Interesting post, Laura! I was a pre-teen then, remember listening on the radio to the broadcasts of events. My Aunt Emmi and Cousin Robert were on their annual summer visit from Switzerland, Emmi was an admirer of Hitler, don't believe she was that much into the Nazi philosophy as she was what we now would call a "fan", she'd get teary eyed when speaking of "the dear Fuhrer" - made me snicker, after all, she was, in my mind, an old married Lady. I had a little white silk scarf, edged with all the flags and the Olympic symbol in each corner - loved it. We were still so innocent then -

I wrote and received a grant from our county's Solid Waste Management (Wake County-Raleigh NC). You might check with your local Solid Waste and see if they offer grants. I just did a quick search "recycling grants Illinois" and found lots to peruse. Try it. Happy hunting!

I am planning a car/tent camping trip with my wife and another couple for the third weekend in May. We live in Chicago, and want to camp somewhere in western Illinois. We are looking for a campground that is on a lake or river. A beach would be a big plus. We want a place that has fairly private sites and takes reservations. Does anyone have a suggestion for us? I know very little about the state parks in Illinois and I could really use some help in narrowing down my choices.

Great article!!! I just recently had an experience with it. After making homemade soup/chile/stew, I freeze the leftovers for my husband to take to work for lunch. Until recently I used yogurt containers. His friends were laughing at his "teensy little bit" of food because he's such a big guy (6'2 210). I too thought it was a fairly small amount.... until... I was too lazy to make dinner one night so I pulled two of the yogurt containers out of the freezer, thawed them, and poured the contents into soup bowls. I'm not exaggerating when I say it appeared to be twice as much! My husband actually said these words.... "I'd like to start taking THIS amount to work... those little containers are just not filling enough." So now he takes the exact same amount to work every day but it's in a wide, shallow dish that makes it appear to be twice as much food. It sounds really silly... but try it! Seriously, 6 oz. of chile in a yogurt container appears to be a snack... while that same amount spread out in a soup bowl looks like lunch. It's the "smaller plate" theory. A reasonable amount of food on a large plate looks skimpy... as if you're being deprived... which of course causes you to want seconds. But that same amount of food on a smaller plate looks like plenty... so it's satisfying. Now I'm gonna go to the dessert exchange forum... bye :)