More than 9 months after we moved into this little house, we finally--yes, it's true, believe it or not--possess fully functioning kitchen plumbing! Gone is the green 5-gallon-bucket "sink drain." Gone is the giant dishwasherless hole in the cabinetry. Gone is the giant dishwasher box/fun cat play area in the living room. Last night ice cubes clunked out of the ice maker in the refrigerator. Water swished among the racks and plates in the dishwasher. I rinsed out a sink without afterward draining a pail. It was luxury living, I tell you.

Yet even kitchen plumbing pales in the face of our new bookshelves. Later today, when there's adequate light, I will try to take a photo of them. If anything, they look better with books. Scanning the spines of all of my old friends, seeing them out in the light again, arrayed in their shabby multicolored glory . . . well, I'd hand-wash dishes all day long for that pleasure. But apparently I don't have to.