I am not sure if this is strictly a Chicago thing, but many Chicago-style restaurants (pizza, ribs, or similar casual dining) offer a sweet-hot Creamy Garlic dressing to go with a salad. My former favorite was one obviously made by some local food service company - it is thick, glossy, and sweet with an afterbite of garlicky heat. Last night, at a rather well-known rib joint on the Northwest side, I sampled their homemade Creamy Garlic with my salad and it was EXCELLENT.

Does anyone have a good recipe for a Creamy Garlic dressing? I have honestly looked for YEARS for a good one on store shelves, but to no avail.

Any assistance would be appreciated!

I am an independent voter. However, I am NOT an undecided voter.

Yet, I still take interest in the political machinations of the day.

So, candidates, there is a wonderful invention called a THESAURUS. Please use it to freshen up your collective vocabularies. My suggestion is to replace the following words and cliched phrases for something, uh, less OVERDONE!

• wall street/main street
• maverick
• reform
• change
• shore-up
• hockey mom
  
• joe-six-pack
• straight talk
• also
• shout out
  
• darn right
• betcha
• tax cut (unless you have specifics, I do not want to hear about them)
• health care (same as above)
  

And I would suggest a dictionary to look up the pronunciation of the following:

• Nuclear

Also, please note that dropping Gs and over-use of colloquial English is NOT endearing  or cute. There are two candidates (in differing parties) guilty of this infraction on the (or at least, MY)  expected articulation level of an elected official.

...I just found out that hubby will be heading off on another week-long business trip -  this time to Vegas. Specifically, he will be in Caesars Palace.

Note to self: confiscate hubby*s atm card beofre he leaves

I heard a local news report that revenues at the Illinois Lottery are at record high levels this year. Considering how dicey our economy is, what with the gloom and doom eminating from our TVs and radios on a daily basis, I am not at all surprised. In fact, I am one of the millions of hopefuls occassionally plopping down a few bucks for a chance (yeah, a very *slight* chance) at something bigger.

Despite that fact, somehow the state, amidst a budget crisis, is spinning off the lottery biz to the highest bidder.

Despite the interest in gambling via lottery game play, one of our local riverboat casinos posted a $121 million decline in revenues from last year. They blame it on the following three items:

• troubles in the economy (ok, makes sense - people have less spending money)
• high gas prices (also, less spending money plus lots of gas to GET to the damn casino)
• the IL statewide smoking ban (wtf?!)

I have been to the particular casino in question. Here is why I only went there once this year: their game selection SUCKS and they mostly carry high-denomination slots. The big trend is in penny slots, where people usually end up making $3.00 bets anyway per pull. The payouts are not large, but it allows a player to extend play time, if, in fact, they are a more casual gambler who (like me) does so for the fun of the gaming, itself. So when I go to Grand Victoria and the only open machines are $1.00 slots, I dont bother to sit down; I LEAVE.

I have also read reports that note numbers along the lines of 85% of gamblers prefer a smoke-free environment. I certainly am one of them. I do not know why casions whine about smoking issues when it is such a small group who PREFER it, as opposed to those who will not go when there IS smoking (like me - I cannot DEAL with that stink in the air!)

The Elgin Boat is difficult to get to and not only is distance an issue, but there are at least 3 highway tolls that anyone from Chicago has to hit before they get there. Not to mention, the boat is small and there is little to do in that area outsdie fo the boat, itself (maybe a handful of restaurants, but that is it.)

My suggestions to Grand Victoria executives and Elgin City Planners:

• promote development along the riverfront of shops, bars, services that non-gambling spouses can enjoy while their partner is racking up a second mortgage on the boat
• add more signage on the roads into town; that place is tough to find with all of the one-way streets
• stop whining about the smoking ban; add a smoking lounge in an enclosed patio, if needed, for those few who feel slighted and need their nicotine fix
• install more penny slots!
  

Last week, we received an official-looking document from our mortgage company. I feared that they were going to raise our payment due to projected increases in taxes or insurance rates, or similar.

Would you believe the note was telling us that we had enough in escrow to LOWER our payment and that they will drop it down by approximately $50 a month starting in November?!?

Geeze, that ALMOST buys 1/2 tank of gas!

Thank heavens for small favors...

I think my Illinois house is (or at least, would be, if it could) jealous of the cabin in Wisconsin.

Or, at least, that is the sentiment I am projecting here on to our tiny Chicagoland cottage.

We just repainted our living/dining room. I do very much appreciate the brighter, light-reflecting color. But now that I can see them better due to increased brightness, I feel like our furnishings seem shabby. Not shabby-CHIC, just shabby.

Granted, we have cats - the #1 furniture destruction force, even ranked above toddlers. The beautiful furniture in Wisconsin - both old/antique that we inherited, plus some attractive new pieces - are not subject to any feline onslaught.  My husband suggested that perhaps we could invest in a new piece of furniture or two...but I feel like its not a great idea with our three clawed wonders roaming about.

We also have carpeting in Illinois; laminate floors in Wisconsin. I do actually like carpeting, but with so many pets, it requires a great deal of vacuuming and even more spot-treating for canine pee-pee accidents.

Eating a meal is a true joy in Wisconsin. My husband (with the help of my dad) constructed a screened porch off the kitchen, so when weather permits, we eat there on the most comfortable patio furnture I have expereienced. We do have a patio in Illinois, but its a hike from the kitchen, and is subject to attack from insects of all varieties.

Worst of all, my bedroom closet in Wisconsin is like a room unto itself! It is the biggest walk-in I have ever had (even though I share with hubby.) It is nicely organized, and easy to use. Our Illinois closet is narrow and cramped. I switch out seasonal clothes through the year to the attic and back due to lack of space.

