For the second time this winter my Type O son and I have had respiratory viruses. The first we picked up Thanksgiving weekend. The second he had right before and I had right after Christmas.

I ran fever for about 24 hours. I feel fine now except for a sore spot on the back of my throat and a dry cough.

My husband and daughter are gloating that Type As are better, because neither of them has been sick so far this winter.

I found the NAP article on Blood Types and Flu very interesting in this regard. It seems that Type As do have something to gloat about during flu season. I am e-mailing the article to both my parents and my husband's. If you haven't read it yet, here is the link.

http://www.dadamo.com/napharm/store3/template2/proberry.htm

For the first two nights I had this virus, my husband slept in my son's room. He was out of town with friends for a basketball tournament. Last night my son was back home. I didn't want to expose my husband to the sore throat or the cough, so I slept on the sofa.

I didn't mind the sacrifice, but if I have to watch my husband and daughter do another Type A victory dance, I may start breathing germs in their direction.

We are home from spending Christmas with my family, and things are getting back to normal. Normal chores around the house. Normal food. No more tasty desserts! The scale shows my normal weight - fortunately no price to pay in pounds for a few Christmas avoids. Not quite a normal schedule, because the kids and I are out of school, but that will be back to normal all too soon.

Lunch today was a veggie burger with jicama fries and a pear for my daughter. A chopped beef burger, jicama fries, and collard greens for me. I drank lots of water and had walnuts, raisins, and figs for a snack.

What is not normal is the destruction caused by the tsunamis. The destruction and loss of life is horrifying. The pictures give me chills. The account of the man who rode about the tsunamis clinging to a catamaran was incredible. The people left alive in the devastated areas will not be worrying about beneficials, neutrals, or avoids. They will just be hoping that their food is not contaminated. There is a lesson for us with our computers, abundant food choices, and affluent (by comparison) lifestyles.

I have blogged before that I've been reading through the Bible from cover to cover this year. It was a strange coincidence that this morning I read from Revelation 6:12 - 14. "I watched as he opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake…and every mountain and island was removed from its place." That is one of those verses I read, wondering whether it is symbolic or real.

Among the news reports were quotes from scientists who said that the whole earth was disturbed in its rotation, and "Based on seismic modeling, some of the smaller islands off the south-west coast of Sumatra may have moved to the south-west by about 20 meters. That is a lot of slip. The north-western tip of the Indonesian island of Sumatra may also have shifted to the south-west by around 36 meters."

This clearly, is not the earthquake referred to in scripture, but it affirms to me that the Bible is meant to be taken literally, and that God knew what he was doing when he appointed men to write His words.

On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, and of incense and of myrrh. Matthew 2:11

I hope you have enjoyed reading the Christmas story with me during December. The Christmas story is of course only the beginning. During his brief life on earth, Jesus taught us about who God is and how He wants to live. In his death and resurrection he took the punishment for our wrong doings and won victory over death so that we can have eternal life.

I hope your Christmas Day has been merry and that you have enjoyed a holiday with family or friends. I also hope your Christmas dinner was to your liking - whether you looked for beneficials or took a day off from the BTD. But most of all I hope you will take a moment to meditate on the baby in the manger who brought Joy to the World.

Our Christmas day was wonderful. The snow was gone by the time we got up. The kids slept late, so breakfast was my usual fruit and nut mix. Christmas dinner was turkey, dressing, green beans, sweet potato casserole, pickles, olives, and rolls. I passed on pickles, olives, and rolls, but enjoyed a small serving of dressing. Dessert was fruit cake and eggnog. My Mom's fruit cake is almost all fruit and nuts, so I don't count it as an avoid, but there is nothing beneficial about the eggnog except the taste.

Supper was mostly Type A avoids. My daughter had a tossed salad and a roll with peanut butter. My Mom was really worried that she wasn't finding enough to eat. My daughter did a good joy of convincing her grandmother that she had just what she wanted and needed.

