Big doings in the U Express facelift first reported on last Tuesday. As a quick refresher, the U Express is our neighborhood grocery store, exactly 225 Andy-sized steps from our front gate (you may recall I got a pedometer a few weeks ago). In other words, it’s really close and we go there a lot, especially since we don’t have a car. It’s kind of like having a very large pantry a block away.

So today Melinda and I stopped to watch the installation of a pane of glass to the new front entrance being built. Last week we were excited to see the pillars go in. Today it was the glass. It’s remarkable how the addition of the glass really has started to give the entrance a more classy grocery store feel.

There are hints that the upper facade may be drastically changed, too, either from the current cream to black or some kind of ornate covering. We’re excited to see how that part of it goes. One of our biggest hopes, though, is that they figure out how to mitigate the foul fish odor that often comes wafting out the side of the store that we walk along to get to and from home. Melinda uses that smelly spot as an opportunity to practice breathwork. You know, expanding your lungs with a deep inhale, retaining it to let the fresh oxygen circulate, and then exhaling. I just refer to it as Melinda “holding her breath” when we walk by. But, hey, whatever works.