Dear Santa

Dear Santa,

I know, it's been a while since you have heard from me. I don't even have a good excuse but it's time to warm up the communication lines. You are the best at fulfilling all Christmas wishes. I don't want much "all I want is what I have coming to me. All I want is my fair share."


Please give me more time in each day. I would get much more accomplished with those extra hours especially if I didn't need to sleep. Which brings me to my second request.


Please take away my need for sleep, I could get even more done. I love sleeping but wish I didn't need to do it so much.


Please send me that calorie-free chocolate chip cookie recipe again. I really really need that recipe.


I know you can make this one happen, I need more cubbies in my car. You know, places to put my diet Coke and some calorie-free chocolate chip cookies while I'm tooling around town running errands.

The thought of driving around town brings me to my next request. I want to drive the maximum speed limit, maybe even a little faster and some drivers are not cooperating. This one involves a little more effort on your part, please make people travel in the right lane not the left. Leave the left lane for those of us who go speed limit or faster.

Since this is beginning to sound like a letter all about me, I have one last request, please help me to ignore the idiots around me. I'm supposed to love everyone and sometimes it's rather difficult. So if I could ignore their insignificant babbling the love can flow freely.

Thanks Santa and love,

Annamarie

I'm So Embarassed!

Have you ever gone back over your blog entries and discovered misspelled words or grammatical inaccuracies?

That's what I am currenlty doing and finding both types of errors. Me, the grammar police making a written mistake? Yep, I admit that they are there. In order to preserve my reputation I am currently in the midst of correcting any errors I find.

This is where you come in. I'm the first to admit that my brain may not recognize every error, please report any mistake to me in the comments section. Seriously. I won't be offended only appreciative.

Grammar girl is one of my favorite web sites to use when I have grammatical questions. But she is a "read only" site and doesn't proofread my entries. So, come on and help a sista out.

My Autumn in Virginia

I love, I mean LOVE autumn in Virginia. The humidity is gone and the temperatures are mild. Leaves of red, yellow, orange and brown currently laying all over my yard and blowing in from my neighbor's yards. My neighbors are lighting wood fires in their fireplaces and the air smells so good.


I snapped a few photos of this beautiful area and a few of the things that made me laugh or just caught my eye.

The colors just beginning to emerge. The photo is slightly fuzzy because I'm speeding down the road at 65 mph while I take this one.

Another fuzzy photo, this one of the Chancellor family mansion foundation. A site of an 1863 Civil War battle amd Confederate victory. It is now owned and managed by the National Military Park organization.

Downtown old Fredericksburg. A quintessential small town with shops, cafes, banks and salons. Everyone has a smile on their face and traffic actually stops to allow pedistrians to cross the road. Truly a friendly place to spend your money and have lunch with a friend.

My favorite shop downtown. A lady named Barbara owns this wonderful establishment. She has wonderful taste; I could buy one of each item in her store and be totally happy with it.

The street I live on. My home is just a mile on down the road. This is a divided road so you are seeing the right hand side. The wooded area to the left divides the opposing traffic and contains Civil War trenches. They are protected from development, hence the divided road.

And finally the Worm Poop at Home Depot. Emma thought it was hilarious and suggested this photo. Who would have thought something like worm poop would bring a teenager out of her occasional personality disorder to volunteer for a picture.

Halloween Pranks

This morning I saw this tikki torch in our front yard. We don't own any tikki torches. I called Emma to come take a look at this and we laughed trying to figure out where it came from and what it means.

If you have any answers to my question, please comment and let me know.

Is it a prank? Is it akin to receiving the "Droopy Tube" award in Field Artillery communities? Is it someone trying to tell us our yard is ugly and in need of attention? OR maybe one of Emma's admirers put it there?

I'm dying for an answer cause you know me, I'm gonna return the prank ten fold.

Now I've Heard It All

How would YOU pronounce this child's name: "Le-a" ???
Leah?? NO
Lee - A?? NOPE
Lay - a?? NO
Leia?? Guess Again.

It's pronounced "Ledasha" Oh yes...you read it right. This child attends a school in Livingston Parish, Louisiana. Her mother is irate because everyone is getting her name wrong. When the mother was asked about the pronunciation of the name, she said
"the dash don't be silent."

SO, if you see something come across your desk like this please remember to pronounce it correctly.