Suzanne Graham

We came to Alabama on vacation to see D & J get married. We've known D since before she was born, and she was a lovely bride. J is easy to like, and I think they have made a wise and lasting choice.

HH & I were invited to the Rehearsal Dinner. It was at a Birmingham restaurant called B&A Warehouse. The meal was a Type O's dream - prime rib and fresh green beans. A write up about the restaurant said they were known for their chocolate desserts. That was an understatement. The dessert table had tiers and tiers of confections, and all but 1 of them were chocolate. Though chocolate is a superfood for Hunters, because I was violently allergic to it as a child I rarely eat it, and then only in small servings. I took one truffle, because I had never had one before. It was very good.

Before the dinner, and at the After Party, they served hors d'oeuvres. Most of them involved crackers, which are easy for me to turn down. But two attracted my attention. One was a spinach artichoke dip. I enjoyed it for the sake of the two beneficial vegetables - in spite of the cheese sauce. The other was havarti cheese with a caramel pecan topping. It was as good as dessert. In fact, I ate it as dessert.

The wedding reception was on the top floor of a building with a breathtaking view of the city lights below. DD's and my eyes lit up when we saw a whole table of fresh fruit. They served shrimp and grits - a dish that I've never heard of in Texas. However on the table beyond, I saw more prime rib. Two nights in a row! It was Type O paradise.

Now it's time to head for home. SS starts his third and final year of Physical Therapy School. DD will be a college sophomore. It was so much fun for the four of us to be together for a week. I will think about that, and not how empty the house will seem after having DD home all summer.

We got up early this morning and packed a picnic lunch. I had asparagus and salmon. DD fixed gourmet turkey sandwiches for her Dad and brother, filling them with vegetables like they do at Subway.

We spent the morning and the first half of the afternoon at Shiloh battlefield. I had never realized that disease killed more men than bullets in the War Between the States. Open latrines polluted the water. Farm boys had never been exposed to diseases to measles and chicken pox. Fresh food was often in short supply. Often the men went for days eating hard tack (a dry biscuit made from white flour) and coffee.

Late in the afternoon we toured Helen Keller’s childhood home in Tuscombia. What an inspirational woman she was! She lost both her sight and hearing to what was probably scarlet fever or meningitis when she was 19 months old. Yet she lived a full life doing much to inspire and help others who were blind and deaf.

We had dinner at O’Charley’s. This is a chain of restaurants in the Eastern US where I can always find a beneficial meal. Tonight I had steak, broccoli, and sweet potato fries. All were delicious.

Our hotel had an arrangement with a local gym called Riviera Fitness. The kids and I left HH watching TV and went to work out. The equipment was first class. I spent half my time on the best elliptical machine I’ve ever tried. The other half was spent on weight machines.

One thing about a public gym is that the customers sweat a lot. Sometimes the equipment is sticky, and sometimes I wonder if it is sanitary. I noticed other people at the gym squirting a liquid on paper towels and wiping off the equipment before they used it. I realized that there were stations set up all around the gym with antibacterial spray and paper towels. I thought it was a great idea – especially with a bad flu season expected this winter.

DD and I are committed to getting muscle building exercise even while we are on vacation. The fitness room at the motel last night was good, but today we worked our exercise into our sightseeing. That was even better.

If you ever go to Memphis, I would highly recommend Mud Island Park. In the park is a reproduction of the Mississippi River on a 30 inch to one mile scale. The detail is incredible. It shows sand bars, bends oxbow lakes and more. Water flows down the river, and we smiled as several small children floated little boats and plastic fish from Missouri to the Gulf of Mexico. Mud Island itself is in the Mississippi River, so as you look at the water flowing through the model, you also see barges floating down the real river.

It was interesting and educational, but the fun started after New Orleans when the river flowed into the Gulf of Mexico. There were paddle boats for rent. My husband had no interest in paddle boats, but DD and I got in a swan while SS got in a dragon. If you have never been on a paddle boat, you sit side by side pushing pedals like bicycle pedals. The pedals drive a paddle underneath and you steer with a bar that turns a rudder. The model shows the Mississippi River delta and coastline with its bays and inlets. It became a game for us to try to slip past each other and not get trapped.

For half an hour we pedaled and paddled furiously, trying to head each other off without bumping into each other. When our time was up we were drenched with sweat and laughing hysterically.

We had packed a picnic lunch to take to the park. My idea of a picnic is not a sandwich, but a bowl of canned vegetables and canned meat. Today I had peas and carrots mixed with tuna and olive oil. For dinner we stopped at a Subway. HH and SS had sandwiches. DD and I had salads. Sometimes Subway can give you lots of iceberg lettuce, but be stingy with spinach and beneficial vegetables. This Subway east of Memphis was generous with the other vegetables, and I enjoyed a beneficial meal.

