We de-wallpapered the bathroom walls last weekend, and then our wonderful painter patched & painted them this afternoon. I am hoping by tomorrow night and the final coat of paint, we will have the luxuries of electric lighting and a mirrored cabinet once again. You know how it is when three rooms in progress are emptied out over all the other rooms in your house, and you can't find your toothbrush and are watching TV over the dining room table which is now smack in the middle of your living room?! Or when the door to your home office is blocked by the shower curtain, its pole balanced up on the door moldings?! So far the cats are doing OK with all the disruption, but tomorrow work begins in the laundry room, and they may not be happy when we temporarily move their box. Extra bribes will be given out. :)
To take a break from the home improvements, we went on a training ride Saturday morning with some of the local riders who will be participating in Get Your Guts in Gear next month. Don't the cycling outfits make them look cool? Don't answer that. :) The lady on the far right next to Chris is Judy Pacitti, our serene, funny, and fearless ride leader. Some of you have received thank you notes from her for donations -- her mom and maybe one other volunteer send all of them out, and there are 90 riders participating in the NYC ride alone. That's a lot of thank you notes!!! You can see Grace in the background next to Judy. She and I rode the 30 miles along the shoreline, and the views, even for a cloudy day, were so pretty.
The ride was good practice for the NYC Five Boro Tour this Sunday. Sarah, Devorah, Ina (check out her post w/photos of the ride), and I, representing four different states (!), will attempt to meet up among 30,000 other riders along the 40 mile route. Not exactly your typical SnB meeting...since yelling "yarn" probably isn't going to work in this environment, I'm thinking I will tie a pink ribbon on the handlebars of my old maroon bike so you can find me. Go cycling knitters!!!!
Speaking of knitting, I am into the second repeat of ten rows on my shawl. The needle and marker slid out of one side last night, and I lost my place. Argh! I hope to have a progress photo to share with you soon. And I'm also preparing Pink and Green Photos, part 2...
The living arrangements sound like our place on a normal day! Except that I haven't lost my toothbrush yet (knock on wood).
It looks though like you are making a lot of progress with refinishing. Good luck with the cats!
Posted by: Erika | May 01, 2007 at 11:45 PM
Oh poor cats. They don't usually like to have their routine disrupted. Course neither do I. LOL!
I usually go into a panic when my needle slides out of a shawl. It's never as bad as I think it's going to be though.
Posted by: Sydney | May 02, 2007 at 12:02 AM
That's a lot of remodeling to be living with. Your training rides look like a lot of fun!
Posted by: tiennie | May 02, 2007 at 12:49 AM
Isn't remodeling fun? It's a neverending process at our house. Looking forward to seeing your shawl progress.
Posted by: Sonya | May 02, 2007 at 04:34 AM
good luck with the remodeling! I'm sure it'll make your house super-sellable. :)
Posted by: kate | May 02, 2007 at 08:34 AM
Seeing people remove wallpaper always makes me wonder why anyone would put it up again!
Maybe you can tie pink yarn on your handlebars instead of a ribbon or maybe knit a quick i-cord (not that I've ever knit i-cord to know if it can be done quickly)...
Posted by: sprite | May 02, 2007 at 11:15 AM
Oh, think how fabulous it's going to be to have all that house stuff done!
Must get energy so I can drag my bike out!! Have a great ride this weekend!
Posted by: Chris | May 02, 2007 at 12:18 PM
I thought your house looked good anyway, but I'm sure it will be great with all the effort you are putting into it. Sounds like you had a wonderful ride with the GYGIG folks! I'm so excited that the 5 Boro ride is this weekend!
Posted by: Sarah | May 02, 2007 at 04:00 PM
De-wallpapering is miserable! I'm glad you guys survived with your peace of mind intact :o)
Posted by: amanda | May 02, 2007 at 05:41 PM
Oh, taking down wallpaper is so much work! I have some really ugly bathroom paper that needs to come down too, once I can motivate myself to actually do it.
Posted by: Karen | May 03, 2007 at 10:24 AM
Here I'm complaining about putting our house up for sale. You poor guys are going through an entire restructure almost.
I'm glad you have your bike races and trips to release your tensions and distract you while this is going on.
Debbie, I love your idea of tieing a "pink ribbon" around your handlebars.
Good luck my heart is with you.
Posted by: Patty | May 03, 2007 at 03:18 PM
That is funny, Debby! And I sure do understand! As we pack away each room, JR and I are living in less and less space! It will pass, it will pass...
Posted by: Lynne | May 04, 2007 at 11:54 AM
Ugh, just think of how great everything will look when it's done!
I really hope to get out this weekend, *sigh*
Posted by: Brigitte | May 04, 2007 at 04:16 PM
You're very smart to do all that prep work to your walls before you paint. It'll pay off in spades in the end.
Yep, that is one spiffy group!
Posted by: Felicia | May 07, 2007 at 05:29 AM