Fi yuo cna raed tihs, yuo hvae a sgtrane mnid too.

Cna yuo raed tihs?  Olny 55 plepoe out of 100 can.  I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg.  Bcuseae fo teh phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno’t mtaetr in waht oerdr the ltteres in a wrod are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whotuit a pboerlm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.

Azanmig huh?  Yaeh, and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt!

As most of you know, my sister Kim was diagnosed with colon cancer in January of 2007.  She underwent surgery 6 days later and has been on chemo ever since.  Until now, every body scan has showed improvement in her condition.  Until now.

Even 2 months ago, Kim’s last CT scan showed shrinking tumors.  But her cancer score has been creeping up, and the result from yesterday’s scan is not the news we were praying for.  The tumors are larger this time, and there are shadows on her lungs, which the doctor believes to be new tumors.

You can read more details on Kim’s carepage:

www.carepages.com

Her page is called KIMRAMSTETTER2007.  And please pray for my sis.

I thought I should tell one on myself today.

David and I were at Target several years ago looking at men’s underwear.  It was time for a new style, some color.  Anyway, we were browsing, and I went around the corner of the display to look at the other side, followed by my less-experienced-at-shopping husband.  Then I saw it.  Taking the package off the hanger I enthusiastically said “You’ve GOT to buy this underwear!”  When I turned to see what he thought, I realized “he” wasn’t David after all, but a stranger.  A man, of course.

I have no idea if he took, my advice, but I’m pretty sure he had a good laugh.  I know we did.

Over a year ago my adoring husband wrote in his blog about the fact that I purchased underwear for him at Goodwill.  You can read that blog here:

http://dbaumgartner.com/2007/07/04/the-lighter-side/

The problem is that he didn’t tell the whole truth.  The whole truth includes the fact that the underwear was NEW.  NEW in a torn package and donated to Goodwill by Target.  So people read that blog and some, no doubt, thought I was cheap enough, disgusting enough to buy used undies.

This summer a thought crossed my mind of what would be the perfect revenge.  I employed the assistance of my oldest child, who I know is ornry enough to participate and keep the secret.  It took several trips to a variety of used goods stores to find the perfect pair.  Similar enough to his other underwear to slip by undetected.  The right size.  Solid color.  Used.

An evil smile comes to my face whenever they go through the laundry.  It’s been a couple of months now.  He’s finding out the same way you are (except those of you I’ve told about my “dirty little secret”).

Hopefully I’ll live to blog another day.

I was out shopping the other day (a rare treat for a Wednesday) and I noticed that I was feeling much like I did while I was pregnant with Kyle.  No, I’m not pregnant.  What felt wierd back then, and again Wednesday afternoon was that my hips were out of whack and it felt like one leg was longer than the other.  So, I walked around the store wondering what might have caused this and thinking I might need to make an appointment with my osteopath.

Once I got into the dressing room I found a much cheaper solution:  wear shoes that match eachother.  Of course, they were the same color, but apparently that’s not all that matters.  And this was just my first stop.  Hope nobody noticed.

I was leaving Wal*Mart yesterday and left my cart at the top of 2 parking spaces, rather than returning it to the cart bin.  I didn’t really think about it; sometimes I take it to the bin, sometimes not.  An older man was just parking in the space in front of the cart and he started ranting about “lady, you’re lazy”.  I ignored him and got into my car.  He got out of his car and went over to the cart, pointing and yelling about how lazy I was and why didn’t I return the cart to where it’s supposed to go!!?  I wanted to yell back that he should mind his own business or sarcastically ask him how my actions interferred with his life, or does he always yell at complete strangers or assume the worst about others.  Honestly I was too scared to say anything to him; anyone THAT upset about a stupid cart might have come after me if he thought I was being disrespectful.  Now, I have left carts for many reasons before.  I was in a horrible rush.  Or it was cold out or raining.  Or I had little kids in the car and didn’t want to leave it.  This time I actually was being lazy (and I approached my car from the front and couldn’t get by to the back without the cart scratching my car).  But that’s beside the point.  It was just plain none of his business.

After I drove away and started thinking of the things I would’ve said if I’d had backup (David or Sarah), a little voice told me to pray for him.  Okay.  “Lord, please afflict this man…no, that’s probably not the right thing…let someone else get in this guy’s face the same way he’s…how exactly do you pray for a jerk?  What I want is for him to yell at a bigger jerk than he is, and jerk #2 will make him regret ever yelling at anyone his entire life.  What God wants is his heart.  I’m starting to understand how Jonah was feeling when God wanted him to warn Nineva of his coming wrath and he didn’t want God to have mercy on them.  They didn’t deserve mercy.  Neither did the jerk.  Neither did I.

A friend just forwarded this link to me.  Here’s a ”blind taste test” to figure out whether you really agree with the presidential candidate you’re supporting!

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/MatchoMatic/fullpage?id=5542139

I chose my candidate’s statements 12 out of 13 times!  How about you?

My husband wrote the nicest post about me on his blog this week, and I just have to tell you why he’s the greatest!

1. He says nice things about me in public
2. He is a fantastic father
3. He laughs at my jokes
4. He encourages me to take a night off with the girls now and then
5. He confronts our kids when they’re disrespectful to me
6. He tells me I deserve pretty things
7. He loves his children, and loves their mother more
8. He might be able to tie me in Bible Trivia NOW, but he’s smart enough not to challenge me
9. He actively seeks to better himself
10. He’s a good boss (at work)
11. He knows where he’s allowed to be the boss
12. He loves to eat all 3 of the things I’m actually good at making
13. He makes me laugh
14. We (mostly) have the same taste in decor, movies, TV shows, comedians and pastimes
15. He knows me

The list could go on and on.

My mother-in-law called in tears this morning.  Sammy, her dog for 13 years, died last night.  She knew it was coming, had even said if he died this weekend that she’d bring him up to Como where we are headed for camping, and bury him.  He waited until the perfect moment — she really wanted him burried there, where she has so many fond memories of spending time with friends.

So we’re picking up Sammy on our way out of town and Denise will drive herself up to our spot tomorrow.  We’ll have him in the ground by then, and she’s bringing a grave marker.  She would come today, but, giving soul that she is, she is spending the day with my sister, like she has every other Saturday for the last year-and-a-half.  Ever since my sister was diagnosed with colon cancer early last year and has needed help taking care of her young children, Denise has been there.  My mother-in-law.  Helping my sister.  Thanks, Denise, and goodbye Sammy.

David finally took the big plunge.  He got his first tattoo last night.  I was standing by with the camera to capture that first painfilled expression, which didn’t come until the needle got to the upper part of his arm.

Ouch!

 The finished product.

The red is blood and bruise.  It will go away over the next few days.  Pretty cool, huh?