Shelly's B-Day + Crappy Neighbors = Police

My little sister Shelly turned 15 this last Saturday! We had quite the eventful weekend that ended with the cops being called on us...

Thursday night, Shelly and Johnny came over to my house for a sleepover. I usually get pretty lonely having the whole place to myself, so it was nice to have some extra bodies in the house. On Friday, Doug was able to come home, so we drove back to my parents' house to drop off the kids. It was late and we didn't want to drive all the way home just to turn around and come back the next day for Shelly's party, so we decided to camp in the backyard.

Camping is never complete without a big bonfire to roast marshmallows and hot dogs. My dad just tore down the old front deck on the house, so we had plenty of wood to feed our fire. We got out all the camping chairs and sat around the fire and had hot dogs and s'mores. It was a lot of fun!

Chris starting the fire.

Both Doug and Chris (hopefully soon) are Eagle Scouts, so they are plenty experienced with tending to fires and we were very safe. The next evening we grilled and started up the fire again to roast some more marshmallows and finish off some of the wood.

*NOTE: I just got a Tiffen UV Protector for my camera and read in the reviews about a weird green glow. I thought, "I never take pictures in the dark..." so I just ignored it and bought it anyways. Not to self: Take off UV filter when taking pictures at birthday parties.

Shelly, before blowing out the candles.

We had just finished dinner and were singing "Happy Birthday" to Shelly when we got a knock on the front door from a police officer. He explained to us that he had gotten a complaint from a neighbor about the fire in the backyard and explained to us that it is against the law in WV to burn "construction debris" and that we could/should be written a citation. We did not know this so we were more than willing to put out the fire. Another police officer in the backyard supervised Doug as he put out the fire. The police officer in the back was very kind and understanding and basically told Doug that he didn't think we were hurting anyone but that they needed to respond to the complaint.

Doug putting out the fire.

I am now going to rant about my parents' neighbor... My family has now lived in the same house for 30 years. We NEVER had the cops called on us, but since these neighbors have moved in we have had the cops called on us 3 TIMES and have had numerous disputes.

(Not so) Little History:
When they first moved in about 8 years ago, my mom brought them homemade bread and cookies to welcome them into the neighborhood. Shortly thereafter, they started putting up a fence in the backyard... the only problem was that they were putting it on my parents' property. My mom went over to their house (she didn't call the police...) and explained to him that he had measured the property lines incorrectly and that they were putting up the fence in our yard. He completely dismissed her and continued putting in the fence until my dad wrote a letter telling him that they would take him to court if he did not put the fence on his own property.

The first time this neighbor called the cops on us was during a party we had for Cassie and Candice (I believe) while they were visiting in WV in like 2001. Jed and Justin decided to race (motorcycle VS car) down our street at midnight. Admittedly, it was pretty stupid for them to do it and I told them that they shouldn't have... Anyways, it was loud for about 20 seconds as they raced down the street. When they drove back up the street he came out of his house cursing and threatening us with his gun. He came over to my yard, got in Justin and Jed's faces, and forced them to leave. They drove off, parked somewhere in the neighborhood, and walked back to my house. We were outside talking when a police car drove down the street and shined a spotlight on everyone at the party as we were talking in the front yard. My neighbor returned when the cop came up and started yelling again. As the only person who lived there, I was summoned to go to talk to the police officer. It was pretty terrifying for me as a 17 year old that had NEVER gotten in trouble for anything. Jed and Justin both came up and talked to the police officer just as it looked like I was about ready to pee my pants. We didn't really get in trouble, but had nice little "chat."

The second time was when Chris, my little brother, and a friend of his were shooting his BB gun in the backyard. His friend accidentally shot the neighbors' above ground pool and put a small dent in it. I haven't seen the dent, but the kids tell me that you can see it when you get within 2 inches of it. He came out cursing at the boys and yanked the gun out of their hands and called the police. Once again stupid, but did it need to involve the police?

The third time was Saturday night for the bonfire in the backyard.

It is COMMON courtesy that if you have a problem with a person, that you go to them FIRST. If our neighbor would have walked the 30 feet over to our door and asked us to put out the fire, we would have been more than happy to comply. As a fourth grade teacher, I deal with tattling quite often. I teach my students to first try to handle the problem themselves and if they were unsuccessful to come to me about it. I feel like my fourth graders are more capable of solving their own problems.

My parents plan to retire in the house that they raised their children in and this worries me that they have such crappy people as neighbors. I hope the neighbors move... and soon.