Never a Dull Moment

Our luck in Vermont has certainly been a contrast from the constant barrage of drama in our lives in Kansas. But we are magnets to bad luck after all, & we could only hold it off for so long. (But comparatively speaking this one was no big deal.). I've given you all some highlights on Facebook, but I'll fill in the gaps here.

Last week, we had one of our first really pretty days of Spring. (All you Midwest people who have had plenty of days in the 70's can just shush!). So Matt opened all the windows in the house to let in some of the warmer air while he worked. We've told you before that he's had the occasional guy come & help him out with some of the easy but time consuming tasks so he can keep moving forward. Well this particular day, he had one of those guys there helping out doing clean up. Nineteen year old kid. Seemed nice enough. (For the sake of this blog we'll call him "Joe.")  In retrospect, Matt says that there had been some weird things he noticed on the days "Joe" was there. Like the front door being unlocked when he swore he didn't open it, those kinds of things. But he never thought much of it. Anyway, Matt did his work for the day, and as he was leaving, he locked up the house. But apparently, not being used to closing up all the windows, he accidentally missed one (or just didn't get it closed all the way).

That night, we had several rolls of copper wire & breakers stolen from the house, valued at about $1000. Ugh!! So here was the weird part: they didn't take all of the wire. They didn't even take any of the expensive tools that were right there in the kitchen. Just those few things. If it were a random robber they would've cleaned us out for sure. We had high suspicions that this kid had something to do with it.

So Matt called the police as soon as he discovered what was missing & filed a report, and he made sure to tell them about who he suspected, plus a few other potentials. That afternoon, they had the guy in for questioning for an hour. They also called in his parole officer (!!!). Oh yeah, turns out he's already on parole for stealing. Awesome! The guy then texts Matt afterward & says "I swear I didn't steal from you! I would never do that!" Mmmm kay.

Here where it gets really crazy (all over a few rolls of wire!). Now let me start by saying this is a small town, but it's not tiny (like 8,000 people). So this "small world" moment isn't entirely to be expected. Plus, given that I don't want to violate anyone's privacy with what I share here, I may end up being a little cryptic. My apologies up front.

So a few days later, we get a call from a friend. Respectable guy in town, business owner, all that. Out of the blue he brings up that he's aware that we suspect this kid is involved in the robbery & "we can be 100% sure he did it."  Whoa!  Turns out (again, being a bit cryptic) that this kid is involved with a family member of theirs & I gather that she shared with them somehow that "Joe" had obtained this wire to scrap for cash.  We seriously owe these people so much because without this tip the police didn't have enough evidence to prove anything!  The police contacted our friend & went from there.

Story gets weirder.  And most of it I'm just piecing together from what Matt's been telling me & what the police have been sharing with him.  Apparently they not only had a conversation with "Joe" but with the girl too (let's call her "Jane.")  I'm not sure what Jane & Joe confessed or didn't, but it came up in conversation that the one who actually stole everything was a guy we've never met who lives up the street.  They said he cut it all up & had several duffle bags worth & was going to take it to the scrap yard.  It also came up that Jane had an outstanding warrant in Burlington, so she was arrested at that time for her warrant.  Whoops!  No such luck with the guy they blamed, but every time they talked with these two their story changed.  Finally, the police were able to get ahold of the records from the scrap yard.  From that, the car that was used belonged to "Joe's" friend, and clearly in the car were "Joe" & "Jane."  The friend's driver's license was also given to scrap the WHOLE UNWRAPPED ROLLS!  He got a whopping hundred bucks for his trouble.

"Joe" has been arrested.

Matt found out that there are two judges in town: one who will punish the little punk & one who lets most of these things go with little consequence.  So guess what Matt did?  He took all three of my kids (I was at work) and went to the arraignment!!  (Lawyer was shocked to see him there.  I am not the least bit surprised. lol)  He figured the judge might be swayed if he saw that this petty theft affected a family.  (And PS, "Joe" was pretty shocked to see him there too! ha ha!)

So this is what came of it: "Joe" plead not guilty.  Of course.  He was offered $5,000 bail equaling a $500 bond fee.  He will have trial in 2-3 weeks.  The town attorney will send us a letter telling us more in a few days.  He had a job lined up to start next week.  He has now lost that job.  He will be on house arrest until his trial.  He has been ordered to have no contact with us & to go nowhere near our property.  He has also been ordered to have no contact with "Jane," but they live together, so I'm not sure how that's going to play out.  The lawyer told us that there is some sort of victim's fund that we will be repaid from.  "Joe" will have to repay that cost over time.
All that for a lousy hundred bucks. 

Huge story for a relatively small theft, and a happy ending within a week.  I can't help but think about the four times we were robbed in Kansas.  That tens of thousands of dollars worth of belongings were stolen from us, we had a short list of suspects then too, but we never heard a peep of any resolution to any of that ever.  So yes, we had a little robbery at our house, but the police here actually cared & we are so grateful that the "bad guy" didn't get away with it. 

