A Deep, Dark Pit of Despair?

I have something to show you. Look at this picture of the GIANT HOLE in front of our house:
What is it, you ask? A photo of my own personal deep, dark pit of despair?

No, silly! Look again!


Can you tell now? It's a very HAPPY pit -- a deep, dark, murky, worm-filled pit of HAPPINESS! (It's not every day you capture one of those on film, now, is it?)

You may be wondering why I am happy about a giant pit suddenly appearing in front of a house that looked like this when we bought it...
...and the answer is because it's the first step towards our basement remodel. Those pits will one day be filled with greenery and pools of sunlight -- and a pet toad, if Bubbs gets his wish -- and will also provide the necessary escape route for the egress windows in our future basement.

Here you can see the outside filled in with landscaping blocks and pea gravel (for drainage) and the score marks for cutting out holes to install some big, new, shiny windows.
It's a little...cement-y, I agree. But definitely NOT a pit of despair. Stay tuned.