We are on vacation. Our Strong Son has a week off between semesters. The daughter of some dear friends is getting married. We’re traveling around together for a week, and then will go to the wedding before our kids start back to school. SS picked the rest of us up at the Nashville airport, and we drove to Memphis.

Someone in the family should have remembered that this week is the anniversary of Elvis Presley’s death – but none of us did. We arrived in Memphis to find that there is a citywide event honoring Elvis. I was worried that Graceland would be so crowded that we couldn’t see everything.

But I guess true Elvis fans who come back to Memphis for Elvis Week have already visited Graceland. Our tour was wonderful. The gravesite was inundated with flowers. I’m not sure whether it is always like that, or whether this is something special for Elvis Week. There are big crowds at an outdoor pavilion where Elvis impersonators (now called Elvis tribute artists) are giving an ongoing free concert.

Finding BTD compliant food on vacation is always a challenge. We finished our tour about lunchtime. Of the available restaurants in the Graceland area, the Chrome Grill seemed to have the most potential. I was inclined to have Memphis Barbeque. SS advised against it. He said that while barbeque in Texas means brisket, barbeque in the East usually means pulled pork. I asked, and sure enough, they were serving pulled pork.

There was a sign on the menu that said meatloaf was one of Elvis Presley’s favorite meals. The trouble with ordering meatloaf in a restaurant is that you don’t know how much wheat and what kinds of additives are in it. I passed on the meatloaf and chose a grilled chicken breast.

It came with three side orders. I chose baked beans, green beans, and sweet potatoes. SS told me that Eastern barbeque sauce is sweeter than the sauce on Texas barbeque. Indeed the beans were in a sweet sauce that was tasty. I’ll admit that I dipped my chicken in the sauce, pretending that it was barbequed chicken. The green beans were cooked southern style, which probably meant with salt pork, but they were delicious. The sweet potatoes were covered with a cinnamon sauce.

You could say that my basic meal was beneficials and neutrals, but the seasonings and sauces contained small levels of avoids. Knowing that did not keep me from enjoying my lunch.

Our hotel has a nice fitness room, including some free weights. DD, SS and I all worked out before having a totally beneficial picnic dinner in our room.

I had to make a quick decision about avoids in a restaurant. Did I make the right choice? I’m not sure. Here is the whole story.

I’m spending every 2nd or 3rd weekend with my Mom. She has friends from church who come to see here, but still she gets lonely. She also needs my help with the mail and the bills. I’m blessed that my husband and kids are self sufficient so I can leave them on their own. A month or so ago I had stopped to get gas on the way home and noticed a Mediterranean restaurant across the street. I needed food for the road, so I went in.

The lamb shawarma looked good, and the owner recommended hummus. I said, “What’s hummus?” After giving me a look of pity, he explained that it was made of chickpeas and tahini – beneficial and super beneficial respectively for Hunters. He gave me a taste and it was delicious. While I was waiting for my food, I wandered into the grocery section of the restaurant. I found canned fava beans! What a treat, I bought four cans. I also found Turkish delight. (I have wanted to taste Turkish delight ever since I first read “The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe.” In my humble opinion, it’s ok, but not worth selling your soul for.)

I ate the lamb, salad and hummus out of the wrap. It was a little messy in the car, especially since I had to pick the cucumbers out of the salad, but it was so good that it was worth it. The canned favas didn’t stay on the pantry shelf for long, either. Since then, I’ve been waiting for an opportunity to go back. I told my Mom that I would bring her a surprise for dinner Friday night.

I ordered two lamb dinners. They came with salad, rice, and hummus. All was well until the owner asked me which kind of rice I wanted. I could have white rice – neutral for Type O Hunters - however refined rice goes against the grain of my Health Food background. Or I could have brown rice – Hunter beneficial - seasoned with yummy spices. But there were lentils – avoid for Type Os – added to the brown rice.

It was a tough decision. I remember one of the early bloggers asking if he was in a restaurant and ate a beneficial and an avoid, did it equal two neutrals? I also remember Dr. D pointedly answering No, that it didn’t work that way. I had to make a quick decision. Empty calorie refined rice or brown rice laced with an avoid? I chose the brown rice.

