Today marks the first day that Minneapolis and St. Paul are banning smoking in restaurants, bars, etc. I think there is some sort of exception if the bar makes over 50 or 70% of its profits from liquor, but I don't remember exactly. I'm just happy that I can go out for a night on the town and BREATHE now.

Wow, I should not have waited so long to blog. There is so much to discuss!

As I'm having to re-trace my steps, I think I'll just start with today and go backwards. I had a wonderfully sweet dream this morning...much better than the dream I had a few nights ago (in which some seven foot guy had a huge machine gun and shot my dad and my grandma and then was coming after me).

No, this morning was better. I dreamed that a random cute guy was interested in me. Usually dreams of that nature with the opposite sex are a bit more than PG or PG-13, but somehow, this was a very cute, innocent dream. There were all these people around and I would not have thought it would have been wise for this guy to be asking me out around them, but suddenly, he asked if I'd like to come over for TEA at his place later that night. Is that weird or what? TEA?!?

I mean, c'mon guys, how often do you go up to a chick and say, "hey baby, you wanna come over for some TEA?!?" (wait, I forgot, if you've come this far in your curiosity of the BTD and are reading this blog, this might not be such a stretch as you are probably at least semi-health nutty like me).

I suppose with a little creative enhancement there could be a little more innuendo to this:

"Hey baby, wanna watch my kettle boil over?"

or

"Hey baby, wanna see my spout whistle when it gets too hot?"

I'm not even going to get into the tea bag territory. We'll save that one for Carrie, Samantha, Miranda, and Charlotte on TBS.

Uh, yeah. Anyway. I guess it just seems so strange the the guy of my dreams (literally not figuratively) would be asking me to participate in the docile act of sharing a cup of tea, but hey, I've been drinking quite a bit of it lately, a trend that isn't destined to cease.

Speaking of men, I await the Grubster's arrival this weekend. It should be quite fun.

Anyway, back to the day: a couple of days ago I made an appt for end-dermology at Litespa (www.litespa.com) which I did almost a year ago and blogged about the experience. The technician, Genaveve, found a big lumpy lymph node under my armpit which she had a lot of fun de-clogging with all those funny devices (you have to have it done to see what I'm talking about). But the reason I wanted to go was for my thighs. Ugh. I really wish they'd cover this treatment in America like they do in France. That would be every woman's dream come true for minimizing cellulite.

One of the attachments kind of hurts because it's breaking down all that stuck lymphatic chaos but the rest of the attachments feel very good. I can't wait to go again, but I really need to build up my piggybank again before I indulge in this kind of spa therapy any day soon, heehee!

With that in mind, I also stopped into Radioshack to get some accessories for my iPod and my new lovely baby, Treo 650. I have never been so excited about electronic devices since I got this laptop...and even that wasn't that exciting because it was more of a necessity than a luxury...well, OK, that's a stretch, but you know what I mean.

Also stopped into Godiva. I know, I know, their chocolate is full of all sorts of scary trans fats, but I just love the enthusiasm of the employees! Each season when the new limited time truffle line comes out, I always come into the downtown store to buy a five or six-pack of seasonal delights.

Last but not least, a trip to Zelo. Wanted to go to McCormick and Schmick's for their ultracheap happy hour seafood appetizers, but they were so busy (probably due to more folks coming out in the nice weather to enjoy the smoke-free environment!), so I went across the street.

Ordered Ecco Domani Merlot, Chicken and Funghi (wild mushroom) Risotto, and took some ahi tuna spring rolls with soy and wasabi dipping sauce to go (thinking they'd be the cold ones, but instead getting the fried ones, oops!). Interestingly, walking in to no "live smoke" there was the stale stench of old cigarettes in the air as I ate at the bar. I cannot imagine how much crap must have built up on the walls and curtains over the years. Minneapolis is about to become much more like California or NYC. How cool is that?

I experimented with some fish yesterday morning...Opal. Is this an avoid, neutral, or bennie? I don't know. But the fish guy was a really good saleman so I took him up on his fish recommendation. It was pretty good but I still think I'm a rainbow trout and salmon kinda gal hands down.

