Life in Sunny Miami!

So here's the thing. Apparently life has not always been exciting before I came to visit my sister Susan. However suddenly, we're in the middle of an undercover police operation. In all the years my sister has been a resident of Miami, she has never seen this happen before. We were visiting Susan's in-laws, when her father-in-law looked out their living room and saw three undercover cops pull over this vehicle. When I took out my camera to take pictures, I was told to make sure not to let the police see me take the pictures because they would take my camera away. Believe me I was being careful. My sister Susan was more concerned about the possibility of open fire. Aparently there have been some cop shootings during routine traffic stops. The orange car is the one being pulled over. The guy with the black t-shirt with writing on it, is one of the cops that was searching the vehicle. The black cop car was the first on the scene and then the silver car. Obviously there was some concern because the silver truck pulled up and this huge cop got out packing. Nothing like a little roadside entertainment. With that bit of excitement behind us, we headed back home. I decided to take some pictures of the local scenery. This next picture is the entrance to one of the "planned communities". These are communities that are gated and have incredible strict covenants. If one blade of grass has grown too long, you receive a letter of complaint requiring you to cut your grass a.s.a.p.. Did I mention that on top of your mortgage you have to pay an extra fee for all this attention. Since I have been here, my sister and her husband Sean received letters informing them that they needed to pressure-wash their driveway, pressure-wash the roof and paint their mailbox. Failure to comply would result in a fine of up to $1000.00. Well what's a girl to do but help out. Iwish I had taken a before and after picture. While I was doing this, my brother-in-law was pressure-washing the driveway. As for the roof, well that was not a part of my iteniary. Since being here I have been warned about leaving any doors open or unlocked while I'm home, be it inside or out. Apparently there have been a high rate of people being attacked in their homes. I'm not to leave anything of value in the vehicles and all car doors should be locked. I cannot go for a walk on my own in the neighbor hood in the evenings for fear of being abducted and I'm not to answer the door while home if someone is not expected. The joys of living in the big city. Just a quick update, while writing this blog, we had an incident. A young guy came to the door to apparently sell or solicit some thing or the other, my 1st mistake. When he explained he was doing a survey for the city and wanted to know how busy the area was, I promptly said it was a nice quiet area, mistake #2. Next thing I knew my sister called Miami's finest. The officer was kind enough to allow me to take her picture. While I was snapping her picture, an unmarked car pulled up. It was a detective, who turned out to be her husband, his 2nd wife. It's amazing what you find out when you use the old friendly Canadian approach. Apparently, he pays his alimony and child support because the officer indicated that she doesn't get all his paycheck. It was a bonding moment for us females. The officer and the detective were very friendly, something you don't find too much of in Miami. It's every man for him/herself it seems. My 3rd mistake was wanting to watch what happened when the person in question appeared at another door down the road. My sister promptly ushered me in the house, advising me that you don't watch this stuff from her yard. I'm already tired of all the do's and don't's of sunny Miami. As I update my blog, I'm sitting here waiting to go to the beach, something I haven't done since coming here and I've been here 8 days now. It's now 3:00 pm and I haven't even made it out the door yet except to go for a run this morning. Life just doesn't get better than this!