entryway and "that look"

 I brought out the fall decor over the weekend.  I spent two days searching for one of my four fall bins.  It was not to be found in either storage room or the garage.  This could only mean that it was under the stairs with the Christmas trees and the Christmas bins.  And sure enough, it was the last bin under the stairs at the furthest point back.  Of course it was!  It had the Thanksgiving wooden turkey in it and that would have been put away as I pulled out the Christmas bins when I decorated for December.  Thankfully, Doug was willing to completely empty the trees and bins to get to it! Oh what a loving and patient and kind man I married.  He didn't complain once!

 Speaking of decorating... Doug and I laughed so so hard and there has been much teasing about this since! As we walked into Hobby Lobby together, we I both overheard and observed this couple.  The woman was telling her husband that she needed two of this particular shelf/furniture.  The husband was just standing patiently listening to her.  She said, "I want to get two of these and put them... and I will move the ... from downstairs to the upstairs and put ... here.... and then this can go there..."  I literally started laughing out loud!!!    We were well past them, so they didn't hear, but others looked at us laughing and I'm sure wondered what was going on.  I didn't have to say a word to Doug.  He said, "I know, I know... I'm not the only husband who has that blank look on my face sometimes." 

Speaking of "looks"...  Doug gave me one on Tuesday afternoon, Alan and Jill dropped by.  I've been talking about removing the wallpaper in the entryway since the day that we walked into our new home for our first time ever .  Every day, literally, I think about taking it down. However.  After the nightmare of getting so many layers and layers of wallpaper off when we bought it, I had had enough of wallpaper removal and discovering unprimed, unfinished plaster walls to last a lifetime!  Throughout the entire house, ever room.  EVERY. ROOM.  E.NOUGH!  So, I decided after two months of peeling and scrubbing that we could wait on the entryway for a while longer.  This week is long enough!

Here's the entryway shortly after we moved in.

And here is the entryway yesterday! 

 

Alan and Jill dropped by.  We've been trying to find a convenient time for them to texture my walls.  I commented that I'm nervous because I don't want a repeat of that wallpaper when we moved in nightmare. Alan said, "I don't think this will be too hard to get off."  He reached up in one of the most conspicuous corners of the entryway and tore a corner down.  "Yep.  This will come off easily."  I said, "Alan Dale!  Now I'm committed!"  He spit on his hand, rubbed it up on the corner, slapped the paper back and said, "Nah, it'll be fine."  Then they said that they had a few hours on Thursday to do the texturing if I could be ready.  They left and I was tearing before they were out to their truck!

  Twenty minutes later,  Doug walked in from work.  He opened the door, saw what I'd just done and the mess on the floor.  He gave me "that look"...the same one from the man in Hobby Lobby, I might add.  Mostly because he was shocked that I'd torn it all down already.  I'd just talked with him on the phone while Alan and Jill were here.  Literally, twenty minutes was all it took to take down this paper!  One corner pull and it came off in one piece... every single strip!

Doug had suggested that we take a little getaway trip earlier in the day... an idea that made me very happy!  As he walked in, I gave him a "welcome home" hug and kiss and said, "You really made my day!  Thank you!"  He teased, "I made your day because I'm not giving you a spanking right now?"  Zeej and I busted out laughing!  He put his things down and immediately started rolling up the paper and helping us clean up. I didn't even have to ask.  He's so awesome!

 

I'm so happy, after being so nervous that I would regret it starting the project.   It's time to be canning, not painting.  It really was classy wallpaper, although very dated and I worried that I'd miss it.  I was jumping up and down happy!  I texted Alan and Jill with a photo of the first two walls down before they were even out of Logan yet.  I said, "Come back!!!"  Alan texted back, "We're still not coming back till Thursday. HAHA!"  I have plenty to do to keep me busy till Thursday...sadly....

I went to the landing area downstairs, which is about 18' long x 8' wide.  The paper down there did not want to come off.  Turns out that there were layers of wallpaper under it and it was cheaper wallpaper.  It's going to have to be scrubbed and soaked and peeled inch by inch.  We may only get the entry and downstairs landing textured and redone this week.  There's still a long bowling alley hallway to be done... at some future insane and spontaneous moment! There's not time to worry about the hallway this week.  I'm excited though!  Both the upstairs entryway and the downstairs landing are getting done this week!  Before the holidays!  Goal accomplished!  The hallways down there can wait!

In other news...

We ended up having a spontaneous YW activity at our home last night.  We had planned to build box boats and float across the Dam, but the weather has cooled up immensely and at night with no sun and a little breeze, we thought the girls would freeze.  Instant game night at the Corbridges.  A good time!

Doug's calling/schedule picks up again now that the USU students have returned for the school year.  He will be involved more again.  His calling as on the High Council definitely requires less time than serving in the Bishopric, but, it also means less time for the students to be in our home.  We both miss that a lot!

ZJ's getting her braces off tomorrow!  Phase 1!  Not sure, tops or bottoms, but ZJ has never looked forward to getting them off?  For some reason, this past weekend, she decided it's time.  NOW!  Brett had told her that she was in the stage of "Whenever you're ready, we are just "in hold".  So, she's ready!  I called and it's happening!  

We picked a bushel of tomatoes from our little front yard garden.  My appetite for fresh tomato and cheese sandwiches has met it's limit.  I'm ready to make salsa and chowchow and be done with the tomatoes!  We will probably buy a couple of bushel and get it done all at once here in the next week or so, rather than waiting for ours.  Over the years, our first snow on the mountaintop is between September 8 and 15th.  It's the 7th and no snow is in the ten day forecast.  I am craving soups and cornbread and building the first fire of the year!!!  It's that time of the year!  Have I mentioned that I love fall!

Life is good!