We Survived!

Somebody told us that one of the biggest causes of divorce is wallpapering. They may be right. Now as I see it, there are four dangerous steps in the papering process. Step #1 - Deciding to do it. We recently had our living room, dining room, hallways and ceilings painted. I was happy with the old wallpaper in the entrance way. After all, I had papered that twice since we lived here. But, I finally had to agree with my wife that it really did not look good once we had painted. Step #2 - Choosing the paper. This is a very dangerous step. I've been through this before, so I suggested that she pick what she liked and I would just agree. After many hours visiting stores, looking through dozens of books, and bringing several home, little progress was made. Finally I looked through a few of the books that she brought home and suggested several that I thought might work. She then showed those to some friends who were visiting and they agreed on one of the patterns. That was good. We were both satisfied. I found it on the internet and it was much less expensive than the local store wanted for it. And the store also wanted to sell us more rolls of this expensive paper than my mathematics said we needed, so I had some reservations dealing with them. Then, before we made the purchase, somebody recommended going to York where paper was often less expensive. So we made the trip to York only to find that the book we were using was discontinued. But the clerk checked their stock and they still had some rolls of our pattern. We ordered, at about half price, and had it sent to our house. We were relieved. We had survived step #2! Step #3 - Preparing the walls. In this case it meant taking off the old paper, and my wife volunteered to do this. I didn't object and she completed the work without much difficulty. Then together we sized the wall and we were ready for the last step. Step #4 - Papering. Now I wasn't eager to do this, but I had done six such jobs previously (when I was younger) and I had all the equipment that was needed. We were scheduled to go to Pinebrook for a Friday hymn sing and had planned to make it a mini-vacation, staying in Bethlehem Thursday and Friday nights so we could enjoy the Christmas sights there. But instead, we decided to begin papering on Thursday, then drive to Pinebrook early Friday morning, still staying in Bethlehem for one night. After three hours of work we successfully had three strips papered and we decided to celebrate by going out for dinner. When we returned home, Dianne called my attention to a "problem". Strips one and two had shrunk, leaving a very obvious gap showing. I was devastated. I considered patching it but knew we would always know it was patched. I didn't sleep much that night, but I did pray. We left early for Pinebrook very early in the morning and then decided - for several reasons - just to come right home after the sing. We got home early enough that we could still drive back to York to see if they had any rolls of our paper left - we now needed another double roll to redo what I had messed up. We held our breath until they found that they still had one - from the same run. We quickly purchased it. They also told me that it shrank because I didn't "book it". I had never heard of doing this and had never done it before, but I didn't "book it" - and it shrunk. I then lost my nerve and was afraid that I would mess it up again, so I called a paper hanger. He agreed to do it for a reasonable price. Two weeks later he came and in less than 2.5 hours had the job perfectly done. Remember, that it took me three hours for just three strips and my job was only half done with the hardest parts yet to go. So when in doubt, pay somebody who knows what they are doing. It was a bargain! It's easier on your nerves and it helps preserve your marriage. So we survived. Now we only have four more rooms to have painted, one to have the paper taken off, and one to be papered. Pray for us. Hopefully our marriage will survive that as well. Stay tuned!