This is why eating out is hard. I get to eat beneficial foods that I don’t have a way to prepare for myself, but I can’t control all of the ingredients. If there had only been one kind of rice, I wouldn’t have worried about it, because I do not obsess about avoids that I can’t control. But in this case I had to choose between two imperfect options. For sure I made a delicious choice. And I felt better when I looked at food list and saw that though lentils are avoid for Os, they are just black dot for Hunters. I think I answered my own question as I typed this last paragraph. An occasional avoid in a restaurant is not worth obsessing about either way – and it’s certainly not worth spoiling an otherwise yummy and beneficial meal.

My Strong Son is starting his second physical therapy internship in the same city where my Darling Daughter goes to college. The first week of his internship was the last week of her freshman year. They had a lot of fun hanging out at night. He watched basketball while she studied for finals, then they went to the gym together. On Friday my husband and I joined them for much more than Mother’s Day. It was Mother’s Weekend.

Friday night they took me to a local steak house for dinner. My steak came with grilled onions and peppers, green beans, and a huge sweet potato. While we were waiting for our meal, they gave me my first gift. It is a balance disc. DD has used them at the college gym this year. SS has used them with patients at PT school. They tell me that as I use it with my regular weight exercises, it will force me to use my abs and strengthen my core. I can hardly wait to get it home and try it.

After dinner we went to a two mile hike and bike trail. The landscaping was very well done, and lots of people were out getting their evening exercise.

Saturday morning we went to the zoo. The weather was cool, and the animals were really active. We saw flamingos fighting over nesting sites, jaguars climbing trees, and lions strolling majestically. We got to the monkey cages at feeding time. The colobus monkeys were munching on kale and collards. They don’t like the tough inner stems any more than people do. But their obvious enjoyment of the raw leaves, made DD and me decide to try one of the raw kale salad recipes this summer.

SS’s girlfriend and her mom came to see us Saturday afternoon. They were bringing DD some rugs, accessories, and knick knacks for her apartment next year. We all went out for barbeque for dinner. The turkey was delicious, and I got to choose my own vegetables from a buffet line. After dinner we went to a paleteria. This was my first visit to a Mexican ice cream shop. I tasted several flavors, but finally chose a mango paleta. It looked like a Popsicle or ice cream bar, but it was made with fresh fruit. I had expected it to be very sweet, like a Baskin Robbins ice, but it wasn’t. I’m sure some sugar was added, but it certainly wasn’t an excessive amount.

Sunday morning the kids came to the hotel to pick us up for church. They brought me a lovely bouquet of yellow flowers – daises, roses, and some little flowers I’m not familiar with. After church we had Chinese food at a local restaurant DD likes because they will custom steam her food the way she likes it. It was delicious – just fresh food – no chemicals added.

It’s been a wonderful Mother’s Weekend – great food, exercise every day, and being with my favorite people in the whole world.

We spent the weekend with a lot of friends and relatives. Everywhere we went people talked about wanting to be healthy. For my generation this is a big change. I’ve been made fun of for years for being “such a health nut.”

My husband’s family had a reunion on Saturday. We stayed with one of his cousins and had a wonderful sharing stories and looking at pictures. They took us to a North Texas Mexican restaurant where this South Texan had the best taco salad I’ve ever eaten. For breakfast the next morning they served bacon and eggs. My eyes met HH and we silently agreed to be gracious and make the best choices possible. As we ate, the cousins said what a treat this breakfast was for them. They are trying to eat healthy and never eat bacon and eggs any more. I ate lots of eggs (They “help heal and regenerate “ a Hunter’s digestive tract). I did have one piece of bacon, but no toast. Happily for us, they served grape juice instead of orange juice.

Lunch at the reunion was covered dish. Most covered dish dinners are Type O disasters – lots of grain, lots of cheese, and lots of sauces. Because we were coming from out of town, I had planned to go to the grocery store and pick up bags of greens for a salad. I thought that way I would be sure to have something that I could eat. However the cousin said she was taking a fresh spinach salad with walnuts and craisins. So I decided to go with fruit. I think Swine Flu and ProBerry were on my mind. I made the salad with blueberries, strawberries, cherries, and pineapple. It was colorful and healthy. I went to the reunion knowing now that there would be at least two things for me to eat.

I was surprised. I was delighted. There was lots of Type O food – turkey, brisket, onions, carrots, peas, and more. I filled my plate twice, and never ate an avoid. Naturally, there were desserts and pasta salads, but clearly a lot of the family is eating healthy.

After the reunion HH and I drove to my Mom’s house to visit with her. The next day as we headed for home, we met some friends for dinner at Chilis. I ordered my usual old-timer hamburger with broccoli instead of fries and black beans instead of the bun. Our friends are going to an alternative medicine doctor who uses some kind of machine to determine an individual diet for them. The man was Type A, and the machine had him on a diet that was remarkably like they Type A diet. The woman did not know her blood type, but the diet she is on has solved several health issues. Both of them talked about how hard it is to change the way they have eaten all their lives. But both realize that they have to change if they want to be healthy.

