Getting Gas

I drove up to the house yesterday to find 2 big trucks and about 10 guys digging a huge hole in the neighbor's yard across the street. Erik came out and said they were putting in our gas. OUR gas. But they're digging up our neighbor's yard! They must HATE us! What a way to make friends. Apparently, they first dug a hole in our yard by the driveway, somehow sent the line under the road??? and had to connect it over there? They actually did a really good job of covering it up - literally. They peeled back their grass, dug the hole, filled it in, and rolled the grass right back over the top.

They also did this. I really don't know what it's supposed to look like when it's done, but I have a feeling that the end of the pipe on the left is supposed to connect to the end where the meter is on the right. 4 inches? I think the plumber does that. Who still hasn't made it out.

The painter came out and sanded, caulked, and puttied all day yesterday, and came out again to start priming. The pictures aren't all that impressive yet, so I'll wait for the finished product. Erik's still knocking out the molding in the stairwell. Mainly the wood along the walls cut out for the steps. See what I mean - along the back wall beneath the painting?

He still has to "decorate" the newels. In the mean time, he made the mantel, which looks amazing, but I didn't get a picture of it. But it's based on this one (ours will be white):

I'll show it to you once it's on the wall.

Today would have been a great day to plant grass, but seeing as the next week will be uber cold, I don't want to have to water said grass in my ski gear, so I'll wait for a stretch of mild weather, or an impending final inspection day *whichever comes first* to take care of that : )