Monday morning Jan and I flew the baron to Snake Creek. We were able to pack a lot of things that we haven't been able to take on the airline. The flight was great. It was the first time I have been able to fly the baron in a couple of months. We arrived and the concrete guys were finishing up the apron for the hangar. We had to buzz the strip a couple of times to get trucks and people off the runway so we could land. Judd had the carpet guys and the solid surface people working in the house. Jan went with Mom over to change clothes and I took Judd for an airplane ride to Talequah to get gas. When we came back, we circled the house a couple of times and took pictures. It looks a little different from the air.

We worked on getting the deck posts painted on the front of the house. We had to go into Muskogee to get a smaller vanity for the basement bathroom. We also picked up more painter's tape to finish the posts the next day while the weather was good, but…………

About midnight Chris called from Houston. He had just gotten back to the house to find the garage floor had tools lying all around. Screwdrivers were on the back porch and the back door had been forced open. He could see cabinet doors had been opened and drawers were half open with items spread all over. We had been burglarized! He called the police and I called John Wakefield (our best friends down the block). John came to the house and waited with Chris for the police to show up. They finally came and took a report. About 30 minutes later, we got a call from the County Constable's office that they had been trying to reach us earlier in the day because they had a guy in custody that had several credit cards and miscellaneous items in his possession that belonged to us. The suspect claimed he didn't do the robbery but that someone had given the items to him. Jan, Mom and I got up at 3:45am and drove to Tulsa so Jan and I could catch the first flight back to Houston. Chris and John Wakefield's son Johnny stayed up all night at the Constable's office recovering what property was found on the idiot in custody. Interestingly enough, not much damage was done to the house, but there was quite a bit stolen. One bright note is that the only videotape we have of the house building project was still in the video camera and that was dropped by the back door as the thief left the house. So we do still have the video record of the project.

For a short period of time, I was under investigation due to quite a bit of "suspicious" (counterfeit) money that was in my wallet. Chris had to explain I was a magician and used the money as part of my act. Later I got a call from the county prosecutor that is handling the case. He explained that the suspect was an 18 year old kid that had no priors and was just trying to get enough money to bail his mother out of jail. He asked what I thought would be appropriate punishment. Being the liberal, merciful and understanding person that I am, of course I wanted the death penalty, but the prosecutor said since it was the kid's first crime, he would probably end up with community service and a couple of years of probation. Not quite what I was hoping for. We are still trying to compile a list of everything that is missing, but finding that to be difficult. For example, while watching television, we would notice a shelf that just didn't seem right. Sure enough, a lamp was gone. That sort of thing.

It is now Wednesday and we plan on going back to Oklahoma first thing in the morning just in time to watch the other slimeball squirm. David Stratton's criminal trial on the hangar is set for a preliminary hearing tomorrow.

Hopefully the week will end on a brighter note.

Thursday, Mom went with a friend to the Stratton hearing only to find out he passed (whatever that means). I only assume it doesn't mean he passed away. He is rescheduled for February 27th. By then, we will be comfortably living in the house, but we will keep the website up for a few more weeks for updates. I also got a notice that Stratton has changed his bankruptcy from Chapter 7 to Chapter 13. He is still a slimeball.

On a brighter note, we have electricity throughout the house. And carpet in most of it. The appraiser will come out Monday next week and the carpet should be completely in. We are taking the first load of furniture from Houston and will start getting Dorothy (Mom) moved in all next week. I have to go back to work on the 8th, but that will still leave time for a party celebrating the move in on Saturday the 1st. This will be a chance to meet all the neighbors and have all the craftsmen that worked on the house at the party to answer questions and hand out business cards.