Not everyone has found the BTD (yet) but I am encouraged to find friends and family beginning to notice that what they eat really does impact how they feel.

This week has flown by. Going to see my Mom and getting serious again about job applications have distracted me from blogging. I’ve been to three luncheons in the past week. That’s a higher than usual number of meals eaten in restaurants. Each presented it’s own BTD challenges.

Last Wednesday I attended the Tea Party across from the Courthouse in our county. After the Tea Party, two friends and I went out to lunch. We chose a local restaurant that I have passed many times, but never tried. They had a plate lunch that comes with a vegetable and a salad. It sounded perfect until I asked what the vegetable of the day was. “Corn,” said the server. I was not going to get into an argument, but corn is not a vegetable!!! I abandoned the idea of meat and vegetables, and ordered an omelet. I have been intrigued by a line in one of the GenoType daily e-mails that said regarding Hunters, “To help heal and regenerate your digestive tract, aim to eat seven to nine eggs a week.” This omelet contained NO bacon, sausage or ham. Instead it was loaded with beneficial vegetables. It was a good and filling choice.

Friday I returned to my hometown to visit my Mom. The trip was scheduled to coincide with the funeral of the father of my best friend from elementary and high school. After the service, the family invited me to join them for lunch Chili’s. I like eating there, because they are quite agreeable to serving me a hamburger with broccoli instead of fries, and they are very generous in their broccoli portions. The topic of conversation for most of the meal was dieting. My friend and her husband are on a variation of the Atkins diet that has them only drinking Atkins shakes. A cousin has recently had stomach-stapling surgery. She ate about 1/3 of her meal, and took the rest home in a to go box. An aunt is thinking of paying high dollar for a doctor-monitored program. I said I was had been on the Blood Type Diet since 2003. None of them had heard of it, and the level of interest varied. My friend is Type O. She was relieved that the low carb approach of Atkins was heading in the right direction. The cousin specifically chose stomach stapling because she did not want to ever be on another low carb diet. The aunt seemed to think that paying a high price and having a doctor’s input would motivate her. It illustrated to me the confusion of people who are confronted with so many contradictory diets, but no one blinked an eye when I dumped my hamburger out of the bun and left it behind.

Today I attended a ladies’ luncheon in the town where I live. I realize that I may need to do a little networking, and develop some stronger ties here, in order to find a job. I met some delightful women; some of whom I hope will become friends. The menu was fajitas. I knew I could make a meal out of the meat and lettuce. However they also served green beans! I don’t usually associate green beans with Tex-Mex food, but I was certainly glad to see them. They were well seasoned, though I couldn’t quite identify what the seasoning was. We did not talk about dieting, but as I looked around the table, I noticed that I was not the only one who said “No” to tortillas.

After three luncheons so close together, I’m ready to eat food from my own kitchen for a while.

A load was lifted from my shoulders today. These are stressful times. The economy is not good. There are international conflicts. As I am in the process of launching my two young adult children, at the same time that I am in the process of taking care of my Mom. My husband can be pretty needy, too! It's certainly not a good time to be looking for a job.

You may remember from an earlier blog, that last February I was called back for a recheck on my mammogram. The radiology center had switched from analog to digital images, and suddenly there were several calcifications showing up that hadn’t been there before.

I really didn't need another stress factor. But one test of character is how we respond when God allows things to happen in our lives that we don’t want. Worrying wouldn't do me any good. I needed to continue to eat right and exercise. I needed to keep my eyes on the blessings in my life, and my heart committed to following God's will.

After the recheck, they told me that they didn’t see anything of immediate danger, but they wanted to do another mammogram in six months and make sure that nothing was growing or changing. In August I got a good report. No changes were visible, but again I was told to come back in six months. I was glad that there were no changes, but I still felt like there was a sword hanging over my head.

Today I had another mammogram. No changes. I'm discharged! Next mammogram will be routine – in a year.

I called a friend - asked if she had time for an impulsive lunch. We went to a café and talked and laughed for 3 hours. I had meat loaf, lightly steamed spinach, and roasted mixed vegetables. It was delicious. And it was eaten with a very light and thankful heart.

It is so much fun when in the middle of an innocent conversation I correctly guess someone's Blood Type. They look at me like I'm psychic. The resulting conversation is always interesting.

