Counties and Cookies

Accomack, Albemarle, Allegheny, Amelia, Amherst, Appomattox, Arlington, Augusta, Bath, Bedford, Bland, Botetourt, Brunswick, Buchanan, Buckingham, Campbell, Caroline, Carroll, Charles City, Charlotte, Chesterfield, Clarke, Craig, Culpeper, Cumberland, Dickinson, Dinwiddie, Essex, Fairfax, Fauquier, Floyd, Fluvanna, Franklin, Frederick, Giles, Gloucester, Goochland, Grayson, Greene, Greensville, Halifax, Hanover, Henrico, Henry, Highland, Isle of Wight, James City, King and Queen, King George, King William, Lancaster, Lee, Loudoun, Louisa, Lunenburg, Madison, Mathews, Mecklenburg, Middlesex, Montgomery, Nelson, New Kent, Northampton, Northumberland, Nottoway, Orange, Page, Patrick, Pittsylvania, Powhatan, Prince Edward, Prince George, Prince William, Pulaski, Rappahannock, Richmond, Roanoke, Rockbridge, Rockingham, Russell, Scott, Shenandoah, Smythe, Southampton, Spotsylvania, Stafford, Surry, Sussex, Tazewell, Warren, Washington, Westmoreland, Wise, Wythe, and York.

There you go.  If you guessed that the above list is of the 95 counties in Virginia then you would be right.  If you guessed that I compiled that list from memory you would also be correct.  Sometimes you do odd things when you're unemployed.  Jon, having little interest in Virginia, has memorized the counties in Delaware and Rhode Island.  I've got Delaware down now as well, but I'm not so sure about Rhode Island.  In case Jon wants to showcase his listing prowess next week I'll skip sharing them with you for now.

This past Friday was Preparing-The-House-For-The-Holidays Friday.  I got to put up the lights outside.  This is the first time Jon and Chelsea have ever had icicle lights on their house.  This was cause for a great deal of excitement.  I was just about as excited about the fact that a previous tenant installed metal hooks under the eaves for holding the Christmas lights.  I think I would like to hug that person.

We also made cookies, most of which we ended up giving to our neighbors (who, by the way, are all super nice) as an excuse to introduce ourselves.

This is Jon working on his double chocolate chip cookies*.  Seriously, you started to feel ill after just one because of all the chocolatey goodness if them.  I think I had five the first night**.

Editor's notes: *None of the double chocolate chip cookies actually made it to any of the neighbors.

                      **No, I did not barf.

Heather busied herself with some nummy-licious sugar cookies.  Seriously, I don't recall sugar cookies tasting this good.  The icing came a day later.  Don't let her fool you; Jon isn't the only cookie aficionado in the house.

Chelsea helped with a little bit of everything.  Have you ever seen somebody as happy while scrubbing pots and pans as this sweet cherub?  Yeah, that's what I thought, too.

We're basically all set up now for some holiday goodness.  By that I mean that half the house will be out of town for Christmas and we're all gaining ten pounds (minimum) from excessiveness of desserts.  You know what else that means?  Yup - plenty more good stories just around the corner.

I think we beat Charlie Brown's Christmas tree, but not by much.

Naughty or nice, we're ready.

Happy decorating to y'all.