Houston, we have plumbing.

The permits came in and we're finally at the point where the experts take over from my slogging debris out.

We've got two live permits.

One allows for the framer to create the new walls in the back first-floor space. It held a bedroom/office and bathroom but it really needed reconfiguring to create a full, modern bath where there had been only an outdated half-bath. So, we've got the plan.

The interior partition walls are now gone – don't ask me how sore I am – as is the old plaster from the walls and ceiling. As this demo went on, I worked really hard to preserve the great hardwood floor in the bedroom by putting down clean sheets, then tarps, then rugs, then more clean sheets. Then came all the rubble. I mean, like a thousand pounds of rubble – no joke.

After that, I had to clean it all up, clean the material protecting the floors, and set it all back up again.

Now the framer tells me he really needs to demo the old floor in the bathroom area, taking it down to the diagonal boards...and I said, "Of course! Do what you have to!"

Which means I get to clean that up, too. But this is what you do when you want to do it right.

I'm really excited that the new design created by Lisa the Design Genius will make the first-floor back space so much better, and it will have updated electric, plumbing, lighting, heating, and fans. A big deal. Plus it will have a full bath with a shower complete with a seat, making a perfect suite space for a guest, an elderly relative, or someone in the household with a mobility injury. (Ask me if I'm thinking about mobility injuries after hauling all that rubble, lol.)

Meanwhile, the building department has also okayed replacing the old plumbing to the second-floor bathroom with new plumbing. This is going to be a big deal for the house, because it means modern (no drama) pipes to and from the second floor.

Here's what had been in the kitchen ceiling going to the second floor. I can't honestly recall which way this photo is supposed to go.

Notice the this-way-and-that old copper plumbing, an ancient fluorescent light fixture, and the old framing for the drop ceiling.

Here's where we are now:

Organized plumbing of the modern sort!

In the second floor bathroom, we now have what looks ugly to the commoner but, to the house repair veteran, is a big step forward: a new toilet flange with a new vent pipe.

And, in the wall where the vanity will go, new plumbing for the drainpipe there, too:

And in the kitchen, we have a new vent pipe. Or a drain. I can't remember. I think it's a vent pipe because the rain was dripping into it this morning (normal on a rainy day).

See it? It's the white pipe running up the slit in the wall in the kitchen breakfast nook.

Yeah, I realize this all looks pretty ugly – and that makes me nervous as a prospective buyer is going to be looking at 615 this weekend! But in terms of safety and comfort for future owners, these are big steps forward. Hopefully the visitor can see that.

As Jerry (the best backwards driver ever) loaded up dumpster #2, a few things slid out off the back end. Once he got the beast on his truck, he helped me put what fell out back into the dumpster, and what did we find but this:

He said I should check this collection because maybe there would be a stamp in there that would pay for the whole project! Maybe, but right now I don't have the energy to research the possibility.

One thing was a lovely energy lift while working on all this: The neighbor on the other side of 615 decided her lemons were ready to harvest. Yes, lemons in Michigan, in winter. She grew them from a Meyer lemon seed in her solarium! And then she put them out to share with the neighbors:

Just perfect for a French 75....

The second-floor plumbing continues tomorrow. Then come the framers for the kitchen ceiling, the second floor bathroom, and the first-floor back space. Than the electricians. Than the HVAC. Then the drywall.

We're getting there. And I'm not dead yet!