Somehow now I am much more okay with Matt's ridiculous plan for high security around the house.  Electricity = surveillance cameras & alarm system.  No more bad guys.  ;)  

Holy crap! It's already April!

Seriously, how in the world does time escape me so easily??  Last blog entry I made was November*, & I swore then that I'd blog more often, but next thing you know, WHAM!  Five months have passed & I haven't written a thing.  (Five months??  Can that be right??). Wow.  I'm so sorry you guys. I'm sure you've all been hovering over your computers just waiting for an update from the mighty mom this whoooolllllee time, right? ;)
Tough thing is, I don't know where to start!  Some great things happened over the time of my blogging hiatus & I don't want to forget about them. But at the same time, we need to catch up. Maybe just a highlight reel?
Christmas came & went. I had to work, & Christmas 1500 miles away from extended family just isn't the same, but given all of that I think we had a pretty great holiday. Kids were spoiled rotten as usual. ;)

Matt's Birthday December 25th

New Years Eve was actually really fun.  We went to an activity here in town called First Night where we walked from place to place to see a bunch of different acts & do fun activities until a midnight fireworks display.  Our favorite part was seeing the hypnotist & little tired Natalie almost got hypnotized from the audience!

In January, we had a fabulous visit from Mathew's brother John & his wife Caroline. (Oh I wish I could've done a whole blog entry about their visit!). I can't tell you guys how happy it made us to spend some great quality time with them. They're kinda awesome. And we want them to move here. Not gunna lie. ;).

Ben & Jerry's in January?  Absolutely!

Hiking fun

Skiing at Burke Mountain

The whole winter came & went (well... it was supposed to go, but its April & I'm still looking at snow...). But in Vermont that means I missed out on blogging a whole bunch of playtime. The boys had a great time with their winter sports program, & this momma learned that she is NOT a snowboarder. :/. Wah wah wah...  It wasn't pretty. But next year they both say they want to ski, so I'll have a chance to redeem myself.

Mark & Gavin with their buddies Gabe & Carter

Mark went on a field trip where he even got to try out some cross-country skiing & he LOVED it!  That's much more Mathew's pace if he had to pick. So next year we anticipate tons of winter fun, assuming we won't be so consumed with the house renovations anymore & our bank accounts won't be as dry as the Sahara by that point.  Here's hoping!

So, on to the house updates.  This part is tough. If you've been through a full house overhaul you totally get it. Or if you do this kind of work you get it. But to anyone else on the outside I can see how it would seem as though things are moving at a snails pace. But honestly, it gets taxing to here the incessant question, "aren't you moved into that house yet??!"  Nope. But things are moving along quite well, I promise!  We are really pleased with the progress!

 

Mathew has been working non-stop. Imagine working on a house by yourself in the freezing cold with no heat or electricity all day every day. Add to it entertaining a kid (or three) throughout that cold day while Momma's working. With a bad back.  No fun. But still he's been working hard & getting a whole lot done, even going above & beyond to make his work perfect. He's insulating every wall, reinforcing every beam, re-laying floors that were too destroyed, and framing new designs to our bathrooms & kitchen. (All without electricity).

I mentioned in my last post (forever & a day ago) that the Academy was coming to put in electricity for us. Well, Christmas break came & went, then it was the start of the new semester. Then they had another project to complete. Meanwhile, we ended up putting many things on hold anticipating their arrival. Totally fine because, hey, they're putting in our electricity for freaking free!  But it did slow us down a bit.  They came this past week & started getting things moving.

The Crew

(P.S.: Having a rational discussion with your husband about where to put light switches after you've been awake for 24 hrs working a busy night shift is damn near impossible... Just sayin'.).

They got things planned out & put in some outlet boxes, but guess what!  Now it's spring break!  Darn it. Don't they know their priority should be meeeeee? ;). Anyway, after next week they should be back in full force & get things up & running.   Having the electricity starting has lit a fire under Mathew though (his words).  Now he's excited about what's ahead & he's deciding what to tackle next.  Today he bought a crap-ton of plumbing supplies & plans to get that started. Whoopie! :). There's also the radiant heating lines to be put into the floor & that's also on the radar to be placed soon. The school year's done in just 4 short weeks, so the electricity has to be done by then. If all goes well, we may have walls in our near future!  Actual WALLS you guys!  Happy dance!! And me?  Well I'm just daydreaming about what pretty colors to paint them. :D

So, I guess that's it. My highlight reel of the last five months. I hope to have much more to add as Spring finally arrives. It's coming any day now. Or so they tell me...


* Edit: I just looked back & I guess I did post one in December... Four months! Hey! I'm not as bad as I thought! lol