Alexi's Cash Dash

Heard of Illinois' Cash Dash? We hadn't either, until Vigilant Son-in-Law Dennis typed our name into a database of unclaimed cash in the State of Illinois. Of course, I thought Illinois was completely OUT of cash, so imagine my utter astonishment when our name and old address popped up.

"You may be among the millions of people, businesses and heirs who have cash or valuables owed to you in the State of Illinois."

Yeah, baby, now we're getting somewhere!

I'm getting me one of these:

Or if we're really, really lucky, maybe one of these:

I look good in red.

After several nail-biting months, State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias took a break from running for Obama's Senate seat and sent us this note:

Alexi's cheery use of bold face type underscores an important fact: the state is broke and wishes it had MY money for its own Mercedes SL. Ha. You wish, buddy.

But then comes the dawn of day, the cash out reality, the financial icing on the Johnpeter cupcake:

I'm having this nightmare that the the State Treasurer's Office has spent roughly $10,000 processing claims that individually would barely cover the cost of a bowl of soup at Woolworth's lunch counter.

Here's the link to the state's coffers:

https://www.treasurer.il.gov/programs/up/UP_Login.asp

Do me a favor and put your name into the database (you don't have to register).  And let me know if you can claim anything north of $12.80. I'll be happy to post pictures of any Cash Dashers in their Mercedes, cuddling their IPads.

Still Here

Hello, Naperville. Just a quick hello to say that it looks like Bandit, borrowing any future catastrophic health issues and/or wiki leaks, may be with us just a bit longer. Chalk his recovery up to a wonderful vet, great drugs and liverwurst.

I plan to jump back onto the blog wagon, but may need a bit of time to gather my wits, or what's left of them. Thank you for your patience. Don't give up on me.

Lots Of Choices

A young friend of ours has graduated from Naperville North and has, in fact, begun her college studies in Chicago.

In that I am way behind with our usual high school graduation token, I found this card -- quickly -- at Kohl's. The quickly part is important to understand. The sign on the card rack said "Graduation," and I needed a card. Quickly.

This card, I realized at home and after I had addressed the envelope, was designed for a male graduate of color. In fact, Mahogany is the name of the line of cards.

Feeling pretty dumb about now.

The Welcome Waggin

While I have billed this space as the funniest on the planet, I must confess that none of us have felt particularly funny in the past week. Bandit has been closer to that great big pouf in the sky than he's ever been and we've just been sad.  And tired. And sad.

At the moment, he seems to have turned a corner, thanks to the amazing power of steroids and several dozen other drugs that we've injected, syringed and hidden in every food group we can think of. As you will recall, liverwurst has been of great help, but today it is The Devil's Work, so we've turned to chicken and meatloaf. Tomorrow may be chipmunks.

I did want to share with you our uber magical ingredient to Bandit's health care: Dr. Lisa McIntyre. She is the founding vet of the Welcome Waggin, a mobile veterinary service in Naperville.

This is Lisa just before she was mauled by her dogs.

Kidding.

She has held our paws and hearts for several years now, so if you're in need of a kind, compassionate, fabulous veterinarian, Dr. McIntyre is it. And not just because she makes housecalls with her assistant, vet tech Sue Schupp, who has magical properties of her own.

http://www.thewelcomewaggin.com/ is their website.

I'll keep you posted on Bandit's progress. And I'll try to think of something funny to write about, like Bolingbrook coming in ahead of Naperville on Money Magazine's 2010 Best Places to Live. By eleven cities.

Liverbest

As we try to encourage poor Bandit to eat, I am happy to report that Honey took our case to the Jewel Deli Counter Ladies, who conferred and initially recommended a pungent roast beef. Then, they suggested that perhaps liverwurst might be just the ticket.

Honey, a native of Tennessee, had never heard of this species of scary-looking, mostly unidentifiable je ne sais quoi, but he respects the Deli Ladies. As do I, now.

Bandit has pounded several slices of the stuff and a good many bowls of water to go along with it. We are liverwurst converts, ecstatic that our dog is being sustained by more than just drugs and our probably misguided willpower.

Bandit

Hello, Naperville. I'm still here, but we've been over-the-top busy because our 15-year-old dog (others say older, others can't do math and say younger) has been very ill.

So as we try to keep Bandit comfortable, Naperville Now will be on a bit of a hiatus.

Hope you had a glorious 4th.

Movie Night

One of my absolutely, positively fave rave things to do in the summer is to sit with a bag of popcorn and a glass of wine (a weird pairing, but hey) and watch a movie. Outdoors. On the deck. Our friends have  hosted Movie Night for a number of years, though I'm not sure when they started to invite us. Possibly back in the VHS days, but definitely post reel to reel.

Jan makes up 87 different kinds of popcorn and Ed, uber Techie that he is, has devised all the, well, techie stuff, right down to a huge screen and really awesome audio. So cool, so cool, so cool! Somehow or another, they manage to cram enough chairs to seat at least a dozen or so of their best friends. Have I mentioned how cool this is?

In keeping with the true spirit of the drive-in/deck-in, they run a cartoon short beforehand. Love that. Then there's time to refill your popcorn bag (87 varieties -- count 'em) and it's time for the feature.

Airplane, Folks, Father of the Bride, Daughters of Satan (jk).

Midway, we are usually driven inside by a skunk, who clearly has no use for outdoor movies and does NOT appreciate all that cackling. (And when I am unable to attend Movie Night, the myth that I am the one attracting the critters is mercilessly perpetuated.)

The only thing that possibly could make the evening even better is fireworks. As it is, I love Movie Night in all its technicolor, popcorn, and sulfuric glory. Thanks, Jan. Thank, Ed.

Forever More

"The second day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more."

John Adams to Abigail Adams