I am at my Mom's house for a couple of days. Her caregiver had to go out of town. The last time I was here Mom said she thought she had a cavity. She was right. Actually she had three. All are small. Two were filled today, and we'll go back for the third in March.

While I was waiting I asked the receptionist if there was a place nearby where we could get barbeque for lunch. Mom and I - both Type Os - were hungry for some good brisket. The receptionist rolled her eyes. It turns out that the dentist loves meat, but she doesn't. When he wants to take the office staff out for a treat, he takes them for barbeque. She said, "They have really good sauce, but I just don't like to eat meat."

I said, "Do you have Type A Blood?" She looked at me like I was crazy, and said, "Yes, but how did you know that?" I had fun telling her about the Blood Type Diet, and I wrote the web address down for her.

Then the dentist came out, and the conversation got even more interesting. He loves meat, and he feels guilty about it. He believes meat is bad for everyone, but he can't help craving it. I kept thinking that he had to be an O, but when I asked, he said he didn't know his Blood Type. Rats, I wanted to be two for two.

After the appointment, Mom and I drove to the restaurant. The line was long, so I felt sure that the barbeque would be as good as the dentist promised it would be. We were not disappointed!

We’ve eaten out quite a bit this week. When I first started the BTD, I thought that my Type As were lucky in restaurants. It seemed to me that everything was so wheat oriented, that they could always find something to eat, where Type Os were limited. As I have watched DD discover, that while wheat is neutral for As, they Type A diet is really plant rather than grain based, I’ve realized that restaurants are kinder to Type Os.

Last Saturday I met a college girlfriend for lunch. We went to a French restaurant, and I thought I’d be in big trouble. How wrong I was! The rosemary chicken was fabulous, and it was accompanied by green beans and broccoli. I was as Type O compliant as I would have been at home. Saturday night HH and I met a couple we’ve known for more than 20 years for dinner at a really cute Western café. I had chopped steak topped with onions, okra, and green beans. HH couldn’t find anything truly beneficial on the menu. He settled on grilled catfish.

Yesterday HH was on a business trip. Again he found himself at a restaurant where the Type A choices were really limited. In a restaurant Type Os can always order a sandwich & salad and throw away the bread. Type As, looking for beneficial fish or high quality vegetable protein, often have fewer choices.

DD is flourishing. She is a Marketing major and she has a new job in the Marketing department at her university. She is learning some new computer programs, and loves the work. Her slow but steady weight gain pleases us both. The root of her eating disorder was a spiritual one, and as she deals with the spiritual issues, she is seeing success. Here is an excerpt from an e-mail I received from her this morning. It starts with a paragraph from a book she is reading.

“Strive to trust God in more and more areas of your life. Anything that tends to make you anxious is a growth opportunity. Instead of running away from these challenges, embrace them, eager to gain all the blessings hidden in the difficulties. Don’t waste energy regretting the way things are or thinking about what might have been. Start at the present moment—accepting things exactly as they are—and search for God’s way in the midst of those circumstances.”

DD added, “Nothing I say can add to the sting of that one.”

DD is at a Christmas Cookie party tonight. She called this morning while I was in the hall waiting for the nurses to finish a procedure on my Dad. She didn't know what to do. She wanted to go to visit with her friends from church. But she didn't want to be pressured to eat cookies.

I told her that part of her recovery from the compulsive exercise/eating mode she has been in will be learning how to be polite, be social, and be healthy all at the same time. The Blood Type/GenoType diet is the only diet I know that seeks to build overall health for the long term, but it is quirky compared to what is "normal in our culture".

In a social situation, you have to determine what compromises you can make and where you draw the line. No amount of social pressure will cause me to drink alcoholic beverages. Almost all of them are avoid for me. In addition I have religious and genetic reasons to abstain. I will not eat brownies, because I have a history of allergic reactions to chocolate. But if I was at a cookie party, I would scout the table for the best options - maybe a fruit cake that was mostly nuts and fruit or a rice krispie cookie. Perhaps if I saw an old favorite like a crème puff I would take one and eat it very slowly.

I told DD it was important that she not let either the BTD or her fears about her weight drive her into seclusion. She decided to go and enjoy herself, but not eat cookies.

Then, because the nurses were taking longer than expected, I got philosophical. I remember reading in a CS Lewis book - one of the Space Trilogy books if I remember right - that God creates some experiences to be rare, special and exciting - but not to be every day events. You can apply that statement to lots of things, but I apply it to food.

Sugar and honey are perfect examples. God created them, and they are good. But they are meant to be eaten in small amounts on occasion, not gulped down by the quart full every day. If you eat sugar cane, the way God made it, you would never have a problem with weight or diabetes. It's when it is refined that it becomes detrimental to health.