What else? Oh yes, last thursday. Wow, what a night. An old pharmacy buddy of mine and his colleagues at Mayo came up to do Sushi at Ichiban. I blogged about this place and the fun I had with my friend's b-day in October. This time, the seven of us all headed for the one hour all-you-can-inhale sushi boat buffet. Man, it was AWESOME! It truly satisfied my sushi craving for at least the next month! We also had some tempura (veggie for me), some miso soup, and sake (lots of it!), and ended the meal with some green tea ice cream. Yum!

We all headed over to Gameworks so that said friend could watch some b-ball game while we continued to indulge in libations. While sitting at the bar, drinking some martini with grapefruit in it, (Or was that another night, I can't remember now..), a young kid came up to hit on me. He was so young! Eventually he told me he was 22! This goes to show how young I look! It was flattering though he was drunk and I do have a boyfriend. He invited me out to his buddy's bachelor party to the strip club later. As you will soon come to understand in the next paragraph, I passed on that offer.

Half the Mayo group had to get back home to Rochester for work the next morning but the rest of us all headed to a local Uptown bar called Mortimer's to meet up with co-workers of mine. Those co-workers turned out to be co-worker as no one else but the staff rph showed up. That was fine though. We all got to watch him show off his foozeball talent. Hit another bar (by this time I was so tipsy I don't remember where we went except that it seemed to be in NE MPLS, hey, I wasn't driving!)....and they all got me to do Karaoke and sing, "beautiful stranger."

It was indeed a strange but wonderful night. Full moon. Spring fever. As I was the only woman hanging with four guys, I truly felt like an egg surrounded by sperm. I was the queen bee that night. Very groovy. It definitely was sort of an exercise of faith, too. Why would God surround me with all these guys if not to test my strength in monogamy or perhaps on the other extreme, to show me that if things don't get better, there are other fish in the sea. I don't know the answer right now. What I do know is that I'm excited to see Grubster this weekend in hopes of moving forward together as a team.

Well, I woke up feeling like crap from all the booze. Probably the worst "hangover" in a long time (in years!) from a standpoint of feeling dehydrated and grody. And Holy Heartburn, batman! Won't be doing that again anytime soon. Did I mention a couple of the guys got their cars towed in the Wedge parking lot that night (across from Mortimer's)? Indeed, excess and neglect for property can bite us all in the arse.

That Friday evening, I ate a nice cleansing raw vegan meal at Ecopolitan. My homeostasis was all off. I felt so cold and didn't bring a coat with me. I asked the waitress if I could use the infrared sauna in the basement. At first it felt very nice. Then, as none of the food was moving along in transit in my gut, I started to to feel a bit nauseated. The heat went from feeling great to terrible. Had to cut the sauna short due to loss of dinner. Ugh. No more mixing liquors! I think I'll stick to my usual wine from now on!

Hmmm...not much else to report. Well, there probably is, but I can't remember right now. This should be enough for now, eh?

My younger brother just called me from Toronto to let me know his A wife has a tumor (non-cancerous) growing on her spine. She has always had back pain, but it became excrutiating in September. She was sent to physio, but of course, no relief. She was finally diagnosed while she was in Australia visiting with her family. The neurosurgeon was able to track her down in Australia and made arrangements to meet with another surgeon there to explain what was happening. It looks like she will be having surgery to remove the tumor next week, but there are issues surrounding whether she will walk after or have high level paralysis. Of course, the surgeons must tell you the worst care scenerio so she could be just fine with some light nerve damage.

Her mother has MS and is in a care facility in Australia, but her father is coming out to help. My sister, an ICU/CCUI nurse is making arrangements to help out as well. They have 3 little girls, 7, 6, and 3. I am praying things will turn out well.

Today’s weather was a real combination. It snowed a little during the night and a bit more into the morning. That was followed by a drizzling rain which switched to partly cloudy with a southern breeze. By afternoon it was sunny and a bit breezy. I know spring will really be here soon.

