I had zero idea where she was going to or from, but as soon as I got the idea someone was distance swimming I thought Cuba to Miami was the best. I wonder if my subconscious fed that to me...

Does she have a message of some sort, or she just picked a nearby place?

I think I did the fabric softener thing and it was pretty easy and fast, but I only had two half-walls to do (paneling along the bottom half, the breakfast nook part of the kitchen). Trying one room and seeing how it goes sounds like a good approach, you really can't know what you are dealing with until you start in.

Yeah, we took down wallpaper from probably the '50s once, and it felt like actual paper. It was a mess, because it really needed to be scraped. But I've pulled down other paper that came down in long strips, as others have described -- usually newer, slightly more vinyl-y paper.

So, Nyad made it!

She's tried this a couple of times, right?

Jesse, any reason not to inform your Dad's family?

This was her 5th attempt!

She's 6-fucking-4! Yay, Diana!

(my mother is totally willing to hire someone, but I just feel like I can do unskilled labor myself!)

There's no such thing as unskilled labor... the pros know tricks. My experience with stripping wallpaper has been like everyone else's: sometimes it's totally easy, and sometimes half the wall comes down on your head.

ION, has anyone stripped wallpaper? How long does it take?

My experience is... longer than you think.