I think I see the light.

Guess what? We have stairs inside our house now, almost like normal people. 

Some heads were lost in the making of this photo.

In order to make room for the Linda-and-Rebecca-friendly staircase, the guys had to take away the tub in the upstairs bathroom, which is directly over the staircase. Here is a rare ant's-eye view of our bathroom now. 

The toilet, formerly housed on the right side of the room, is now sitting on the left side and unattached to anything like, say, plumbing. Don't ask me why. I'm just hoping the fellows remember to put everything back before I have an accident.

This is the bathroom when it was functional. All that's been removed are the toilet, sink, bathtub, medicine cabinet and towel bars. Otherwise, the room is completely intact.

We also have the beginnings of a shower downstairs. Rebecca is standing in it. (She exercised the "clothing on" option for this picture). Marc, on the left, is not only a fine architect, he also makes an excellent faucet.

Rebecca has grand visions for a cutout niche that will hold all sorts of bathing accoutrements. That slab of concrete behind her will be a seat in the shower.  

In other news, we have selected a cool cork floor for the basement. Mmmm. Easy on the feet and a good concealer of dirt.

And did I mention we're getting new windows? Winter storms tend to make our exterior paint bubble. That's a bad thing. New windows are a good thing. An expensive thing, but a good thing. Here, the welcoming party is kvelling over them, even though they (the windows, not the party) are still in plastic wrap.

Speaking of plastic wrap, our builders just love it! They decided to spread it over pretty much everything in the master bedroom upstairs because they're working on a vent in the corner of the closet.

And thus we come to the first moral dilemma of this project.

• Should we use less Saran wrap and protect the environment?
• Or should we use more Saran wrap and protect moi from dust on my 600-thread count sheets?

I will refrain from answering in writing.

One shade of gray

Is this gorgeous or what? Let me tell you, it is gorgeous. It is smooth, it is even, it looks very much like a floor, which it is, it is parallel to the ceiling-to-be and it is perpendicular to the walls-to-be. It is the most beautiful concrete in the world. I should know. I've been spending a lot of time on reconnaissance 

lately, roaming the streets, checking out other people's garages and contemplating their concrete. Ours is the most beautiful by far.

Do you see how this could become a room someday? Someday soon, maybe?

Meanwhile, on the other side of town, our pussycat has pretty much had it with apartment living. Poor Lucy. At the old place (with the new concrete), she could go out whenever she wanted, get some air on that exquisite belly of hers,

 practice her yoga

and then kick back in my favorite chair.

The apartment? Cramps Lulu's style. Last night our girl almost busted out of here. She mighta made it too, were it not for my quick thinking and some exceptionally tasty kitty treats.

Into every house a little rain must fall.

You find out a lot when you take your house down to the bare minimum. Not all of it is good. Take this photo, for example. See that damp stuff?

Uh-oh.

It turns out our neighbor's gutters are. . . how shall I put this delicately . . . for shit. So when it rains, the water pours off his roof directly into the space between our homes where there is no drainage. 

This is a job for Aaron Gordon Construction!

We brought together the greatest minds in the business to address the situation. That would be, left to right: Marc Lindsell, our architect/designer; Aaron Gordon, our contractor (celebrating his birthday today in our basement) and; Chad Greensburg, whose title I forget, but who we call and email a lot. He bosses the heavy lifters around.

 They advised and we consented to waterproof the space between our house and our neighbor's. Executing the task is not as difficult as finding the right people to do it. With just 16 inches between the homes, we need a tiny, talented person or two to seal the deal, as it were. Special consideration will be given to members in good standing of the Lollipop Guild and/or Lullaby League.