In the recent past, I was not much of a tv-watcher. Lately I have found myself fascinated (or more often, annoyed) at the talking heads babbling about the upcoming election.

Last night, I was looking forward to the in-depth documentary on McCain and Obama on PBS by Frontline. Just as I settled in to watch it, I got a call...

...from my congressman! He was doing one of his telephone town hall meetings. So I decided to mute the tv and listen in. After all, I DO have one of his yard signs on my front lawn and am a *fan* of his via facebook.

The way the call works is you are in listen-only mode unless you press O and then you are put in a queue to ask a question directly to the congressman. I pressed O and then listened to him discuss recent projects he has been working on for our district. Then, the telephone system told me I was up to ask a question. Ack! First question from me!

Originally, I had a question about the federal bailout, but Rep. Kirk pretty much discussed this at length in his opening remarks. So I asked a question about crime. Specifically:

I have read in the the paper, week after week, an increase in burglaries and auto theft in our area. Are there any pieces of legistation you or your colleagues are working on to address these public safety issues.

He jumped in and talked about a measure to dismantle gang activity in West Waukegan and other parts of Lake County. Now, while this is a good thing, it really does not affect my community directly, so I noted that in my reply:

I am glad to hear about this as violent offenders do not belong in our communities. But please, keep on the back-burner, the issue of rising thefts, which affect consumers not only if they are victims of the crime, but all of us who pay when insurance premiums rise as a result in rising crime rates.

And then, as he began to speak again, I hung up! Not because I was disinterested, but because the show on tv looked like it was getting to the meat-and-potatoes of the respective stories. I felt badly about it, and then the phone rang again! This time it was my sister, calling to make plans for the weekend. So I missed most of the show, anyway.

Last night, I had a semi-nightmare where for some reason I was charged with driving my daughter, the congressman and his wife around Chicago in the snow; I kept skidding the tires and our vehicle flew all over the place! I am guessing it was some lingering guilt from having my say and then rudely leaving the conversation in the town hall.

But tonight I face a similar dilemma, but seemingly WORSE:

Shall I watch the debate, the Phillies game or the season finale of Project Runway?!?!

(my daughter is gunning for Project Runway; I have a feeling I will be a remote control jockey all night!)

Thank you, Chase, Pat and Pedro, for turning my attention away from the chattering infotainers babbling about the financial crisis and upcoming election. Thank you, Joe, Ryan, and Jayson for getting me excited and hopeful about what comes next. Thank you, Shane and Matt, and the rest of the crew, for not crumbling under pressure.

One more game, guys.Just one more game and you will make it!

Go Phillies!!!!!

How often are you supposed to change the sheets on the bed? I have never had a set expiration date on the freshness factor of my linens, and usually strip the bed when there is an accumulation of pet hair (yes, they sleep in bed with us) and/or my husband's pillowcases seem sweaty (he and my daughter both perspire profusely at the forehead once they fall asleep. I have no idea why they have this trait.)

I am not talking weeks on end without fresh bed linens; but maybe one week here, 10 days and a spritz of lavender water there...its totally random. I just thought of this because I decided, for no particular reason, to change the sheets and realized I am not sure if they are *due* or not...

Today, as I picked up my 8-yr old from a birthday party, I asked the party-giver*s mom if the now-nine year old could go to the movies with me and my daughter tomorrow on their day off. When the girl*s 13-year-old 7th grader brother heard that we were seeing Beverly Hills Chihuahua (yeah, really. ugh!) he jumped in my face and asked me, *Oh, can I come too?!*

What was I going to say? No?! Ugh. So now instead of suffering through the film with the two giggly girls, I also have a goobery teenager tagging along who will likely be harassing the girls as siblings often do.

As Frank Costanza said, *Serenity Now, Serenity now!*

Best.
Website.
E V E R:

http://www.dickipedia.org


OK,  well maybe not the BEST but I love the fact that NO ONE in popular culture/politics is spared the wrath of an opinionated and scathing biography. Some of the bios were just ok, but others...they had lines in them that literally had my husband and I laughing out loud. I also love that many have unflattering pictures. I needed a chuckle and Dickipedia delivered!

I knew that so-called *low-dose* hormones was too good to be true. I was jolted awake at 1:42 in the morning by an overwhelming feeling of nausea and headache.

A migrane.

It is 12 hours later and I feel a bit better but the headache/eye-ache is still lingering.

I have not had a migrane since the last time I did *the pill* - over 8 years ago, i think.

Bleh.

If the frequency picks up or I get additional side effects, I am going to have to quit this and ...um, I have no idea what to do next.

Dammit.

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!