I’ve been so optimistic about the upcoming warmer weather that I have brought out my skirts again…and have worn a couple already! It feels good to be out of slacks again. Slacks equal cold and/or inclement weather. Skirts equal warmer and nicer weather. Of course, all my skirts are the long variety as it is rarely really warm enough for bare legs.

A tree just outside of town is a favorite for the eagles. Yesterday there were five eagles perching there and another in the next tree. They must have all found food because it was fairly early for them to have settled. Tonight I watched a couple immature eagles playing games in the air over the bluff to the inlet where there are stronger air currents. They seemed to be having a lot of fun. It almost looked as though they were courting, but neither showed much of any white yet, so they were probably just playing and goofing off. We do get to see the lighter side of their lives quite often.

Yesterday most of our family met together at my daughter’s church for worship and to watch her four children perform by signing a song. Then, for dinner I rotisseried a big beef roast to perfection. That is a real rarity, too. We made hot roast beef sandwiches with gravy and a side of peas. Icy cold grapes were the dessert a bit later. Not a big meal, but one that was enjoyed by all.

I had actually bought a leg of lamb to roast for dinner, but my guys really didn’t like the idea of eating a baby lamb, so I sliced it up into small steaks and put them in the freezer for me to heat and eat at a later time. Sometimes emotions get in the way of good nutrition.

I

Music: The Smashing Pumpkins ~ To Shiela

Mood: Nag Champa



Well well. March 21st... How was it for you? The spring equinox I mean... I ask only because the spring equinox is regarded as the, how shall I say... most intense period of detoxification in the body, by Ancient Indian Ayurvedic science, Pagan wisdom, and statitistical proof! If you look at the data, clinics and hospitals have more vivits the week after the spring equinox, than any other week of the year! Just don't ask your average MD to verify the coorelation... He'll tell you you're nuts!

The equinox, followed by the full moon shortly after, have left many people feeling like crap in general. Wether you go by the spiritual influence of heavenly bodies, or just the empirical evidence of the gravitational pull of the celestial masses pull on everything from the tide, to your blood and lymph...

Try not to run in and have your fire alarm put out this week by running to the Doc's office. This is the perfect time of year for detoxification! Your efforts on the Blood type diet, cleansing, colemas, colonics, fasting, etc., will really pay off 'round now! The cleansing recoil, Hexeimer's reaction, or healing crisis, whatever you wish to call it, will be a bit more noticable though...

On the diet again... He he... Forgive my straying into fields that wich most of us are unfamiliar with... I have been doing pretty well. As of late, I had been allowing quite a few avoids in on the roster. Carageenan, guar gum, cayenne pepper... I think that's about it actually.. Ha! I'm so damn good at this! lol...

For real though... I have decided, as mentioned earlier, to completely give up flours, sugar, and yeast (except for nutritional yeast, one of my favorite condiments).

All three of these, in my opinion, are just no good for the body. They are the favorite food of candida. A yeast that often grows out of control in our bodies these days, and are all on my avoid list from now on. I'll share a few tips with ya' onb how I avoid them.

Yeast: Search dor unleavened or naturally leavened bread. French Meadow Bakery (if you can find it in your HFS) is a great bakery that uses no yeast, and thier breads are delicious! They also make a Fat Flush Tortilla using sprouted grains and seeds that Erika and I are very fond of. Try it! I should mention however that Food For Life (the maker's of everybodies favorite Ezekkiel Bread) made the exact same product in an 8 inch variety YEARS before French Meadow came out with thiers. Credit where it's due. make sure you're readin labels! You never know where they're gonna hide it.

Sugar: You GOTTA read labels on this one. It's EVERYWHERE! Cane juice, dehydrated cane juice, organic or not, sucrose, sucralose, fructose, the list goes on and on... I'll let honey (preferably raw and unfiltered), maple syrup ( preferably 100%, organic, grade blackstrap mollasses (Great source of iron!) and agave nectar (unrated by the Great Dr. D as of yet.) Avoid the sugar my friends! Use better for you alternatives such as those I have listed.

