Two hours left...

... and I should have a completed roof, both house and back room! Man, talk about reason to celebrate! James and his helper got here fairly early. I think about 10:00. He's quite cautious not to work before it warms over 45, reason being because the shingles get stiffer when it's cold and don't apply properly. He does pay attention to detail. He had mentioned to me I think yesterday that he saw some roofers out in his neighborhood early, and the temperature was still under 40 and he was concerned that the people were being done a disservice because of it. Well, I would rather have this drawn out than not have a good roof, that's for sure.

Anyway, I had errands to do, had called San Jacinto Glass -- AGAIN -- and "Yes, ma'am. They will be out today, but it will be after 3:00." James was just getting here as I was leaving, so I told him about their expected arrival and made sure he had my cell phone number. I also alerted him to my J.C. Penney order that was due today.

Among a few other things, I had to make a Wal-Mart run, basic stuff, including, of course, another bottle of Tilex! Which, by the way, I got an email from them today thanking me for my generous and kind words and letting me know they would be forwarding my email to their production and advertising department who would be very happy to hear what I had had to say!

Anyway, I first stopped by Sherwin-Williams to get some paint colors because I'm going to paint one wall in my bedroom, the wall behind the bed. Traffic was horrendous. I-10 going east toward the river was backed up as far as you could see. Thank goodness I wasn't headed that way! Seemed like it took forever to get out to Walmart. It was hectic there, too - lines were long. And even though I know it was daytime, I didn't see any -- I mean ANY Christmas decorations! Did Beaumont ban Christmas, too? I haven't been in the mall. I do hope they put up Christmas decorations!! I will have to make myself get out after dark and look for some Christmas lights somewhere!

I got back before the bewitching hour of 3:00 and James reported that my package from Penney's came and he put it inside for me. That was nice. So, I put away all my items and started working on my depo while waiting for San Jacinto Glass. Did they ever show up? No. Did they ever call and say "We can't make it"? No. Are they going to hear from me tomorrow? YES!

James and his friend worked till amost dark, and he said he only has about two more hours to be completely finished. He said he had to stop to get two more bundles of shingles, which scared me because roofing materials are getting quite scarce. There was even an article in the Beaumont Enterprise about how bad it's getting. Somebody said it's easier to find an X Box than roofing materials! But he assured me last night they had plenty of my color, and he even has some in his own supply he can use if he has to. I really like the color, Driftwood, but I'm waiting for it to be finished to take a picture. I had black, but this is softer.
(Wow, I just looked back on my blog and the materials were delivered the night of Nov 11th! Geez!)

Of course, the patio and probably the soffitt and all that will still be in disarray, and I'll still have the stupid blue plastic over my back door for Christmas and probably till after New Year's. He doesn't want to work again until then, and I don't blame him. Neither will anybody else, I'm sure. So, I'll have to be focusing on what I can do myself in the meantime.

Needless to say, if I still had family at home, I would be putting the home repairs aside for Christmas, too; but with the kids gone, there's no hustling and bustling to get decorations out or frenzied shopping. So, short of a small Christmas Day gathering, it will be pretty much status quo, working on jobs as they come in and working on projects - which will consist tomorrow of either touching up the white ceiling in the bedroom or painting the whole thing. I'll decide tomorrow and then go buy paint and hopefully start the floor -- and work, too, of course!