Seriously Super Woman (Or Something Amazing)

I went to write this post yesterday, and found my pictures of the Blue and Gold.  I was kind of bummed because this is what I really wanted to write about, but I just had to show off my western decorations that were so flippin' awesome! :D
Wednesday was my day off, so instead of spending it working out and catching up on the television shows I enjoy watching, I got down on my hands and knees and ripped apart my front room.  We got our tax return and began the process of setting our plan of remodeling the kitchen and front room floors.  I got up, worked out, and then I tore out the carpet, the carpet pad, the carpet tack strips and pulled off the baseboards.  The hardest part for me was tearing up the tack strips.  And it was hardest where the water damage had occurred.  I thought that was a little weird.  Also, taking the baseboard off was a bit of a challenge for me, too.  I did it last, and I'm not used to manual labor.  I'm actress people, not a construction worker!  I was tired.  But I took a break, and told my husband that I would probably need his help doing that.  He didn't want me to use the crowbar.  He was afraid I would damage the walls.  He wanted me to just use the mud spatula (or whatever they are called).  In the end, I just wanted to get it done.  I  knew that when he got home, I wouldn't want to work.  We usually end up fighting when we work together on projects like this anyway.  So I got back down on my hands and knees with my box cutter, my spatula, and the crow bar.  All three tools were quite useful and any damage to the walls was minimal.  The only injury I sustained was when I was pulling the tack strip up, I dropped the crowbar on my hand.  It only hurt for a second, and I got just the tiniest cut on my right hand under my pinky.  I almost got done before the boys got home, too.  When they got home, I was working on the baseboards, and then Zach and Riley helped me with the clean up.  I even made dinner that night.  There are no bounds to what this woman can do. ;)
Why am I doing all this work when ServePro is going to put the floor in for us?  They could do all the tear down as well, but the answer is simple:  If we do the deconstruction ourselves, the work we do will go towards our deductible and we won't have to pay as much money.  The idea of not having to pay an extra thousand dollars sounded pretty awesome to me.
My butt still hurts, and my muscles are still stiff.  My arms aren't aching as much today.  I wonder how many calories I burned.

 I got started on tearing out the carpet before I realized I hadn't taken a before photo.

 Front door area before the demo.

 After I took out the carpet.  Kurtis and I forgot to move the couch to the garage, so I just worked around it.

 After taking out the tack strip, and the carpet in the front closet, and the laminate by the front door.  What a beautiful mess. :)

 The final after shot.

 The final after shot of the front door area.  I still need to take off the baseboards and the vent cover on that wall, but because I babysit little kids, I didn't want an open gaping hole in my front room.  That just doesn't seem very safe nor very hypoallergenic.

Next week:  Kitchen floor demo!