Flour. A refined carbohydrate, oxidated to the nutritional value of useless starch. The body treats all refined carbohydrates the same. As SUGAR! A buffet for yeats an other unsavory critters, and a great source of UNWANTED EXTRA POUNDS! Try to avoid it unless it's fresh ground, as it will retain FAR more of its nutriton this way. Go for whole grains instead.

On a lighter note... I REALLY WANNA GO TO THE BTD CONFERENCE!!!! If anyone out there has a $700+ that you are just dyin' to get rid of, send it to me!!! Ha Ha... I'll be your slave... ! Or perhaps you just happen to have your own plane and an extra ticket to the conference! Gimmie a hollar! lol

Have a beautiful day my friends. The best of health and abundancce to you.

Well, our early spring thaw was just a teaser as I expected. We had three days straight of fairly strong winds from the north. That cooled things down in a hurry. Since then we’ve seen mostly cloudy days. Temperatures continue to be fairly mild with daytime temps in the upper twenties to mid thirties. It is predicted to become a bit colder in a couple days with the possibility of snow flurries or snow/rain mixed. It is still better than the -21 we had just a few weeks ago…PLUS, we are getting over 12 hours of daylight every day, now.

My knees continue to improve. I am very thankful to the people on the BTD forum and all their helpful suggestions. It is nice to hear healthful remedies instead of someone saying to take an aspirin or whatever to minimize the pain but do nothing to build up the injured area. The people on the forum try to give real help.

It’s almost time to medicate my son’s Burmeese python again. Fortunately it is only about 3 feet long and can’t fight me too well, yet. It doesn’t like a syringe of GSE, water, and antibiotics being forced down its throat. I’m really impressed with how it is responding to the addition of diluted grapefruit seed extract. That stuff has helped us and many of our animals to quickly get over a variety of illnesses. I’m confident that it will also work with the python.

The grocery store had some decent prices on fruit this week, so I stocked up with strawberries, bananas, grapes, and apples. This morning I fixed a smoothie with fresh strawberries and banana; added pineapple juice and tofu and blended all of it with some ice. GOOOOOD!

We had a good dinner tonight. Fried chicken coated with kamut and arrowroot, then simmered in the pan with a bit of olive oil. I made a gravy with the leftover kamut/arrowroot mixture and rice milk. The gravy went over brown Basmati rice; and we had steamed broccoli, carrots, & cauliflower to go with. Everyone ate until they were full and I made enough for tomorrow’s dinner, too. With tomorrow’s dinner, we’ll have steamed asparagus.

I’m blogging here with a Beck tune (Novocaine) playing in the background and I just finished a dinner of chili (grass fed beef and organic black eye peas). I used to eat chili a lot but I tend to suffer from food boredom. I’m always on the lookout for something different to eat and the other day I witnessed what you would call a freestyle recipe…a recipe made on the spot, like it was plucked out of the air of inspiration. My friend Kate, who is a dance choreographer (one of many talents she possesses), has this uncanny ability to prepare food with what she has on hand and somehow has it coming out tasting wonderful. The other morning she took some 100% toasted kamut/spelt bread, poured a little olive oil on top of it…when on to mix honey and tahini and spread that on top. She then took some flaxseed meal (ground flaxseed) and spread that on top and topped that off with some fresh walnuts. Now you might say overkill, but what you have here is an EFA (essential fatty acids) super snack, which explodes with flavor. If you’re an O suffering from arthritis and want something to help your joints, give this a try…(who needs Novacain?)

Before I tell you about this new toy, I'll get the food part of the blog out of the way because if I don't do it now, I won't do it at all because the new toy overpowers all the food stories. It's just too dramatic!