Macadamia nuts are another example. They are beneficial for me, and they are delicious. But they are too expensive to make into nut butter and eat with carrot sticks. They need to be relished a few at a time on special occasions.

What we have done in our culture is take the exceptional foods that should be rare and over eat them. Sodas, fried chips, cake, cookies, ice cream, crackers, and candy have become daily necessities. At the same time, the staple beneficial foods like vegetables, which ought to be eaten daily, have become snubbed by the culture and eaten rarely.

We have taken food the way that God planned it and perverted it. Thus we have cookie parties, but never veggie parties. "If I had an apartment," said DD, dropping a hint, "I'd have a veggie party." I laughed, because I think she would. And with her creativity, I think people would have fun.

I'm searching for some positive things to say about spending the past two days at the hospital. One of them is that hospital food has really improved.

My Dad has never gotten over the UTI that he had last summer. His doctor has tried several antibiotics for drug resistant bacteria. Each time Dad finished a course of antibiotics, they waited a week and did another urine test. He would e-mail saying, "I failed another test," and back on antibiotics he would go. When he failed the last test, I called his doctor and said I thought he should see a urologist. He had an appointment for the first Wednesday in December.

When we left their house on Saturday after Thanksgiving, he was happily waving good bye. Saturday night he sent me an e-mail detailing things we had accomplished on our Thanksgiving visit and making plans for the Wednesday appointment. Sunday morning my Mom called to say she could not get him to wake up. EMS took him to the hospital, and I grabbed my bags and started for their house. During the night the UTI had exploded into a full body infection. He was dealing with pneumonia, kidney failure, and a possible heart attack.

He is a critically ill man. I have had to talk with the doctors about his "directive to physicians." I have to walk a fine line between having my Mom at the hospital to see him during the brief ICU visiting periods, and making sure she gets enough rest so that she doesn't get sick herself.

In high stress situations, I ask myself two questions: What is God trying to teach me? and Where are the hidden blessings? I've found two of the latter. One is a big improvement in hospital food. Vending machines have bottled water and juice not just soda. The snack machines are still filled with things I can't eat because they are made with wheat and peanuts, but at least I can get something to drink. Today Mom and I went to the cafeteria for lunch. I wasn't expecting much, but she has knee and leg issues and walks with a cane. It was a much shorter walk to the concourse than it was to the parking garage.

We had a delicious and healthy lunch. I had grilled tilapia with onions and red peppers. For side dishes I had green beans, zucchini, and carrots. The green beans were fresh and cooked to perfection. This is not the bland, overcooked, mushy food that hospitals used to serve. If I hadn't known better I would have thought I was in an upscale restaurant.

The second hidden blessing is that I am truly thankful I have not found a job yet. It leaves me free to stay with Mom and Dad while they need me. If I had found the perfect job a month ago, I would now be negotiating for time off and wishing I could be two places at once. As always, God's timing is perfect.

I don't know if Dad will recover. It depends first on whether they can find drugs to knock out a very resistant bacteria and second on whether his heart, lungs and kidneys can recover from the damage done by the infection. We wait.

We have had a lot of good food today. After church we had brunch at a restaurant called Mimis. I had a Tuscan Omelet – stuffed with spinach, artichokes, tomatoes and feta cheese. It was delicious. The waitress did give me a funny look when I asked to substitute broccoli for the potato chunks that are usually served with the omelet.

Tonight the group wanted to order pizza. Since I had eaten eggs for lunch, I knew I needed some meat for dinner, not pizza. I fixed myself a bowl of asparagus left over from an earlier meal and canned salmon. I did eat half a piece of pizza to be sociable. I used to really miss pizza, but I can honestly say that tonight the asparagus and salmon tasted better to me than the pizza.

Even with a piece of pumpkin pie, I was easily within the 70% rule. Overall on this trip I've probably eaten 85-90% beneficials and neutrals. I have not had any trouble with stomach inflammation. I am confident that my weight is unchanged. Perhaps most important the 70% rule gives freedom from anxiety. Traveling and visiting with friends could become incredibly stressful if I were preoccupied with finding 100% beneficials. But finding 70% beneficials and neutrals is easy. And the joy of fellowship and relaxation of being away from the daily grind more than makes up for the few avoids I have consumed.

One interesting and moving experience from the reunion was a trip to the memorial at the site of the Murrah Federal building bombing in Oklahoma City. There was a hearing going on that morning, and a tape recording of the hearing survived the blast. In the museum we sat in a quiet room with simple government style office furniture listening to the tape. Suddenly the hearing is interrupted by the sound of explosion, followed by the sound of screams. There were exhibits about the destruction, tributes to the 168 victims, and the meticulous investigation that resulted in the conviction of the bomber. We left the museum with a mixture of horror and sadness, mixed with admiration for the way the community pulled together to minister to the families of the victims and survivors.

The area where the building was has been turned into a grassy park with a glass and brass chair symbolizing the office of each of the victims. The place where the street was is now a quiet fountain. If you are ever close to Oklahoma City, make sure you visit the memorial.

I love taco salad, and it has always been a favorite menu choice. Lately I’ve noticed that in many restaurants the meat portions are getting smaller and smaller, while the condiments (sour cream, colored corn chips, etc.) are taking up more and more room.

Today after church we hung around visiting with friends. I glanced at my watch and we had less than an hour to eat and get DD ready for work. There was no time for a relaxing meal in a nice restaurant. My husband suggested Taco Bell, and we all agreed.

Perhaps you’re surprised that I don’t mind eating at Taco Bell. When our son was in elementary school, he had very severe reactions to MSG. I spent hours researching ingredients in all kinds of restaurants – both elegant and fast food. I was impressed with Taco Bell. Not only did they not add any MSG to any of their food, they didn’t add potatoes, wheat, or masa as fillers either.

As I started writing this blog, I went to the Taco Bell website to see if they still have the high standards that they did 10 years ago. I see a few Type O avoids toward the end of the ingredient list - things I wouldn’t have known to look for them when I did my original research. My own taco meat is more Type O compliant, but I still think Taco Bell ingredients are acceptable for a fast food restaurant.

My concern was not the ingredients. My concern was that Taco Bell taco salad used to have a generous portion of meat, but now it is pretty meager. There was also the issue of pinto beans. If I order Mexican food and it comes with pinto beans, I eat them, but I when I have a choice I eat something else.

As I stood in line, I had a brainstorm. For the same price as a taco salad, I could get 5 crispy tacos. I would get about the same amount of lettuce, no pinto beans, and a lot more meat. This sounded like a good plan for me.

The plan nearly went awry when my husband went to pick up our order. He assumed that I had ordered a salad and nearly sent back the tray stacked high with tacos. “How many did you order?” he asked incredulously when he got to the table. I smiled and enjoyed my lunch, scooping the meat and lettuce out of the taco shells. It was better for me than a taco salad, and DD got to work on time.

We had one more BTD adventure before we returned from our trip to Kentucky. We made a side trip to Nashville, and while we were there we toured the Hermitage, Andrew Jackson's home.

On the way we stopped at a restaurant called O'Charley's for lunch. What I will always remember is the very generous vegetable portions. HH and DD ordered salmon. I needed a beef fix after several days of canned turkey and tuna. I ordered a hamburger patty, substituting broccoli for the fries. Between the three of us we had all the vegetables we could possibly eat. It was a delicious and very compliant meal. I found out later that O'Charley's is an Eastern chain restaurant. I would welcome them in Texas.

When you tour the Hermitage, you get headphones so you can listen to recorded messages about the many features on the grounds. They used a lot of quotes from people who had stayed at the Hermitage during Andrew Jackson's time. One visitor wrote, "There was an abundance of meat: beef, mutton, turkey, geese, several kinds of ducks and fowls. The guests loved it." Doesn't that sound like a Type O household!

The kitchen was a separate building away from the house. It was safer, because there was always a danger of fire. It also kept the heat and smell of cooking away from the house. We peaked in the smokehouse where we learned that pork was the "primary meat for the household."

That took a little of the shine off of the Type O household idea. However, I suspect that would have been a true statement for most rural households for most of this country's history. My Dad has often reminisced that on the ranch where he grew up they raised cattle to sell to folk in the cities. However his family rarely ate beef. They mostly ate the less expensive pork and chicken.

We stopped for lunch in Elizabethtown at a restaurant called Texas Outlaw BBQ. When we walked in we said, "We're from Texas, will we feel like home?" The hostess laughed.

I ordered brisket, DD and HH ordered turkey. In Texas, most barbeque restaurants serve pinto beans, potato salad, cole slaw, and fries. This restaurant had lots of vegetables including green beans and broccoli, which I ordered. They even had sweet potato for an extra charge. My meal was delicious. My husband ordered beans with his turkey. They weren't pinto beans. They were some kind of small bean in a sweet sauce. This Kentucky restaurant would have Texas barbeque beat - - except for the northern beans!

