Be careful before you try to "confiscate" (aka steal) his tools. You could end up with criminal charges, lawsuits and more headaches. Without a court order you have no right to take it. That stinks, but that's the way it is. Who knows, they might not even be his tools! I'd go with criminal charges immediately and go with restitution rather than mess around with suing and not being able to collect. He doesn't pay child support, I imagine he's behind on taxes, probably owns nothing so collecting a partial judgment isn't going to be easy and you'll rack up more expenses. The court will be an incentive to him to make the restitution to you or be held in contempt. If the money's important to you, take the offer from the other person. They likely will never get it. Otherwise, it's a lesson learned. When I read the first part that he wanted the money to buy it the red flags were a flappin! I'd buy the stuff myself and have it delivered. Even if he bought it, you never know if he actually paid for it and could wind up with liens on your place and pay for it again. It's sad that people do this stuff. Morals, ethics and the like are so difficult to find. Good luck.

Stepup: The normal human tendency is to blame someone else for our misfortune. If it is not about the rain, then it is about the sun. I am sure I have been there before, perhaps you have too. Enlightment and the path to happiness are when we realize that we can only control what we have control and let go of what we don't. Your SS is trying to set you up in triangulation between his father, you and him. The best is to avoid that situation. Just let your H deal with his own son in terms of discipline and such. But destruction of your property should not be tolerated and dealt w by the police. I hope your SS will only be invited back for a thanksgiving meal or christmad but that is about it. He should not be welcomed back to live.

Awwww, thanks so much for commiserating with me. It means a lot. Autumn did have a good long life and that comforts us a lot. Her quality of life hadn't been too great lately, so I knew the time was coming but it's still a hard decision to make. Just ONCE, I want an elderly dog to pass away in it's sleep so we don't have to make that trek to the vet, crying coming and going. Just once. We're picking up her ashes later this week to bury with our first dog, Mariah and our other 2 cats, Tessie and Roughy. We've got quite a little graveyard going now, it seems. Headstones and all.... Shanzie- boy, this dog. She's either tearing out of the house to chase an imaginary coyote or gimping around the house because she's overdone it on that poor paw. She does have massive fluff skills, unfortunately you about have to sit on her to get to brush her, she really hates it. So I do a lot of trimming, don't tell Liz! You're not supposed to cut on collies! lol As for her lumpy toe, I suspect we'll be having that lump removed, if not the entire little toe up to the wrist, but we'll wait and see what the specialist in MO says. I know she can't go on like this, it's not getting any smaller. Shanzie IS the cat-whisperer, Janie, so I know that she and Stewie would share that blankie just fine together. Right now she's plopped in front of the wood stove that her Daddy lit at 2:30 this morning, it's nice and toasty in here! Stoney, I am so very sorry for YOUR loss, sweetie. I know how much Woofman meant to you and I know your heart is going to be a long time healing. Thanks again, everyone. You are all so kind and loving, I know any animals that live at your houses are the luckiest little critters in the world!

It really depends on your decor but I will share one technique I've used. I strip the frame of all it's finish and then paint successive coasts of different color paints. After all coats have dried and cured I use fine grade sandpaper to remove some of the paint to varying degrees. This will leave you with a multicolor finish that will often pick up any grain in the wood. Depending on the colors you use the resulting finish can either be subtle or more pronounced.