Today I had a very fun day with food. Woke up, having my usual fiber sludge, then later, my usual tea with lemon and all sorts of elxirs added in....but instead of the usual egg, I did a half a cod fillet in garlic, lemon and herbamare. OK, I know this is good for me as an A, but I have to say, I like rainbow trout much better, and I think I overbaked the trout; it dried out!....Oh well, it was a good experiment in the fish world. Before the fish I ate a very large herb and greens salad (store bought) topped with lemon, olive oil, raspberries, walnuts, gouda goat cheese....wouldn't recommend that gouda goat cheese...it totally overpowered the salad.

Finished the meal with some organic fair-trade French-pressed coffee witih soy milk and stevia. Nummy!

Later, went to Whole Foods and picked up spinach lasagna and broccoli for work later. Also ate an eggroll and some other Leann Chin chicken that the other pharmacist forgot to eat. By the end of the night I was quite stuffed!

This is a very exciting day for me! Why? I just bought a new toy! Well, truth is it's so much more than just a toy; it's soon to become my third brain (my laptop being my second brain).....just so you know this is not some impulse purchase, let me give you some background...

By default, Virgos like to be organized, on-time, folks. Ever since I began working as a retail pharmacist, anything outside my work life has become completely relaxed because being in the public eye all day with barely a moment to breathe, pee, or do anything for oneself is so rare and I am constantly meeting the "deadline" of the prescription's ready time. I rarely make plans and just do things at the spur of the moment. In the last few years, part of me was sort of lost, I guess you could say. I just didn't know what direction I was going so I was stuck in Neverland, well, maybe not Neverland, that's where Michael Jackson lives, ugh. But I just feel like, despite making a good living and having a somewhat good personal life, despite the dramas, I was just sort of drifting aimlessly.

Well, I had a Palm Pilot in college, but it had some software problems and was sort of a piece of crap. I bought a new one after graduation and didn't even use it. Some strange depressed part of me just feared planning and goals suddenly. I think it's because when you set goals and don't meet them, you just feel like CRAP. So I guess in a way I just quit setting goals, living in some strange denial and fear, as if not trying for fear of failure was an adequate means to an end. I've lived this life in limbo for too long.

When I purchased my cell phone in 2002, it came with a detachable camera but was not an actual camera phone. Back during this time, technology is not what it is today. You could get a camera phone for about 400 bucks or you could get a PDA phone for about 600 bucks, but to get them all together was impossible, not to mention that in all these new models, they were bulky, and ther web service and other features were reserved for the very wealthy. I was content with the phone I have used for the last 2 1/2 years. It has served its communication purposes just fine.

Well, this morning I woke up, turned on my cell phone and something happened. It didn't work! It wouldn't turn on off the charger. When placed back on the charger, it kept cycling back and forth, never turning on.

I went to the cell phone service/dealer and had them check it out. They told me it was corroded (water damage, haha) and it was pretty much dead. The only thing I was worried about was getting all the old phone numbers off (which, thank goodness they were able to do); otherwise, I knew it was major purchase time. I wanted the slices, dices, jack of all trades replacement!! I wanted all those great things together. I was ready for the Big Pappa of all cell phones: The Treo 650!!!!! This phone is also includes camcorder, camera, web access, palm software, mp3 player, expandable memory card (for drug software), text messaging (um, I've never even used this before; seven year olds nationwide have a better grasp than I do! I'm so in the dark ages!!!), and wow, did I mention Bluetooth wireless capabilities (for a cordless headset and sync capacity with computer)? OK, I don't like to cuss in my blogs, so pardon me, but HOLY SHIT! The matrix is forming!!!!

In about ten years, I reckon this device will be implanted in our BRAINS! Honestly, this is seriously the matrix forming. We will all be bar-coded, or at least our children will. For such a tiny little device to contain so much freaking power is unreal!

Anyway, I was so excited about my new toy that I could hardly keep my hands off it at work, like having some forbidden object of coveted love, just waiting to sneak away and play with it (OK, that's starting to sound almost perverted but man I'm so giddy right now, you'd think I just came from a make-out session with a hot young stallion). It's going to take me at least an hour just to get thru the instruction manual just to figure out how to work this thing! I am so out of the loop with technology but knew that after my other phone died, it was time to make the big leap into the world of wireless wackiness, with insurance on it, of course...man, if this thing gets lost, stolen, or breaks down, you better be damned sure I get it replaced!!!