After a day of driving and museums, DD and I were ready for a hike. We stopped at a visitor center and inquired about local trails. The lady suggested a 5-mile path around Freeman Lake. It was perfect. The lake was lovely. We saw flocks of Canadian geese and we even came around a curve and surprised a deer. Part of the trail was through lush trees; part was through lakeside meadows filled with wildflowers.

My husband didn't make the hike. His leg is bothering him. Ever since back surgery 23 years ago, he has a sensitive spot on one of his nerves. We have been so careful not to let him load suitcases in the car. I hope it is just the result of a lot of driving today.

Which is more important, strict compliance to the BTD, or the ability once in a while on a special occasion to relax the standards and have a little fun? Some of you will agree with me, and some will agree with DD.

When my Honorable Husband thinks of Kentucky, he thinks of horses. When my Strong Son thinks of Kentucky, he thinks of school. But when my Darling Daughter told her boyfriend we were going to Kentucky, his immediate response was Kentucky Fried Chicken. We googled it, and learned that Colonel Sander's original restaurant was in Corbin, Kentucky. It is still open, and there is a little museum inside the restaurant.

We were planning to stay in Corbin while we visited Cumberland Gap and Cumberland Falls. We decided we would eat at the original KFC for Sunday lunch before saying goodbye to SS and sending him back to school.

DD wanted to go for the historical value, and to buy a souvenir for her boyfriend, but she immediately made up her mind not to eat there. In fact, she was at the car, making a peanut butter on spelt sandwich, when another guest to the restaurant walked by. He gasped and said, "You are in the parking lot of one of the greatest restaurants in America, and you are eating peanut butter?!?"

HH and SS had no qualms at all. They charged up to the counter and ordered dinners.

I intended to find the most BTD compliant meal that I could. I thought surely in this day and time that KFC would have a grilled chicken breast for health conscious customers. But no, everything was deep fried. It was almost a tough decision, until I saw chicken livers on the menu. I love fried chicken livers. I said, "This is a famous restaurant, and I'm going to enjoy it and have fun."

DD looked disappointed. She said, "You get two sides, but green beans are the only good choice for you. You should get double green beans." I looked at the menu. She was right. But they had corn on the cob. I like corn on the cob even more than I like chicken livers. I haven't had it in years. I ordered chicken livers with green beans and corn on the cob.

KFC was a fun place to eat and I have no regrets that I splurged a little. Two avoids on a vacation neither harm my health or indicate a pattern of noncompliance. Today I have been back on track eating right for my type. DD also thinks she made the right choice. If breaded fried food is bad, then she wants nothing to do with it. What would you have done?

Finding beneficial food when traveling is always an adventure. Today we left on a 10-day trip to visit our Strong Son and do some sightseeing in Kentucky. The first challenge was making sure we would have food to eat on the airplane.

Last summer we didn’t take a vacation because we were moving. The three previous summers we had driven to our destination. So I hadn’t been on an airplane since 2003. I went on the internet to see what kind of food I could and couldn’t take on the plane. The big prohibitions were liquids, gels, and oils. There was little about food per se.

I fixed turkey and soy cheese on Ezekiel bread for my husband. That seemed totally safe. For DD I fixed peanut butter and pineapple on Ezekiel bread. I worried a little about whether security would question the peanut butter. However, it was my bowl of leftover chicken and vegetables that concerned me the most. There was nothing on the TSA website prohibiting meat, greens, or beans. But I knew that if they opened the container and poked around in it with gloved fingers, that I’d throw it away. I packed the homemade power bars in luggage I checked. They are chewy, and I had to admit they looked suspicious. For the flight we would eat packaged protein bars and apple slices

All of our carry on luggage sailed through the x-ray machines with ease. We ate a beneficial lunch in the gate waiting area.

SS e-mailed directions to a restaurant called Ramseys. All he told us was that it was typical Kentucky cooking. The entrees came with three vegetables, and there were lots of good choices. I had pot roast, which was tender and delicious. With it I had kale (I’ve never seen kale in a restaurant before), honey-mustard carrots, and yellow squash with onions. Of the three, the kale was my favorite.

Our son is learning things in PT school that are useful to the Blood Type lifestyle. Tonight we talked about exercises my Dad could do to strengthen the muscles in his legs. SS said that when you first start exercising, your body adjusts to the increased activity by compensating with existing strengths. It takes about six weeks before muscle fibers start breaking down, and new muscle starts building.

How many people have I known who exercised faithfully for a month, then quit because they couldn’t see any results? I’ve known a few who became discouraged after a week! According to SS, they haven’t even started building muscle yet. Exercise isn’t a short term quick fix; it is a lifetime commitment.