White Christmas and Frosty the Snowman exist for me only in songs and movies, not in real life. The probability is much greater that my children will be playing basketball outside in shorts on Christmas Eve than building a snowman. Where I live in South Texas, the last time we had snow stick on the ground was in the winter of '84-'85 when I was pregnant with my son.

After breakfast this morning I went to take the dog for a walk and saw white flakes in the air. The flakes came faster. We were in a real snow flurry. It wasn't cold enough for the snow to stick, but it was delightful to really see snow on Christmas Eve.

The dog wanted to walk and sniff. I wanted to run. We compromised. We walked a block, and then ran a block, alternating for about 45 minutes. We were both happy. He got his sniffing; I got my running. His feet and my fingers were quite cold when we came in.

I have enjoyed delicious food today. For lunch a bunless hamburger and a sweet potato. For dinner seafood: shrimp and oysters. My two avoids for the day were cornmeal on the oysters and a glass of eggnog.

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After they had heard the king, they went on their way and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star they were overjoyed. Matthew 2:9-10

Dr. D'Adamo wrote this in one of his columns. "If you are healthy…generally 70-80% total compliance works well in most people (out of 10 food choices, 7-9 being neutral or beneficial choices)"

Normally I do a lot better than this rule. Over a period of a week, my food choices are probably closer to 93-97% neutral or beneficial foods. However, at Christmas I am glad for the 20% rule.

Wednesday we were visiting with friends. They have a tradition of peppermint ice cream at Christmas time. I enjoyed my half scoop and was still well within the 20% rule.

Thursday my Mom had pizza for lunch. She said sheepishly, "I keep forgetting you don't eat wheat." I had a lot of salad and two small pieces of pizza. I also had a small piece of pecan pie for dessert. I was probably over the 20% rule for lunch, but all my foods for dinner were beneficial, and for breakfast I had 3 beneficials and 3 neutrals. So for the day I was still BTD compliant.

While I intend to enjoy traditional foods for the rest of this holiday, I do not intent to be a glutton. Notice I ate a half scoop of ice cream and a small piece of pie. I know my Type O system, and it would be easy to yield to the addictive effects of wheat and sugar. When the holiday is over, I don't want to have to undo the effects of too many avoids.

I will enjoy a treat or two each day, but I will keep the 20% rule in mind.

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Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, "Go and make a careful search for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him." Matthew 2:7-8

I am not an expert, but I do know a few tricks to buying produce. When I buy pineapples and cantaloupes I sniff them. If I get a faint pineapple or cantaloupe scent, I can be fairly certain the fruit is ripe and sweet. Our grocery store had pineapples on sale for 99 cents. They were small, unripe and grown in Mexico. There was not one in the whole bin that smelled remotely like pineapple. I knew they would not be good for eating, but I bought two for juicing.

I let them ripen for two days on my kitchen counter. I ran them through the juicer. I also juiced some carrots. The pineapple carrot combination was delicious.

My hands have been chapped, especially across my knuckles. Several people on the Forum have recommended grape seed oil for chapped skin. The other night as I was getting ready for bed, my hands were really hurting. Rather than go to the kitchen for grape seed oil, I just rubbed some of the almond oil that I use as makeup remover into my chapped skin. I was amazed the next morning at how quickly my hands had healed.

Last night my son said, "Mom, do you have any lotion. My hands are really chapped." I told him that almond oil worked better than any lotion in the house. This morning he agreed with me.

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After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him. Matthew 2:1-2

Water with a squeeze of lemon is recommended daily for Type As. My husband loves lemon and water. That is his beverage of choice in restaurants. He decided he needed to drink more fluids, so he began taking a big jug of water with lemon to work every day. He would sip it throughout the day.

That was a big mistake.

At a recent dental checkup, the dentist found that the enamel at the bottom of his teeth near his gums was eroded. At first the dentist asked if he was having problems with acid reflux. Usually when he sees this kind of erosion, that is the cause. My husband said no, that wasn't a problem. The dentist began asking questions about his habits, and found the culprit in sipping lemon water all day long. The constant acid in his mouth seems to be the cause of the erosion.

The worst of the erosion, where it had eaten almost all the way to the nerve, has been repaired. The dentist doesn't have a problem with lemon. But he says that if my husband is going to drink it that he should drink it right down and then rinse his mouth.

So if you are Type A, drink your water and lemon, don't sip. Then rinse the acid out of your mouth. You will enjoy the benefits without the costly side effects.

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But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told. Luke 2:19-20

Blogs sometimes take on lives of their own. I think I know what I'm going to write about, and when I sit down to type, something entirely different comes out. Or I plan a blog in my head, and then something happens that takes me in a totally different direction.

That's how today has been. There have been several things that could have been excellent blog topics. After church we met some friends for lunch at a restaurant, and the wife tried to steer the conversation toward the BTD but the husband clearly didn't want to go there.

Tonight we trimmed our tree and ate fruitcake. That could have developed into a blog. A verse from today's Bible study about exercise also had potential. 1 Timothy 4:8 "For physical training is of some value, but Godliness has value for all things."

However, all of those ideas were set aside when my husband and I read an e-mail from a friend whose son was nearly killed in a car wreck last week. He had been drinking, he passed out, and hit a pole. It took rescue workers an hour to get him out of his car.

I don't drink alcoholic beverages - someday maybe I'll blog about why I don't. But because I don't, I had never looked up booze on the BTD food lists. Tonight I did. It is interesting to me that liquor is not beneficial for anyone. Beer is not beneficial for anyone.

Os have the fewest neutral choices among alcoholic beverages, yet statistically we Os make up the highest percentage of the population. As are the second highest percentage of the population. Liquor and beer are avoid for them as well.

About wine, LR4YT says some types, "may wish to have a glass of wine occasionally." I don't think an occasional glass of wine sent our friends son crashing into a pole.

Once again I see that following the BTD will protect you from alcoholism, protect you from hangovers, and protect your loved ones from horrible phone calls in the middle of the night.

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When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. Luke 2:17-18

Our neighborhood has a Christmas light contest every year. This afternoon I picked up a map of the winners and rode my bicycle to look at them. It was a beautiful cool sunny day. I rode for almost an hour admiring the decorations and got a good work out. They were incredibly creative.

Tonight we watched one of our favorite Christmas movies, "Little Lord Fauntleroy" starring Ricky Schroder and Alec Guinness. Normally I wouldn't write about a movie, but there was one line that made me think of the BTD.

On his first morning in the castle, Little Lord Fauntleroy was picking at his breakfast. The grandfather says, "The kipper is not to your liking?" Fauntleroy says, "I've never had fish for breakfast before."

We've watched this movie at Christmastime every year for more than 15 years, and I never particularly noticed that line. But when I heard it tonight I thought, "They must be Type Os. Why else would they be eating fish for breakfast?"

I am still not in the habit of eating meat and vegetables for breakfast. About once a week, especially if I am going to go running a little later in the morning, I will pull leftovers from dinner out of the refrigerator for breakfast. More often I will sneak a pinch of meat as I'm fixing lunches. Meat in the morning always makes me feel good, but it is just so non traditional.

I need to keep that mental picture of British aristocracy eating kipper for breakfast.

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When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about." So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. Luke 2:15-16

It is much easier to follow the BTD at home than it is in restaurants. However today I found myself eating out twice - a rare occurrence.

Today was the last day of school, and we had a teacher appreciation luncheon at a Mexican restaurant that is famous for its tortillas. I chose a beef fajita salad. It was large and very tasty. The only avoid was a sprinkle of cheese. If I had been ordering from a waiter off of a menu, I would have asked them to hold the cheese. But we ordered as a group, and everyone who ordered fajita salad got it at the same time. I did however make it through the luncheon without a single tortilla.

Tonight our family went to the mall to shop and look at decorations. This is a tradition that goes back to before we had kids. We ate at a cafeteria in the mall. We chose the cafeteria over several other restaurants because we could get vegetables. I got a chopped steak, spinach, and black-eyed peas. On the surface it looks like three beneficials. However, the first bite of the steak told me there was breading of some kind in it. The black-eyed peas were cooked with bacon. The spinach was swimming in margarine.

The tradition of a meal with my family while we admire the mall lights was fun. But I kept thinking that if I had been cooking, I would have had 100% pure beef, black-eyed peas with onion and seasoned salt, and spinach with olive oil.

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Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."

Luke 2:13-14

Jayne sent me a sugar free cranberry sauce recipe, and a recipe for Cranberry Crunch. I fixed the Cranberry Crunch this morning for breakfast, and it was a huge success. My husband, after his second helping said, "I could eat this every morning. When my daughter & I got home from school, I asked my son if he found his breakfast. He looked sheepish and said, "If you had looked at how much I ate, you wouldn't ask." My daughter shrieked, "Don't tell me you ate it all; I only got one serving." This is a winner!

First you prepare the cranberry sauce

1pkg (3 cups) cranberries

1/2 cup honey

1 cup pineapple juice

1-2 tsp. lemon zest,

This is delicious by itself. I'm throwing out my old reduced sugar cranberry sauce recipe and e-mailing my Mom that I'll be bringing cranberries for Christmas dinner.

After you make 1 recipe of Cranberry sauce, here's how you make Cranberry Crunch.

Prepare a crumble mix:

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 tsp. baking soda.

1 cup oatmeal

1 cup rice flour,

Mix together, toss with 1/2 cup light olive oil.

Put 2/3 of crumble mix in bottom of a 9x9 pan. Take about 2/3 of one recipe of Cranberry Sauce and mix in ¼ cup chopped pineapple. Spread this on the crumble mix. Top with rest of the crumble. Bake 350 F. for 1/2 hour or until nicely browned.

Jayne will notice that I changed two ingredients. Because I was making this as a breakfast, I wanted to use as many beneficials as possible. If you use it as a dessert, you can do it the original way with spelt flour instead of rice flour and butter instead of light olive oil.

I hadn't had a swim in three weeks. The week of Thanksgiving was short and hectic. The first two weeks after Thanksgiving I was fighting the respiratory virus. The water was cold, but that just keeps me swimming faster.

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But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger." Luke 2:10-12

Our son got home from college this evening. I'm not out numbered by blood type anymore! There are two Os and two As. There are two males and two females; two adults and two teenagers. We're all in balance.

I cooked a leg of lamb for my son and me; but I had left over fish for the As. I fixed sweet potato fries, spinach with raisins, black beans, and pasta. I didn't eat the pasta, the As didn't eat the sweet potatoes, but our son ate everything. The grocery store had cherries from Chili on sale today for summertime prices, so we also had fresh cherries.

He is still battling the respiratory virus that the two of us picked up Thanksgiving weekend. I got him started on astragalas, nettles, and Vitamin C.

He had a very successful fall semester, but he is glad to be finished with finals. He's looking forward to sleeping late and visiting with friends. Our daughter has just started her finals, in fact she has her hardest two tomorrow. Her studies cut our dinnertime conversation a little short. In fact she's calling for my help right now - so finals will cut this blog a little short as well.

We are all smiles tonight - so thankful that our family is together under one roof again.

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And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. Luke 2:8-9

There was an unforgettable comic in Sunday's paper. Stanley Parker is watching television surrounded by a variety of junk food and a very fat cat. His wife, Harriet, is looking at him with raised eyebrows. He says, "The low carb people insist they're right. The low-fat people insist they're right. To keep everyone happy, I just eat everything." It hit so close to the truth.

Before I found the BTD I remember reading studies that "proved" low carb was best. I remember reading studies that "proved" low fat was best. In my own search for truth, I would challenge people who had aligned themselves with one side or the other.

I have a friend who was so sold out to a low fat diet that she had her young children on it. It would frustrate her when I talked about essential fatty acids or that fat was essential to brain development.

To those on low carb diets I would ask, "How can you possibly believe that the artificial imitation low carb foods are better for you than fresh fruit and vegetables the way God made them?"

I wound up a lot like Stanley Parker. I wasn't eating junk food, but I was eating everything natural to try to please everyone's requirements. But my indigestion kept getting worse, and my joints kept aching more.

The day I read Eat Right 4 Your Type the first thing I thought was, "This is the answer to my indigestion." The second thing I thought was, "How about that? The low carb studies are right - for some types. The low fat studies are right - for other types. You just have to know your type."

Stanley and most of the world are still stuck between studies, wondering why they feel bad and gain weight even when they try to follow all the rules. Aren't you glad you know your type, and that you're on this web site instead of in the comics?

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While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. Luke 2:6-7

I thought I had been fighting a little cough and cold, but I'm starting to think I've had that long lasting respiratory virus that others on this website have been writing about. Every time I thought I had it conquered, it changed form or moved to a different part of my body. I haven't felt as bad as the people who have been writing. No fever, aches, or fatigue. But it's hung on for more than two weeks!

Over the weekend part of my face got red and sore. Two lymph glands in my neck were swollen and tender. I realized I had a secondary sinus infection. I thought, "If I can't get this under control in 48 hours, I'll be on antibiotics."

I hit it with a three-pronged attack: physical, nutritional, and medical. I bought a neti pot, and began rinsing my sinuses with warm salt water. I've combined elements from anti-bacterial, pulmonary and sinus protocols: astragalas, nettle, bladderwrack, Noni fruit, plus extra C and extra probiotic. I've also taken a hefty dose of guaifenesin.

This morning I seemed to turn a corner, and I've steadily improved all day. The lymph glands are back to normal size, and my face is just a little tender and not swollen at all.

Today I was on a mostly liquid diet until late this afternoon: grapefruit juice, carrot juice, pineapple juice, celery and beet juice, chicken and rice soup. At 5:30 I was suddenly starving. I ate carrots with sesame butter, and then I ate walnuts and prunes. For dinner I had chopped steak, grapefruit, and zucchini.

I've noticed two interesting things. First I've been in close contact with my Type As the whole time, and neither of them has caught it. Second, this is a persistent virus, and all three parts of my treatment (physical, nutritional, and medical) were all needed to overcome it.

I'm going to post this blog, clean up the kitchen, and get a good night's rest.

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So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. Luke 2:4-5

Tonight our church had a Christmas dinner for all of the people who work in the children's classes. We got in vans and rode to three different houses. At the first house we had appetizers; at the second, our main course; and at the third, dessert.

I had no idea what the menu would be so I was a little apprehensive about what I would find to eat. Before we left home I had some walnuts and prunes. That would at least take the edge off my hunger.

Almost everything at the appetizer house was made of wheat. The table was beautiful and there must have been 20 - 25 separate items. I had carrot sticks, pineapple, and four almonds.

Things were much better at the main course house. There were generous amounts of four kinds of meat: ham, turkey, roast beef and shrimp. I chose turkey and roast beef. There were two kinds of potatoes, baskets of rolls, green beans and cranberry sauce. I took green beans and cranberry sauce. I suspect that not all of the seasonings were good for Type Os, but away from home I don't worry about the minor ingredients as long as I'm beneficial or neutral on the main ingredients.

The dessert house was a pleasant surprise. Among all of the gorgeous pastries that were total avoids; was a big pumpkin pie. It was a nice ending to a good meal.

We enjoyed seeing the decorations at the homes of our three hosts. Even better was the quick stop we made between the main course and dessert to sing Christmas carols on the front lawn of a nursery teacher who recently had surgery.

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In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to his own town to register. Luke 2:1-3

My daughter's piano teacher has a wonderful philosophy. She wants her students to use their musical abilities to bless and serve others. So she doesn't have formal recital once a year. She has two recitals, one at Christmas and one in the spring, and she has them at nursing homes.

Nursing homes usually have nice baby grand pianos. The residents love attention and they love young people. They are generous with their applause and very forgiving of forgotten notes.

Today was the Christmas recital. As I was listening to the students play, my eyes wandered around the room and rested on a board where the menu for the day was posted. Lunch was a choice of ham and cheese quiche or chicken pasta Alfredo. There is no blood type that would benefit from either dish. Ham is avoid for all, and only Bs and ABs could eat the cheese in the quiche. In the Alfredo dish, the chicken would be avoid for Bs and ABs, wheat an avoid for Os and ABs parmesan cheese an avoid for everyone except Bs.

The dinner menu was no better: country fried steak and a chicken pasta salad. There were hardly any vegetables and no greens on the menu. My mind wandered. Here are elderly people in poor health living in a nicely decorated nursing home, being cared for by an unusually cheerful and friendly staff. It is a well-run facility, and probably has a degreed dietitian on staff. But they are not getting the food their bodies need to maintain (much less improve) their health.

It made me sad. The piano students can bring a little youth and music into their lives. The staff brings food to tempt their aging taste buds. But who will bring food that is right for health?

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I notice that my comments at the beginning of the Christmas story have rotated into the archives. If you are joining these December blogs in midstream, we are reading the Christmas story together 1 or 2 verses at a time. I hope they will add to your joy!

When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. Matthew 1:24

While Christmas is a wonderful time of year, it is also a busy time of year. I went Christmas shopping this morning, and was at the school until after 7:00 tonight.

It is tempting when I'm busy to grab something fast to eat. That's dangerous because busy by its very nature involves stress, and stress means my body needs high quality food.

On the way out the door to go shopping, I grabbed a half sweet potato out of the refrigerator. It was a filling snack. I wasn't home long enough to sit down for lunch in spite of what Live Right 4 Your Type recommends. But I ate brisket and collard greens cooked with onions, as I got ready for school.

My mistake of the day was only taking a water bottle to school. I thought we would be coming home about 4:30. The school has some incredible new computer equipment that makes printing the newspaper much better and faster. Next month I'm sure it will be wonderful. But today I was learning how to operate the equipment. I really wished I had brought a snack.

Though we got home late, I resisted a fast unhealthy meal. I ate carrots and sesame butter while I started cooking chicken breasts. For myself I also fixed asparagus and adzuki beans. For the As, I added cauliflower, cucumbers, carrot sticks, and couscous.

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All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: "The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel" which means, "God with us." Matthew 1:22-23

I didn't really plan to blog about medicine. Yesterday I wrote about taking cough syrup. Today there have been several threads on the Forum about prescriptions. It's made me review my criteria for over-the-counter and prescription medicine. I write with no authority whatever; this is just my opinion. You can do whatever you wish, but you should give it some thought.

I would rather treat illnesses naturally whenever possible. But during my formative years with nutrition, I read two statements that had an impact on my philosophy about medicine. I looked on my bookshelf today but I can't find the exact quotes,. I'll just give you the gist.

One book was about baby and child care. The author was going through a long list of childhood illnesses, writing about natural remedies for each. However when he got to strep throat he wrote, "If your child has strep throat, get to a doctor and get antibiotics. It's too late for Vitamin C." What I gleaned from that statement was that prevention is best, natural remedies are next best; but when you are dealing with serious infections, be thankful for modern medicine. Not too long after reading that, my son had scarlet fever. It took two rounds of antibiotics to get all of the infection out of his blood stream. My dad wrote a letter remembering people he had known who died from scarlet fever in the days before antibiotics.

The second author said that while drugs do have side effects on your body, you must balance that with the fact that pain is a major stress factor on your body also. He used headaches as an example. He said that you reach a point with a headache where the damage done by the ongoing stress is worse than the damage done by taking two pain pills. It is this idea that led me to take cough syrup at night. Clearly the damage done by having a restless night's sleep or sitting up all night in a chair is worse than the side effects of one teaspoon of codeine.

So here are my rules of thumb.

For fever I go to bed and I send my family to bed. The heat of the fever is killing germs; that is a good thing. I only use fever reducers if (1) fever rises above 103 or (2) the fever is accompanied by headaches and muscle aches that are stressful.

I don't use decongestants. They dry me out way too much and make me dream weird dreams. However if my sinuses are so stuffed up that I can't breathe at all, I know I am vulnerable for a secondary infection. I take a mucus thinner and drink tons of water. I would rather take the mucus thinner early than deal with 10 days of antibiotic later.

For pain, rest is best. Calcium/magnesium also helps. But when pain lasts for a long time and becomes a damaging stress itself, I take pain killers. I was in a car accident a few years ago and hurt my shoulder. It wasn't that bad, and I thought I would treat it naturally. It got steadily worse, and after about a month I went to the doctor. My whole body was tense trying to protect the injured shoulder. I had knots in the muscles in my neck and back. It took months for the shoulder injury to completely heal. During that time a low dose of pain killer to relieve the pain in the injured shoulder kept the rest of my body from tensing up and causing even more damage.

There are not right or wrong answers about this issue! Some of you avoid all medicine in all circumstances. Some of you take full advantage of the fact that you live in a day where medicine can spare you from feeling any pain or discomfort. I would encourage you to read a lot and come up with a philosophy that works for you and your family.

Prevention, of course is the best choice. And the best prevention I know about is the Blood Type Diet.

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But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins." Matthew 1:20-21

I am putting the lights on the Christmas tree tonight. We won't put the ornaments on until our son gets home from college, but we can start enjoying the lights right away.

When I was little I was extremely allergic to fresh cut Christmas trees, so we have always had an artificial tree. Putting the tree up involves moving the living room furniture around so that the tree can be centered in the front window. In the past this has involved a lot of pushing, pulling and sliding on my part. Today I realized when I was half way across the room that I had picked up the brass table lamp and was carrying it. I really am stronger than I was a year ago!

I have been fighting a cold, and I almost won. A few days ago, at the very first sign, I started elderberry drops, extra B vitamins, extra C, and astragalas. I was also interested that Dr. D'Adamo's blog about flu recommended parsnips. Since they are a favorite vegetable, I was only too glad to make a big bowl. I have never felt bad, never even felt tired.

I skipped over the usual early stages of a cold: the scratchy throat and runny nose; and went right to the end, a touch of laryngitis and a cough. I don't have any of the three things the Encyclopedia recommends for a Type O cough. In fact I've never heard of them. I must get to the Health food store tomorrow and see what they have. In the meantime, I confess that when I cough myself awake at night, I take a prescription cough syrup.

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Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. Matthew1:19

When I was in college I got into the habit of having a diet Dr. Pepper every afternoon at 3:30. I continued the habit after graduation when I started working. One day, I think I was on a photography assignment away from the office, I skipped my afternoon soda, and I soon had a splitting headache. I realized I was addicted to caffeine.

I also realized I didn't feel as hungry when I had my diet Dr. Pepper. The next time I gained weight, I decided to have a big jug of tea mid-morning and my soda mid-afternoon. That should keep me from being hungry, and I should lose weight. (This was 30 years ago! Before I had any interest in nutrition and long, long before the BTD)

I did lose a little weight, but I was jittery, headachy, and generally wired. I realized my plan had backfired. I decided to cut out all caffeine for a few days and get it completely out of my system. As my body was going through these ridiculous ups and downs, I did notice one thing. When I increased my tea and soda intake my background ear noise got worse. When I stopped drinking coffee, tea and soda, the ear noise went away.

Nerve deafness runs in my family, so that got my attention. I decided to give up all caffeine. So for 30 years, I have not had coffee, tea, or soda except for an occasional decaf coffee and herb tea. When I started the BTD and read that green tea was beneficial, I bought Celestial Seasonings Decaf Mint Green Tea. I have really enjoyed it, and peppermint is also beneficial.

Tonight I was making myself a cup and thinking about Dr. D'Adamo's Bird Flu Blog. It dawned on me for the first time that I might have jumped to the wrong conclusion about caffeine. Coffee is avoid for Type O, so are black tea and commercial sodas. Could it be that the headaches and ear noise were caused by the avoids and not the caffeine? Should I try regular green tea to see if it is more beneficial for me or whether it brings back the ear noise? I'll give it some thought.

This illustrates why, though the anecdotal evidence for the BTD is interesting, the scientific method is what gives the BTD credibility.

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This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. Matthew 1:18