Hey Everyone,

Thanks for the overwhelming support I received from fellow bloggers as well as casual readers after writing my latest blog. It really means a lot to me.

In giving back praise and good local PR karma, which I love doing in my blogs, I have to send a shout out to a really cool writer and professor from the general MPLS neighborhood who reads my blogs. Thanks so much for your support, Neal!

Check out his work at www.nealkarlen.com<br />
Well, I've had a lot of ups and downs in my personal life and have neglected blogging, not to mention I've neglected eating good solid BTD foods. I think the absolute worst came Tuesday evening. Gas station food. Yes. Frozen microwavable combination pizza bites (read: greasy processed wheat filled with pork and all sorts of synthetic ingredients that a 6 year old can't pronounce!). Grubster could not believe his eyes. I was eating CRAP! I think the crap-eating truly began around Thanksgiving as it does for many people around the holidays. But I'm back on the right track again with Green Goodness juice, and apricot lentil soup. I also had a pretty darn good omelette at Key's cafe downtown after my dental appt. It was filled with feta, spinach, and garlic. Truly good for the soul!

So, dental appt. I LOVE going to the dentist. Does that sound freaky or what? Well, I don't love it as much as I used to because I got my first and only cavity at age 25 (followed by 8 sealants on naughy teeth to prevent further dental caries....) But really, I LOVE getting my teeth cleaned! It is like the best feeling in the world. OK, wait, that's not true. There are plenty of things in life that make me feel better. Anyway...

Teeth were cleaned, scraped, polished, etc. The dentist checked out the teeth. Everything looked fine. I then HAD to ask him: did I get an analgam (mercury) filling two years ago? Nope, it was a composite. He then explained some weird technical dentist jargon as to when he actually uses mercury vs. silver. I just wanted to make sure I didn't have mercury in my mouth in case it leaks into my body someday...

The point is, after hearing the unfortunate circumstances that would lead to analgam necessity, I, Erika Klus, the avid flosser told Dr. Upgaard, "Well, I guess I'll just have to keep taking care of my teeth!"

You have to imagine this in a way that I suppose doesn't quite sound as funny on paper as it does when I say it with the vocal inflections I get from my dad when he's telling a joke in a semi-dry tone. OK, I guess you had to be there.

Please excuse me. I am very sleep-deprived right now.