I told you we were going to have our house-in-progress painted red.

The photos I'm posting today were actually taken last Thursday (Feb. 3rd), but I was unable to post them until today because of technical difficulties -- the cable I use to connect my phone to my computer is not working properly. As you can see in this photo to the left, the builder's first swipe at painting the big ol' beast hardly earns any points for staying within the lines. I guess they plan to fix it in post-production... I mean, they plan to let the trim guys handle it.

In the second photo (below), which gives you a look at our street, the house really does stick out every bit as much as I'd thought it might. It's brighter, taller, wider, longer. Keep in mind: we didn't know what our neighbors had picked for floor plans or colors when we made our choices. I'm optimistic that once the trim is painted and the rest of the exterior work is completed, the house won't look as... dominant as it seems right now. But it will nonetheless remain easy to spot from a distance. Easy for visitors to find. I hope that's going to be a good thing.

And no, I did not touch-up the photo using image manipulation software. This is the actual photo, as taken by my little cell-phone camera. Actual colors may vary, but there's no deliberate attempt here to exaggerate.

There's still quite a bit of work to be done on the exterior, and much of it appears to be behind schedule at this point, but there also appears to be much less urgency now with regard to the exterior. The paint trim (the shingles near the top of the front of the house, the corners, the shutters, the area around the windows, etc.) needs to be completed. The gutters and drainage need to be installed. Then there's pouring the patio, porch, and driveway, installing landscaping, and the like. These photos were taken prior to the work that was done this past Friday, when the exterior "electrical trim" -- the lights, doorbell, electrical outlets, etc. -- had all been installed.

Work on the interior of the house, however, is mostly on schedule and proceeding quite quickly. The drywall work has all been completed and the walls (and, alas, ceilings) have all been painted. To my dismay, the ceilings were painted the same color as the walls, which was not what I'd had in mind. I'd expected the ceilings to be painted white, not beige.

Most of the electrical trim inside has been installed, as well. This includes the electrical outlets, the lights and light switches, the ceiling fans, the bathroom fans, and face plates for the surround sound speaker posts. Some items -- a few GFI outlets, the whole house fan, and a bathroom fan -- have not yet been installed. One light bulb is not working (hopefully it's the bulb and not the wiring), and a few of the light switches were installed upside down. (Up means on, you boneheads!) These minor issues aside (and they will all be addressed during the walkthrough toward the end of construction), it's amazing how some paint on the walls and installing some electrical trim makes the rooms look more like rooms and less like art projects.

All of the interior doors and door frames are sitting in the garage. Or at least, they were as of yesterday, when we were allowed to take an officially sanctioned stroll through the house. They've also delivered the kitchen cabinets, which were likewise sitting (in boxes) in the garage, awaiting installation. Much of that installation work should be completed this week, along with the installation of some of the flooring.

It didn't hit home until I toured the site yesterday just how quickly this is wrapping up. If all goes according to schedule, it's entirely possible that there will be only four more Sunday walk-throughs between now and when we take ownership of the house.

Yikes!