On the 7th day, Randar said, "Let there be light!"

We have finished installing the electrical, plumbing, and re-routing the ductwork so the drywall can be installed next week Monday. Tuesday morning the carpenter will be in to build the half-wall where the raised seating area will be and he will add 2" spacers to the the studs on the wall where the refridgerator will be so that it will be plumb and square.

Here are some pictures of "the warehouse" (click on the pictures to go to a bunch more):






Things are starting to hit a stride, I think. It seemed like we would never be getting this finished, but as the cabinets shipped from the factory on Monday, we are going to have to kick it into high gear to get everything done in time.

We still have a few minor items to resolve, such as insulating the exterior walls, but I think we are essentially ready. Once the drywall is installed, taped, and sanded, we will be rushing to get the floors installed. This will require a lot of work on a very uneven subfloor as well as some prep work for my eventual "Staircase to Heaven" that will be hand-crafted from Brazilian Cherry planks, handrails, and wrought iron ballusters. This of course is of far less priority than finishing everything that currently stands in our way of having the kitchen finished. I think we are already tired of walking to the basement to fetch anything from the fridge or eating pre-cooked and frozen meals.

We're not going to meet our August 15th deadline (one year from move-in), but we are still hoping to be done by labor day weekend.

By the way, this past weekend we went to the Eric Clapton Guitar Festival at Toyota Park and had a blast. We saw a legendary list of guitar, rock, and blues gods that is rarely assembled in the same location (Clapton last held this festival in 2004). Here is the list of attendees. I won't pick out my favorite, because the whole thing was simply awesome. We were probably 30-40 yards from stage and the concert lasted from about noon till 11:00 pm. What a day!

Here is a barely interpretable picture of Eric Clapton on stage: