Suzanne Graham

The summer flew by for my Strong Son. The first two months he returned to Kanakuk as a middle school camp counselor and basketball coach. Then he came home to our new home for a month. Now he is in Kentucky working on a 3-year graduate program in physical therapy.

When SS was at Texas Tech he ate in the campus cafeteria one meal a day. He knew he would get meat, vegetables and lots of salad. He fixed his own breakfast, and I suspect most days he ate as he walked to class. The third meal of the day he sometimes fixed for himself at the house, and sometimes ate out with friends.

I wanted to know how meals were working out in his new environment. He says he can get a fair meal at the hospital for a fair price. Even better is an all-you-can-eat buffet near the hospital. It is a little more expensive, but there are more vegetables. He is still buying groceries for two meals a day.

Then he began to talk about how he has adjusted what he eats at fast food restaurants because of the Blood Type Diet. "You know I eat sandwiches, Mom. I know that the wheat isn't good for me, and one of these days I'll probably stop it, but right now it doesn't bother me, and it's hard to get a fast meal without wheat." When he was in high school, he said he would get a combo meal - a burger or sandwich, large fries, and a large drink. Now he looks on the value menu and puts together his own combination. Sometimes he gets two sandwiches or a double meat sandwich. Sometimes he gets one sandwich and a salad. He says he gets more meat that way. He also saves money.

"I rarely get fries any more," he told me. "If I do, I get a small order. And I just drink water. It's better for me."

SS eats many more avoids than I eat. I could complain about that. But then I remember that he eats a much healthier diet than I did when I was 22! I'm pleased that he considers the BTD when he chooses his food, and that he is adjusting even fast food to be a bit more Type O.

Speaking of adjustments - getting used to him being so far from home is a big adjustment for me. But I'm thrilled to see him pursuing a career where he can be a blessing to so many people.

Everybody in America knows about low fat diets and low carb diets. A frightening number of people know about grapefruit diets, chocolate diets, and other fad diets. But the Blood Type Diet is misunderstood. I'm just waiting for someone to ask, "Duh, what kind of blood do you eat anyway."

The back to school teacher dinner was a perfect example. This year it was at a gourmet hamburger restaurant in an upscale new shopping center. I received a menu the week before and had to place our order. My husband immediately chose the crab burger. He knows it's Type A avoid, but he loves it. I had to choose between a 1/3 pound hamburger that came with chips, or a spinach and chicken salad. The meat in the burger was natural Angus, but if I didn't eat the bun or the chips, it would be a slim meal. The salad came with portabella mushrooms and some other veggies that sounded good. That's what I picked.

When my salad arrived I was aghast. It was tiny. To my way of thinking it was a pre-dinner salad. There wasn't even half of a chicken breast in it. I sighed and realized I'd have to eat again when I got home. I looked at the huge burgers and wished I'd ordered that instead. However the salad was delicious - very flavorful.

The wait staff began bringing baskets for all of the burger eaters. Someone at my table took a taste and said, "Oh, these are sweet potato fries. I've always wanted to try them." My mouth began to water, until I began to realize that everyone had a basket except the two of us eating salads. When a waiter walked by with an extra basket I grabbed it. Everyone looked at me in puzzlement.

What was the point in my eating a salad if I was going to eat sweet potato fries? I got questions about why I was trying to lose weight when I didn't need to. I had people remind me that the fries were loaded with carbs and fat. I tried to explain that I wasn't on a diet and that I ate lots of carbs, but I didn't eat wheat. I got the deer-in-the-headlight eyes.

I did my best to explain that a Type O diet is not low fat, neither is it low carb. Someone said, "I couldn't eat like that." I thought about saying, "You shouldn't eat like this unless you are a Type O. But I decided I'd rather enjoy my salad and fries and let the conversation turn to a more understandable topic.

I've had an off and on headache for a couple of weeks. One of the nice things about menopause has been no headaches. I rarely had headaches when I was young, but they nagged at me all during my 40s. They were never severe, just irritating. Then I turned 50 and poof they were gone - until two weeks ago.

The worst thing about this headache has been the psychosomatic aspect of it. You see, one of my best friends was diagnosed with a very aggressive form of brain cancer three weeks ago. I knew that concern for Lynn and horror of brain cancer made the headache worse.

I tried Advil, and popped some tiny blood vessels in my ankles again. I guess I'm through with Advil for good. I tried Tylenol and it didn't help much. I tried Aleve after someone wrote that Aleve was better for type Os. It didn't seem to work much better than the Tylenol.

Yesterday it almost went away. I was delighted. This morning it was back, and that made me mad. I've had it with this headache. So I grabbed the BTD Encyclopedia and found out that Type Os are less susceptible to headaches than other blood types. I'm not sure why but that was encouraging. The encyclopedia recommended anti stress and anti inflammatory protocols and exercise. This got my attention, because I had cut back on exercise because of the headache. I thought that getting my blood pounding would make it worse.

I started on rhodiola, bromelain, glucosamine, plus extra B vitamins and extra calcium. Just being proactive made me feel better. As I put the encyclopedia back on the shelf, I spied a headache book I bought when I was learning about my son's migraines. I began to scan it and read this about tension headaches:

"Along with the head pain, people with these headaches frequently experience sore shoulders and possibly a sore neck as well." My shoulders were sore, when I shrugged, I could feel the knots. My neck was tense as well. I read on:

"A frequent pattern for muscle contraction headache people is that they will work intensely for days at a time…The work may be of the type where people are constantly trying to get a large amount of work done in a fixed amount of time…Then on their first day off, they will awaken with a headache…These headaches can last for days without relief - except while the person is asleep."

That precisely described my headache. The last 12 months have been busy, but the last 4 months have been at a breakneck speed. The headache started the day I went to my parent's house for a relaxing visit. I have had no trouble sleeping, but the headache would revisit me within a few minutes of waking up.

Knowing what was happening to me was such a relief. My neck loosened a little right away. I continued taking the protocols and I got in some exercise. I'm feeling rather normal tonight.

One other thing the book said was that the first symptom of brain cancer is almost never a headache. Lynn's first symptom was loss of muscle strength in her leg and arm. That is common, as is unexplained vomiting. If my headache returns, I won't be worried about me, but I will take it as a reminder to pray for Lynn

You may remember from previous summer blogs, that my sister and her family live in Europe and come home to visit every summer. This year my 8th grade niece has spent several days with us. We have had so much fun with her.

One day my son, daughter, and I took her to a water park called Schlitterbahn. It is advertised as the "hottest, coolest time in Texas." There are more double meanings in that advertising campaign than I want to explain in this blog, but suffice it to say that the rides are "hot" and we had a "cool" time.

One of the best things about Schiltterbahn is that they allow you to bring your own food into the park. Most amusement parks forbid outside food because they want to increase their profit by forcing you to buy their food. Rarely does an amusement park serve anything that a Type O can eat. So I'm stuck with eating avoids or trying to sneak in contraband food.

For our day at Schlitterbahn, I packed turkey sandwiches, fresh plums, and raw nuts. My "sandwiches" were turkey, mozzarella, and ghee rolled in a sushi nori paper. My niece thought the seaweed was a little weird. I made the sandwiches for the rest of the group out of pita pockets. I've used pitas a lot this summer. Though wheat is neutral for my Type As, I don't like to give them big fluffy rolls that dominate the rest of the food. Pitas are thin and cracker like. Since my Type O son wants an occasional sandwich, I feel a little better about the thin pita than two full slices of bread. In addition, I can stuff quite a few veggies in them along with the turkey. The nuts were in place of chips.

There was an interesting irony. As we explored the park, I kept getting whiffs of delicious meat cooking. It turns out they serve barbeque, which makes a Type O's mouth water. Here is an amusement park that offers two good choices - serve the customers something beside junk food, and allow them to bring their own food from home.

We have had an unusually rainy summer, and that has created some interesting challenges in at new house. The area right around the house is all dirt - rather in this rainy weather it is all mud. Behind the house is a rocky area, then some oak trees with heavy underbrush. Behind the trees is a grassy field going down into a seasonal creek.

For the most part, we want to maintain a wild hill country look. We don't want a manicured lawn. Right now we are taking out the thorny vines and the shoulder high Johnson grass. We are leaving the native grasses, wildflowers, and bushes.

The rain has led to high grass, and that has led to chiggers. After being viciously attacked we looked for a more natural solution than insect repellant. Here is my anti-chigger program.

I wear calf high boots when I work in the yard or walk in the underbrush. I dust the boots with sulfur powder. A Viet Nam Veteran at the hardware store told me about this trick, and it really works. When I'm finished with yard work for the day, I change into my swim suit, and swim laps at the pool. I figure any chiggers that brave the sulfur powder will drown in the chlorine water.

I haven't had a chigger bite since I started using this technique. As I work in the yard and swim I am getting lots of strenuous Type O exercise. I feel good in the day and I sleep good at night.

I had my semi annual dentist appointment. I have noticed an increase in plaque since my last visit. For most of my life I have had very little plaque or tartar. The dentist tells me that increased plaque is due to dry mouth - sigh - another tissue drying out because of hormone changes.

He recommended xylitol gum. I have been buying xylitol gum, but have used it sparingly. The dentist encourages me to use it more often. He cited a fascinating study where pregnant women were recruited. The women thought they were the subjects, but in reality it was their unborn children. The scientists involved wanted to test their theory that mothers passed the bacteria that causes tooth decay to their children when they shared or taste-tested food. Since xylitol reduces mouth bacteria, the scientists expected to see reduced mouth bacteria and tooth decay in the children of the women chewing xylitol gum as opposed to women chewing another gum. Indeed that is exactly what happened. When the 2-year-old children were tested, the ones whose mothers had chewed xylitol gum had less mouth bacteria. Those mothers also had fewer cavities.

This sounds great, but I have to think of the BTD. Xylitol is unrated, so it is considered neutral unless it gives me trouble. Gums used as thickeners are avoid for type O. But I don't see a reference to chewing gum. I can't imagine it would be a problem, because you never swallow it.

So I've been chewing more xylitol gum and drinking more water, and the plaque situation is improving.

The dentist joked about making a chocolate bar sweetened with xylitol. He said current research is showing that chocolate is really good for many health problems - it's just the sugar that's so bad. He said, if there was a xylitol chocolate bar, parents would say. "Johnny, did you eat your candy bar before bedtime. Remember not to brush your teeth after you eat it."

I went on the internet, and a British company does make a xylitol sweetened chocolate bar. A company in the US makes a bar called Chocoperfection. It is sweetened with erythritol. The website says that erythritol is a sugar alcohol similar to xylitol. Erythritol inhibits bacteria in their ability to ferment lactose and reduces production of acid on the dental plaque.

My dad has been using unsweetened bakers chocolate quite successfully to combat uneven heartbeats. I'm going to order some Chocoperfection for him and sneak a taste myself.

The yard at our new house is not fenced, and our very active dog is not happy being inside or being tied up outside. I've been on the phone and internet looking at fence options. Wednesday morning I decided to take the dog for a run and see what some of the neighbors have done.

When I run I like to get going at a steady pace and keep going. When the dog walks, he likes to stop frequently and sniff all of the new smells. This run was a compromise that didn't fully satisfy either of us. However we did see a lot of fences!

This was my first run in my new neighborhood and I could tell immediately that it is going to be very different here. The terrain is very hilly. I'm either panting as I run up hill or relaxing as I run down.

Yesterday I got my Type O exercise in another way. The grass at the back of our property is thigh high. That is a real nuisance for the contractors who have come to give me fence estimates. I put on boots and cranked up the lawnmower. Two hours later I have a path around the perimeter of the property. It's wide enough for two people to walk side by side.

I mowed over a lot of prickly pear cactus. At some point I remembered that it is a neutral fruit. Perhaps I should harvest it instead of destroying it.

I need to go back and update a June blog. Unfortunately, I didn't conquer the urinary tract infection. Though the symptoms were better, they were still there going into the weekend. The next week I was traveling to my parents' house to take both of them to doctor appointments. I didn't want to get caught with a painful infection on a weekend or when I was out of town. In addition I felt like the continued infection was dragging me down. Antibiotics took care of it very quickly.

Though I gave in again, I was really encouraged that I fought it as long as I did. It's the first success I've ever had. I have hope that if I started treatment earlier I might have beat it. If I didn't have such a busy schedule and could have rested more, I'm sure that would have helped too.

Several of you wrote with advice about UTIs. I really appreciated all of the suggestions. Two of you wrote about cranberry capsules. I have bought some and am taking them every day. This seems like the best preventative measure I can take.

I'm going to summarize the other ideas that were sent, just in case some of you are also trying to fight off an infection.

"What helped me besides the antibiotics was a long soak in a warm tub with plain old white vinegar. That really helped the discomfort."

"Remember to use cranberry juice without sugar."

"Soothe the tissues with marshmallow root powder or tea. I find it very soothing and helps me tremendously when my bladder gets irritable. Also licorice root tea."

"Have you tried Uva-Ursi for your UTI? I'm a blood type O and I think it works great!"

"Have you tried drinking parsley water? It will help you to eliminate more water and to take bacteria out of the urine. I usually boil 1 bunch in a stock pot of water for about five minutes. I drink it warm or cold."

"I changed my underwear to pure cotton that helped a lot. I learned to just gently cover myself with toilette paper when doing a bowel movement because the fine almost unnoticeable "splash" of the toilette water carried microbes to the wrong places. That made a huge difference as stupid as that sounds. I sometimes just wash with an iodine solution to cleanse the area if need be."

I am always amazed by the amount of experience the people on this website have. I hope it will be a long time before my next UTI. When it comes I'll be ready to fight again.

There is going to be all kinds of strenuous exercise in our new neighborhood. For starters, it is a 1.2 mile round trip to the mailbox! This is quite a change for someone who has had home delivery all her life. We have decided that unless the weather is really bad, after dinner we will walk the dog to the mailbox.

My husband or my daughter watch out for the dog. I carry hand weights to make the trip a little more rigorous. One night the dog took off after a deer. He nearly pulled the leash out of my daughter's hands.

If we eat dinner early, we get to watch the sunset as we walk. If we eat dinner late, we get to watch the stars come out.

Good news today. We closed on the sale of our old house. We are very thankful.

I have been a bit nervous about my ability to find BTD food in a small town. I've been in lots of small town grocery stores, and there wasn't much variety. The first grocery store I went to here, was just what I had expected. Standard produce selections - apples, bananas, carrots, lettuce, etc; but nothing exciting like Swiss chard or kohlrabi. Lots of prepared frozen food - most of it with MSG. It was depressing.

I tried another grocery store on my second shopping trip. Oh my! It was like going to a BTD smorgasbord. They had all sorts of fresh greens in their huge produce section. They even had kohlrabi, and it was fresh. They had soy milk and soy cheese. They had hormone free chicken and fresh fish. They had 100% rye flour and Ezekiel bread. They had grass fed ground beef. This will be a delightful place to shop.

I unpacked the last kitchen box today. I've gradually started cooking more fresh food. My husband and daughter are ready for me to resume baking.

Now that I'm in my new house I can grill onions to my heart's content. No more worries about whether the house smells good to someone coming through on an unexpected showing. Tonight I grilled sweet onions and portabella mushrooms. They were delicious.

I also grilled chicken breasts. For my Type A husband and daughter I fixed tortillas and a salad of fresh spinach, carrot sticks, and cucumbers. My husband ate his mushrooms raw. My daughter does not like the idea of eating fungus, though many types of mushrooms would be beneficial for her.

For myself I fixed a large spinach salad with chopped carrots. I cubed my chicken breast and added it to the salad. I topped it with the grilled onions and mushrooms and some extra virgin olive oil.

What a feast. And personally, I think the house smells a lot better than it would if I used one of those store bought, plug in, sickeningly sweet, air fresheners.

We are in our new house. The boxes aren't all unpacked, and things are far from organized, but the beds are made, the computer is on line, the TV is functional, and the kitchen is operational

An interesting thing happened a few weeks before we moved. I went into my health food market that I've written about so many times, and they were rearranging the shelves. A number of the items I buy on a regular basis were gone. Bladderwack capsules, fava beans, and rice bran were just three of the items no longer on the shelves. I was told that they wouldn't be stocking them any more. Not only that, but the prices were higher.

I mentioned my disappointment that night, and my husband said he had read that the store was being bought out by Whole Foods. Now I know some of you love Whole Foods, but having had a choice for years between Whole Foods, and a local chain, the local market consistently had better quality and lower prices. The next time I was there I asked, and my husband's information was correct. Whole Foods was buying out their competition. I knew it was time to move.

Our old house was in a big city. Our new house is out in the country, six miles from a small town. I wondered whether I would be able to buy supplements locally, or whether I would have to start ordering on the internet. My first visit to the health food store assuaged all my fears. Everything I was used to buying was on the shelves. I was so excited. I immediately felt at home.

Yesterday I got a Type O workout in the extreme. I brought everything down out of our attic. We have lived in this house since 1979, and we have accumulated a lot of stuff. My husband and I opened every box in the attic prior to the garage sale last spring. We sold some and gave a lot to the Salvation Army. There is still a lot that we are moving with us to the new house…wooden puzzles, favorite children's books, pictures that didn't fit in this house, but that might be just right for the new one.

I made countless trips up and down the attic stairs. I carried and stacked box after box in the garage. Both cars will be parked on the street until the movers come on Monday, because the garage is filled with boxes. This was a brutal activity in the South Texas heat and humidity. By the time I was through my clothes were drenched.

Oddly, though I smelled terrible and was covered with dust, I felt great. My body really does thrive when it is doing physical work. All of my grandfathers were farmers and ranchers. Their professions gave them the exercise they needed. In this modern world, on most days I have to invent physical activity like swimming or running. My daily work is usually much to sedentary to count as exercise.

A week from today we will begin moving into the new house. The process will probably take several days. I'm not sure exactly when we will get the computer hooked up.

Right now we are trying to eat up as many of the perishables as we can. I've already defrosted the deep freezer. Now I'm working on emptying the refrigerator. I told my daughter that we'll soon be like people of yesteryear, going to the market each morning to buy food for the day.

Tonight we're having barbequed chicken with artichoke hearts, salad, and parsnips.

I also have to plan for food for the first few days at the new house. Everyone tells me, "Eat out. You'll be too tired to cook." That may be true, but I don't usually get the amounts of vegetables I want from restaurants. There are exceptions, but the closest restaurants to the new house seem to be in the sandwich shop and barbecue style. It will be easy enough to get a salad, but I don't want to live on salad for several days. I think the thing to do is to pack as if we were going on vacation. We'll picnic on our back porch for breakfast and lunch, and have salad at a restaurant for dinner. I can be happy enough with canned vegetables and canned meats. It seems to me that it is going to be very important to stay with the Type O foods when I'm stressed.

If you are uncomfortable with descriptions of female problems, skip this blog.

However, if you have tried to battle a urinary tract infection with the BTD, read on.

I blogged last fall, that the thinner, drier skin that comes with menopause had left me susceptible to urinary tract infections. It has been several months since I had one, but suddenly Sunday night I had all of the symptoms again.

My rule of thumb is that I will try to fight them until I reach the point where the water in the toilet bowl is pink and I have tears in my eyes from the burning. It is now Thursday and I am still fighting. This is the most success I have ever had, but I haven't won yet.

The Antibacterial Protocol in the Blood Type Encyclopedia recommends Astragalus, Kutki, and Polyflora O for Type Os. I had Astragalas on hand. I had another probiotic that contains most of the strains recommended for Type O. I started both of those. The Urinary Protocol recommends Bromelain, Bearberry, Horsetail, and Polyflora O. I had Bromelain and Horsetail. Vitamin C is also recommended. I started those three as well. My doctor, who isn't oriented toward nutrition, natural health, or the Blood Type Diet at all, recommends cranberry juice, so I'm drinking lots of that as well as lots of water.

I have been almost symptom free at night. The time of day that I know I still have the infection is late afternoon. That is interesting because when my children were little and getting over a virus, they were often fever free most of the day, but would pop a fever in the late afternoon.

I will not kid you. It would have been less expensive to take antibiotics than to take all of these supplements. The only reason I am hanging in the fight is because I believe it would be the best if my own immune system could conquer this.

I am encouraged because this is the most success I have ever had in even trying to fight a UTI. I am discouraged because 4 days is a long time to drink huge amounts of fluid and still know that I'm not entirely normal. For now, it's still worth the fight.

I haven't made any Beneficial Veggie Trio since we put our house on the market. Onions don't make the kitchen smell good, and kale is even worse. What I have been doing is mixing several of the beneficial beans from the Menopause book with frozen greens.

Some greens like spinach, Swiss chard, and beet greens are just delicious plain or with a little olive oil. Collard greens, turnip greens, and kale are good, but they are better when I add something to give them extra flavor. Seasoned salt is good, and chopped meat is good. But I really like mixing in a half cup of beans. Adzukis, northern beans, and black beans are all really good. I like the texture and the flavor. Even better is when I add left over beef or chicken to the beans and greens.

Very simple lunch, and very beneficial.

My toe is improving. I didn't think I could possibly survive if I slowed down, but the toe forced me to slow down, and the world did not come to an end.

Sometimes you have to laugh. We're trying to sell our old house and keep an eye on the construction of the new house. Our son needs a roommate for graduate school, and our daughter needs a summer job. I'm finishing the last yearbook deadline, and I'm helping my parents deal with their health problems.

In the midst of all that, I broke my toe. My husband and daughter were watching "Everybody Loves Raymond" on TV. I was getting ready to go for a swim. My thongs were in the garage, so I walked through the den barefooted. A scene from the show caught my ear, and I started watching as I walked. I wrapped my little toe around a chair leg and heard it snap.

There's not much to do for a broken little toe except to tape it to the other toes so that it heals straight. Wearing shoes that give good support helps too. Nonetheless, the next morning, it really hurt. I took Advil for pain and inflammation. The second morning a third of my foot was green, and the toe was dark purple, but the pain was less. I took Advil again to keep the inflammation down. Late in the afternoon I noticed that little blood vessels were breaking in both ankles. That was scary. I got on the internet and found out that a lot of things could cause blood vessels to break. Many of them are catastrophic, but one of the simple ones is aspirin or Advil. I put that together with my BTD knowledge that Type Os tend to have thin blood and stopped the Advil immediately. I increased my Vitamin C and bioflavanoids. The breakage stopped the next day and the red marks began to fade.

I've kept a pretty fast pace this year. I was looking forward to slowing down in July. Suddenly the broken toe has forced me to slow down right now, whether I'm ready or not. No more rushing here and there trying to cram one more thing into an already busy schedule. If something on the list doesn't get done, it won't be the end of the world. I can only walk so fast.

As I was doing the dishes tonight I was listening to a CD. I heard the line, "I must tell Jesus. I cannot bear these burdens alone." I laughed. That is the truth!

Every week I resolve to get back to a more regular exercise schedule, and every week there is some excuse. Two weeks ago there wasn't time because my son was home. Last week there wasn't time because of yearbook deadlines.

My Type A husband walks the dog almost every night. I usually walk with him only once a week, because I don't get the kind of strenuous exercise that makes me feel the best when I walk at the dog's pace. However, I've decided that walking is better than nothing. So several nights this week, I took my 3 pound hand weights and walked with my husband and Rascal. It's not ideal, but it's better than nothing!

Tonight I was supposed to swim. The neighborhood pool officially opens this week. But there was rain and thunder all afternoon. When it was time for lap swim, the weather had settled down, but the life guards had closed the pool for the day. Perhaps I'll have better luck tomorrow.

It was sure good to have another O in the house, even if it was just for a few days. My husband, daughter and I returned home from graduation on Sunday because we had to be back at work and school on Monday. Our son had to finish packing and close down the house he had rented, so he came home on Monday. He left again on Saturday, visiting cousins on the way to his summer job at a Christian sports camp in Missouri. He will be a middle school boy's counselor and basketball coach.

While he was home I fixed a lot of Type O food. It was good to cook a leg of lamb and have someone to share it with. One night I cooked a pound of ground turkey and a pound of ground beef. We each made our own tacos. The As had quite a bit of turkey left over, but we Os wiped out almost all of the beef. I cooked portabella mushrooms, acorn squash, artichokes and lots of other vegetables. I didn't try anything new. I just wanted to treat him to some of his old favorites in the few days he had at home.

Of course it was wonderful to see our Strong Son walk across the stage and receive his diploma. Of course we took lots of pictures. Of course we were very proud of him. None of that has anything to do with the Blood Type Diet. However, I will tell you about breakfast at the hotel and graduation parties.

When you are a Type O and you don't eat wheat, you will not find anything for breakfast in a hotel. If you go to a really big breakfast buffet, you might find eggs and fruit. But almost all breakfast food is made from wheat. I always pack my own breakfasts when we travel. I ate in the room, while my daughter and husband went down to see what the hotel was serving. They came back quite disillusioned, and I went to the store this afternoon to buy things that will be better for them for breakfast in the morning.

When you are a Type O and you are on someone else's schedule, be prepared - take snacks. I had tossed a bag of walnuts in my camera bag when we left the hotel this morning. I was so glad I did. We didn't eat lunch until nearly 2:00. I shared the walnuts with the rest of the family, and all of us were content until it was time for our meal.

Our son had been invited to several graduation parties. We went with him to two of them. For lunch we had a taco salad buffet. This suited me just fine. I could build my own without chips or cheese. My Type A daughter could build hers without beef or peppers. For dinner we had Mexican food again. This time it was a fajita buffet. They served both beef and chicken, so all of us had plenty to enjoy.

The food was good, but the most fun was meeting SS's friends and their parents. It was a wonderful, emotional day, filled with awards, laughter, and good-byes.