Lots of stuff is going on, but it's either involving meeting with subs, or doing something that doesn't get portrayed well in pictures. I'll post a consolidated text update of what has happened over the last several days.

We cleaned up the site quite a bit, loading up our 15x10x4 foot burn pit and piling scrap lumber maybe 3 feet high. I had a lot of help from my nephew and his paintball buddy.

We met with the foreman from the electrical contractor, and did a walkthrough to place all the lighting and outlets. We had done a lighting design with our architect previously, so this took only a very short time.

Rough in plumbing is pretty much done, except for a few little details that may be miscommunications.

Our septic system was installed and passed inspection. The waste line from the house has not been tied into it yet, but the tanks are in and the drainfield is installed. I could show you pictures, but if you've seen dirt, you pretty much know what the finished installation looks like.

We had a meeting with builder Chad where we asked a ton of questions and got a half ton of answers.

I selected and purchased light fixtures for the front entry hall and the dining room, which leaves only one fixture remaining to select and purchase.

I had a walkthrough with the home theatre installers who will be installing speaker wire in my family room, master bedroom and porch. I've spent a lot of time planning the remaining low-voltage wiring, which I'll be doing myself. I'll probably throw a ton (I have several thousand feet) of Category 5 cable in the walls and not terminate it until I need it.

The trench for the gas line is in, the excavators did it while they had the machines on the site for the septic install.

And I had a second walkthrough with the electrician to fine-tune our lighting selections and placement. We added a few cleverly placed outlets that will make life easier overall. We still don't know which end of the house the service will come in. I'm hoping for a garage panel.

And we got the drawings and bid back from our cabinetmaker today, we managed to come in under our allowance!

Now the future, as it appears currently:

The electrical roughin should begin tomorrow. The framers will be back at the end of this week to finish my porches and a couple interior details, if the materials are available (we're still without doors). Speakers should get wired middle of next week. I'll follow up probably that weekend, or possibly several evenings, installing network wire and cable TV. Then insulation and drywall.

But the house still looks like it did two weeks ago. This weekend you'll see some changes as the framers finish up the porch and the doors get installed. Then it will stay the same until the painters finish.