Another milestone: This afternoon, JoAnn and I completed our tile selections. Our task was to select the tiles for the 3 shower niches. Because this is a good opportunity to do something fun and not be so budget-conscious, we picked some good stuff. For titillation purposes, I won't show pictures yet but what we got includes a) purple glazed ceramic tile, b) 1"x2" glass tiles with a linear "drops on pond" pattern on the back, and c) a linear mosaic tile with dark teal glass, beige and grey ceramic, and marble tile strips, all surrounded by a beige marble bullnose frame.
My preference for a brushed copper tile was rejected, but I'll assume that in the end it's all best that we went the way we did. Minor compromises at times make for a healthy marriage, after all.