Stay tuned for the next blog...perhaps written from the new device? We'll see...

Wednesday, March 23, 2005

There is so much to blog about. Rather than blather the same old thing about “how has the time gotten away from me?” and such, I will jump right into it.

I have been going through one of the roughest time periods of my life thus far. I won’t get into any details, but the life circumstances that I am experiencing right now are such that I often feel like I am living in a crazy world. My own spiritual beliefs have helped me through this time, and I certainly see the benefits of having gone through these experiences, but, truthfully, dealing with them for the past 6 months to a year has finally started to take it’s toll on me.

In 1995 I had a full-blown breakdown. It was very unexpected – at least in my mind – because I have always been a very optimistic, “life can’t get me down” sort of person. Back then I was working very hard, had made some very severe changes in my life and I was WAY too thin (the result of dieting, over-exercising and diet pills). I reached a point, in Feb of 1995 (which I find interesting because it is almost exactly 10 years ago) where I started crying and couldn’t stop. I went to the Dr., got on anti-depressants and went into therapy. It took me nearly a year to start feeling like myself again. I stayed on the medications until I started doing the BTD full-time. I weaned myself off of them (with a Dr.’s help) and have been fine. Until recently. About 2 weeks ago, I finally had to get real with myself that I was going down again. The worst of what I have been experiencing in my life occurred during the fall and winter of last year, but somehow the collective toll was finally getting to me again. I, once again, had a crying fit where I started and couldn’t stop. I realized that I needed to go back onto medication.

Over the years, I have promised myself that if I ever felt myself going down again, I wouldn’t hesitate to get the medical help that I need. For some reason, I forgot that. However, the crying jag reminded me, and I got back on anti-depressants about 10 days ago. I know that they are not recommended for O’s, but I respond well to them, and, frankly, I didn’t feel that this was a time to mess around. I was becoming inactive, I found myself not able to function or work well, and I found myself overeating and eating compulsively. This, combined with obsessive thoughts and worry, was driving my life.

The good news is that I respond very well, and very quickly to these sorts of medications. Within 24 hours I was experiencing the weird side effects that these things can cause initially, but I was also starting to feel better. I am now feeling much better. I’m not at what I would call, “normal” for me yet, but I am on my way. One of the biggest challenges I am facing is that I don’t want to exercise at all. When I have been in this place before, I seem to go to either one extreme or the other. In the past I have become exercised obsessed and have, literally worn myself down to nothing. This time I just don’t want to do it. I have been trying to be good to myself by just walking several times per week, but I DO need to get back onto a program and a schedule. The best thing would be to just get back into my T-tapping, as I can do as little as 15 minutes a day with that. I don’t understand some of the mechanisms of depression. It is a self-feeding syndrome. The more depressed you are, the less you want to seek help, the more isolated you make yourself, and the more self-destructive you become. It comes to a point where doing the minimum to keep yourself OK becomes a struggle. I have found myself there quite a bit recently, but I do think that I am starting to come out of it.

I remember the last time I went through severe depression and how I realized that I was coming out of it. It was the spring of 1996 and the wildflowers were blooming. I remember driving in my car on a beautiful day, with the windows down, looking at the wildflowers on the side of the road. I remember thinking that I was feeling something that was almost unrecognizable to me – I was feeling the sun on my face. For the first time in over a year, I was truly enjoying the sun, the wind and the flowers.

I can honestly say that I am very happy that I did not get to the point of such despair this time, that I was numb to life around me. As I sit here typing, I am looking out my open window. It is a chilly morning, but I can smell the Texas Mountain Laurel that is blooming nearby. We have a trumpet vine planted along our house wall and it is in full and amazing bloom, covering the house in a carpet of color. My favorite Mockingbird who lives in our big live oak is serenading me with his never-ending song, and the sun is peaking through the leaves of the trees. I can close my eyes and feel the sun on my face.

I will be OK.

