It’s no big secret to those who know me well that I’m a momma’s boy. My mother’s a wonderful woman, but I find it harder and harder to properly recognize this on the first Sunday in May. Simply put, she already has most of what she wants, and they aren’t coming out with any new Harry Potter books. So I put it to Leesburg Patch readers to offer up some suggestions for me and anyone else who might be in the same boat. This is what you came up with:  Chrissy Curtis Chrissy Curtis suggested I take a look at her shop on Etsy: http://www.etsy.com/shop/ChrissyCurtisCrafts?ref=si_shop  Joanne Blaser …

 Like most people who were raised on James Bond movies, I am clueless about the actual business of intelligence and counterintelligence. But if David Major's address to donors at a dinner benefiting the Loudoun Literacy Council on Dec. 2 is any indication, the real-life business is more complex and interesting that cinematic spying. Major, whose daughter-in-law, Lara Major, is a board member of the literacy council, was invited to speak to an audience of 80 who paid $50 a head to hear him give a history of spying in the last century. He was the first to make a distinction between the real …

 Welcome to "Educate Your Editor," a bi-weekly column wherein I'll try to learn various esoteric facts about the community in which I live. These will range from the functions of various government offices, historical facts about Leesburg, and various other items of interest that would not normally get news coverage. For the first edition, I asked the question "what equipment must a police officer carry with him or her on patrol, and what training is required to properly use it?" Officer Michael Drogin of the Leesburg Police Department answered the question on tour of the department Thursday…