. Still, I'm a pro. That's one of my dreams, to either be a pro bowler or own a bowling alley. I know. Toddler's addicted to Dr. Mario. He can battle those viruses for hours on end. If only he were a real doctor...

I decided after a while that if anyone was going to have Wii Fit it was gonna be me. They advertise them every Sunday everywhere for $89. Think anyone actually receives any in their shipment? Nope. The people I know who have them happened upon them before Christmas. Even then I saw none.  :(  I called, literally, 14 stores. Think one had it? Nope! I tried this for three or four days and finally got lucky. One store had ONE and they saved it for me. 

Wii Fit can be addictive and annoying at the same time. It gives you a Wii Fit age based upon your ability to center your weight on the board. My first Wii Fit age was embarrassing. It told me I must trip when I walk. I kid you not. It's a sarcastic little bastard. . We immediately bonded. The first week I worked out for over two hours in three days with it. I haven't really done it much since, but it is a lot of fun. I just tend to ignore anything that might make me feel better about myself. It ruins everything I stand for.

Then there's Bocce and Shuffleboard and all sorts of other highly addictive games that I can use to make a fool of myself. You know the computerized opponents even make fun of you when you play? Seriously. They have a field day with me. Nothing like a little Wii to boost one's self-esteem. 

Come on over. We can play Wii if you don't already have one. I think everyone got one for Christmas. You probably did, too. Come over anyway; you can laugh at me!