This felt like an early Christmas present. Remember when there was a column, right smack dab in the middle of the (back) kitchen? Well, apparently, some contractor fairies must have swooped in overnight because -- POOF! -- The Majorly-Totally-Giant-in-The-Way-PITA-Offending Column has vanished. That, my friends, is a biggie: the space looks so much bigger!

But, wait -- there's more: the gloriously oh-so-very smooth concrete pad arrived, early this morning. And we get to play around with the river of concrete, the path going from the back and out to the front (now obscuring the new sewer pipes). What a huge win, on both counts!

Thank you, fairies and elves, whoever you are!