But...

Whenever bad weather crops up in the hinterlands...we go into panic mode because there is NO basement at the Wisconsin property. Our basement in Illinois is quite nice, semi-finished, and even has a surround-sound system hooked up to the tv. Oh, and in Illinois we have cable tv; a mere 4 channels off antenna in Wisconsin.

And, of course around the corner from our IL home, there is the best Chinese restaurant, a Trader Joes (with great snacks and inexpensive wines), and a Panera for my coffee and lunch-food pleasure.

In Wisconsin there are, uh, bars. If a craving for fried-whatever isnt in the cards, then you are out of luck as far as dining options go.

So, of course it is a trade-off. The cabin is gorgeous, but the cottage is convenient.

Via the magic of the internet,  I have found myself reconnecting with friends from days gone by. Yesterday, though connections made through internet-based social opportunities, I enjoyed lunch and a walk around town with a friend from college and his girlfriend who happened to be in town. That was pretty neat!

But on occassion, I get a bit paranoid. I welcome connecting with old friends, but I dread the idea that ex-boyfriends (with whom I may have had a bad breakup) would check in to see whats news with me and/or my family. Even worse, I fear virtual confronation with female former friends. To me, a falling out with a gal friend has always been much worse in terms of drama levels than dumping/being dumped by some guy. I think women expect that in the heydey of courtship, an *end* is inevitable in at least some relationships. But when we connect with another women and entrust her with our secrets, hopes, emotions and support one another through those very ups and downs previously mentioned with the men in our lives...it hurts just that much more when things fall apart.

So far I have not had to snub/be snubbed by an *ex-friend.* Hopefully things will stay that way.

Warning to male readers: talk about gynecological stuff to follow. Click away now to avoid nausea!

Well, more tests for my messed up inner-workings yesterday revealed that troublesome ovary #1 seems to be on the mend but now ovary #2 has issues. My perplexed gyne, given my family history, decided that we needed to eliminate the variables in the equasion, so the mirena was taken away and I was given an endometrial biopsy, which, actually did not hurt as much as I anticipated, thankfully.

Until I get the results from that, I am on hormone therapy to try to control my symptoms as well as to stop any baby-making from happening. I am a bit uncomfortable with this idea, because I have a history of bad side effectswith hormones: from hair loss and migranes to horrible skin, bloating and weight gain. I am also not 100% secure with the efficacy of this method of BC. To be honest, I am thinking about a permananent solution to this - although I know that my husband, who is not quite as opposed to more kids, would not be the person to ask to get *fixed.*

I am trying the nuva-ring because it is the lowest-dose estrogen method available, so my gyne thought I would tolerate it best, given that I did not tolerate other supposed low-dose pill methods in the past. Plus, since I was spoiled in terms of the convenience of Mirena, this method seems like its almost as easy.

The encouraging side of using this product is that I can use it off-package (meaning, in a different way than directed on the box) so that I only have perods 4 times a year. Yeah, that sounds kinda kick-ass! Since my skin issues almost always relate to PMS, having none of that cycling should, in theory, clear up the skin and keep things more even-keel all month long. We shall see.

My eight-year-old daughter has feet that seem to grow like weeds.

I thought we were set for back-to-school from a footwear perspective but when she complained about things being *uncomfortable*, I decided it would be best to go to an actual shoe store that has those foot measuring devices available.

Not only is she out of kids shoe sizes altogether, she is a Womans size 6 or 6.5 depending on the brand! (The measuring deivce says she is a size 6.)

I am a size 8.5 which, judging by the lack of anything cute leftover in the clearance racks in my size, tells me that 8.5 is dead average. But I am not in 3rd grade! I wonder how big those toes of hers will get?

Her dad, though not tall, wears shoe size 11 (yeah, lucky me, *wink wink!*) and his mom wears size 10, I think. My aunt also wears a 10. My mom is a 9 or 9.5 and she is only 5 foot 2.

Now the challenge is finding kid-appropirate shoes in her size. Thanks to the craze for flats, there do seem to be many styles available of which I approve. Lets hope the platform and/or wedge heel craze doesnt revive anytime soon!

Thankfully we are scheduled to be rain- (and flood-) free this weekend. And good thing: I am taking my daughter into Chicago for the 12th Annual Hideout Block Party.

Kids under 10 are free with paid adult, but to get my money out of the $50 I paid for a two-day pass for myself, we will attend both days and stay as long as we can. Luckily for both of us, there are a number of just-for-kids activities/performances planned in addition to the various hipster musical acts that will grace the stage.

There will also be food vendors, although I am wary of the cost and variety offered by these onsite purveyors. We could always walk around the block to a taqueria or similar, I am sure. Saturday will be easy in that we can take the commuter rail service from our burb to a station only about 1/2 mile from the venue. Sunday, however is problematic due to the crappy Sunday train schedule for outbound trains. I am thinking about driving into the near Northwest side, parking on the street somewhere - even if it is far from the venue - and cabbing it if needed to the show. I want to have my car so that when the band I *really* want to see is over (and who is scheduled to take the stage at 7:30 pm - best wishes for a smooth-running schedule!) we can high-tail it home and get kiddo to bed only about 20-20 min past bedtime, which I find acceptable for a *special* occassion.

I feel badly that my hubby is going to miss this weekend, because one of his fave bands is playing. However, he will (finally) be hanging with pseudo-Samurai, Larry Ellison and the gang at Oracle Open World in San Francisco. But then again, I should not feel too badly for him: get gets to attend a private party featuring:

Elvis Costello
UB40
Psychedelic Furs
Seal
Gin Blossoms
and Allan Jackson

Which one of those acts is not like the others???