I was not around for the "Old Message Board". (I was still eating health foods like wheat germ and wondering why I had indigestion!) When I began exploring this web site after I started the BTD, I often read comments about the "Old Message Board." I visited BTD boards on other sites, but never signed up. I just wasn't interested.

My son IMs his friends constantly when he is away at college. I tried instant messaging for a while, but lost interest. I'd rather write e-mail or talk on the cell phone. I decided it was a generational thing; people over 50 must not be cut out for messaging. So when the big announcement came that the Message Board was coming back, I wasn't all that excited.

But I was wrong! I signed up and had a lot of fun clicking around last weekend. I even posted a few comments. What they say about old dogs and new tricks isn't always the case. If you haven't seen the "New Message Board" go to Heidi's column and follow the link.

One of the comments I posted had to do with my experience finding relief from indigestion and GERD. The Type O diet alone took care of about 90% of my pain. I asked Heidi about that pesky 10% and she suggested buying fresh ginger root (easily found in a grocery store) and running it through a juicer. She said to take a teaspoon of the juice. She warned me that it would be hot, and it was! It also drove away the last of my pain.

Ginger juice keeps for a long time in a glass jar in the refrigerator. After I no longer needed ginger juice for indigestion I would mix a teaspoon in a glass of water and drink it like tea. I really grew to like the taste. Diluted in water it wasn't hot, just refreshing. Eventually I ran out, and never got around to making more.

The "New Message Board" post made me think about it, and I juiced ginger root this morning. It smells wonderful, and tastes just as refreshing as I remember.

Of all the grocery stores in my area, I've only found one that carries kohlrabi. It's not near my home, but it is near another store where I shop about every two weeks. Once I asked the produce manager why he stocks kohlrabi, but the other stores in this chain do not. He told me that he has one customer who comes in every week and buys all the kohlrabi he has. I wonder if she is on the BTD.

At any rate, as I was selecting my kohlrabi, I noticed a lady carefully picking out a vegetable I wasn't familiar with. So I said, "What are you buying, and how will you cook it?" She told me it was baby bok choy, and that she would steam it. Then she asked what I was buying. I told her kohlrabi, and that my favorite way to eat it was grated raw with olive oil and lemon - sort of like cole slaw.

Before the BTD I would never have started a conversation with a perfect stranger about a strange vegetable. Now it seems like a normal thing to do. I did not buy bok choy that day, because I wasn't sure how it was categorized. It turns out to be neutral for both Os and As, so I will try it soon.

Last night I decided to fix spaghetti at the last minute. I had eaten 100% rye crackers earlier in the day as a snack, so even though I fixed rice pasta, I had reached my grain quota for the day. I didn't have a spaghetti squash on hand, so I went rummaging through the refrigerator looking for something to put my spaghetti sauce on.

I pulled out one of the kohlrabi, grated it, and topped it with sauce. I'm not actually recommending this combination. It was ok, but I doubt it will become a favorite recipe. I only mention it to say that in a pinch there are creative ways to use beneficial vegetables.

I like variety. I don't know if it's a blood type thing or not, but both the As in my family like predictability, and both the Os like to try new things. My son and I walk into a restaurant and search the menu for something we've never had before. My husband and daughter find something they like and order it over and over.

I like variety in exercise too. Of all the exercise I do, I like running the best. I think that's because as I run there's always something new to see. But I have known several friends who ruined their knees by too much running after they hit middle age, so I only run once or twice a week.

I had already been to the pool once this week. I worked out with weights one day, and mowed the yard another. Yesterday I wanted something different.

My daughter had volunteered to help out with a party for 1st through 4th graders at our church last night. The time she was at the party would be a great time to work out, but what could I do at church? I thought of the stairs. I climbed 60 flights of stairs in 45 minutes. It definitely met the criteria of "intense physical workout". I sweat more than I do when I run! I also used some neglected muscles. My calves are really sore today.

Occasionally, I resist and resent the boundaries put on me by the Blood Type Diet. I miss things I used to eat, or I don't think it's fair that I can't eat wheat. My husband chafes at the boundaries even more than I do. You should hear him when he says, "Why is it that everything that tastes good is bad for you?"

I was thinking this morning about Jeremiah 29:11, "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." The spiritual lesson is, "Let God put the boundaries on your life. He has a good life for you, not a bad life."

The Blood Type Diet boundaries are a lot like that. They are sometimes hard boundaries to follow. Always checking labels is hard. Ordering food in restaurants is not easy. Finding tasty recipes for little known beneficial foods is trial and error. Turning down an avoid when everyone else is eating it can be disappointing.

But I know that those boundaries are good for me. They are not there to be annoying or bothersome, but to help me have a better life.

There are parallels in the physical and spiritual worlds. When I follow the Type O Diet, my body works better and I enjoy good health. When I trust and obey God, he works out the details of my life according to his good plan.

I found all natural, hormone free beef liver for 99 cents a pound! That meant I got meat for two meals for just 58 cents. What a bargain!

If you have eaten much beef liver, you know the worst part is biting into one of those tough parts that just won't chew up. There is nothing like sitting in a restaurant chewing and chewing on the same bite of liver and wondering whether to take a deep breath and swallow the thing whole like a piece of gum or spit it out in your napkin.

The tough parts are the membranes surrounding the tubes that run through the liver. Some of them are large, some are small, but all are tough. I tried cutting them out with a knife. Impossible! Raw liver is too slippery. I gave up and switched to cooking chicken liver. It's much easier.

After I started the BTD, and realized how beneficial beef liver is to a Type O, I decided to give it another try. In the meantime my mother-in-law had given me a pair of kitchen scissors for Christmas. My mom never used scissors in the kitchen for anything except opening stubborn plastic packages, so this was new to me. I soon learned to use them for skinning poultry, trimming fat off meet, slicing pizza, and cutting dough. I used my Christmas scissors so much that they were often dirty when I wanted them, so I bought a second pair.

When I tried beef liver again, I went after the tubes with my scissors. The slippery raw liver was no match for kitchen scissors! While I was at it I cut the liver into pieces about 1 inch by 1 inch. That made it easy to cook in a skillet coated with cooking spray. The dog, who swallows everything whole anyway, thought the discarded tubes were wonderful.

Today I began by grilling an onion in a little butter in my skillet. When it was about half done I added the liver. I covered the skillet, reduced the heat, and went to get ready for school. When I got back it was all tender, tasty, and very beneficial.