Roof and more

We may actually be ready to pin down a roofer to replace our hail-damaged roof.  Since the hail was from a storm that blew through last May, it's about damn time.  The whole process has been a slow-moving mess, but maybe that's how it goes.

First the insurance company said it wasn't damaged.  We noticed it looked worse and worse as the days wore on, and worked for several weeks to get a roofer out to take a look.  We finally got a guy out who said it was damaged and he would work with the insurance company.  We got an estimate from him, and weeks later, they both came and re-evaluated.  The insurance company agreed and sent us a check that had to be endorsed by our mortgage company.  We got it back and deposited it, but could no longer get hold of the roofer.  Several messages later, we found he was no longer with the roofing company and it took weeks to get someone else there to call us back.  They finally called back, said they wanted a copy of the estimate we had from them (huh?) and they would need to re-evaluate the roof.  Weeks later, they re-evaluated and gave us another estimate, about $2,500 higher than the original.  They weren't honoring the estimate of the guy who left because his estimates weren't accurate.  We were mulling that over and R ended up calling a company who was doing the neighbor's roof so we could get a second bid.  They were out within a week and the estimate arrived in a few days.  It was about $1,700 less than the first company's second estimate, so we're going for it.  I don't know how soon it can all happen, but we need to prove to our mortgage company that the roof is on by the anniversary.  We may be cutting it close, but it turns out the roofing company is owned by the sister of a neighbor and they have a very good BBB rating so I feel pretty good about it.

I believe we have one of the last houses in the area to get the roof replaced.  Figures.

We bought some pansies the other day just because it feels like spring and I stuck them in pots on our front porch while I was home at lunch.  Dang that felt good.  I'm feeling excited about yard work again and it's been a long time since I've said that.  I even bought a nice big bag of potting soil tonight so I can freshen up the pots on the deck, as well as a couple of pots in the house.  Grass is coming up in the back yard in spite of the very dry winter, and I think it may make it.  A little fertilizer would help.

We saw Jupiter and Venus in the night sky tonight, looking all spectacular.  That was cool.  We went out because it was a nice night and enjoyed two diet drinks at Sonic with the car windows down.  I love spring!