We had a very nice visit to Fairbanks last week. There was much to do in a very short period of time. The conference went well and my husband was able to visit with many people he knows from several different villages. I really enjoy these gatherings and the sense of community. It was a bit more formal than a potlatch or pow wow, but still left me with a good feeling. We were also able to watch one day of the North American Open Sled Dog Races in which his cousin was one of the mushers.

We walked and walked. The hotel is large and the conference room, although still in the same building, was a long ways from our room. I made several trips between the two on Friday. Then, on Saturday, we walked quite a distance to the dog races and back again, followed by walking to another reception. My knees swelled so much that the skin was painful to the touch!

I’ve been doing so well on the BTD and with my naturopath that I had forgotten how badly swollen my knees become when I’ve stood or walked too much. I was more interested in keeping my ankles from twisting. I blew my knees out when I was a teenager while doing a back bend. It sounded like a shotgun being fired and I’ve never been okay in the knees since then. Anyway, I’ve not done any walking to speak of since Saturday night and now most of the swelling and pain are gone. Pineapple juice has been a real blessing!

Eating the right foods wasn’t as difficult as I’d expected. I was able to make wise choices at nearly every meal and didn’t go hungry or way off my O foods. I know I wasn’t totally compliant, but I think I did pretty well considering the offerings

Eeeeeeee! I can not WAIT for summer to come. Spring is definately my favorite season but there's just no time right now w/ this job. Summer's going to be like heaven. All the time I need in the world to cook compliant things & clean the apartment & no screaming children.....sigh........

But until then.....there's LOTS to do & when you're stressed out it's hard to motivate yourself to do things around the house. My best motivator, fear, worked well on Monday when we had a surprise cousin sleep over so I spent 2 hours cleaning our bathroom. It was very fulfulling actually. My husband was amazed. "I didn't know you could clean like that!" I can, honey, but who has the time any more? I don't even have the time to read the other columns & post on the forums. I mean, one REALLY has to take time to regenerate themselves when they feel like they're drained of their life energy every day.

So, back to BTD. Some of the best things for stressed out ABs? Sleep, quiet time for ourselves......Chamomile tea really does do the trick too. I think it's the A side of us, though you're going to have to check the books on that one. The other thing I love is from the NAP website called Catechol. When you read LR4YT, you'll find out that we release the same stress toxins that O's do, cortisol. Not sure why.....we have very little in common with O's BTD wise but apparently, stress & anger is one of them. This happy little vitamin helps to null those effects - something all AB teachers need to keep from taking things out on the kids. They don't know any better (the 4 year olds at least) they mean well & try hard but, sometimes, you just wanna.....AAAAGGGGHHHHH!!! So, even though it's listed as a stress reliever just for O's, it works for us since we give off the same chemical. Nifty!!! I'm not sure what the Good Dr. thinks of the AB's using Catechol but it sure does work for me!!!

Well, the O in my life is having lots of digestive problems. Of course he eats lots of dairy & wheat......naughty O......& he's probably a nonnie (even more restrictive) so I'm trying to help other than just nagging......:-)

Psyllium Fiber helps O's but not as good as the A/AB lemon water (my O is soooo jealous!)

Dandelions are a diruetic according to the BTD encyclopedia but have a bitter taste. I've fixed them a couple times for the O, only to end up eating the bulk of them myself.

So....while looking up dandelion recipe's online (there are quite a few through google) someone brought up dandelion tea. GREAT IDEA. He loves tea! I bought a bunch of dandelion leaves from the veggie mart & boiled half of them with a bag of ginger tea (fresh ginger slices work too). & the O LOVED IT!!!

Ginger also helps with digestion & killed the bitter flavor of the dandelions. The dandelions killed the spicey flavor of the ginger so, both to our surprise, it was VERY pleasant! He had 2 or 3 cups that evening. Soon enough he was on the toilet..........Mission Accomplished! LOL!

I’m here typing this on my new computer. It’s been 5 years since I purchased my last computer and let’s just say this is a Ferrari compared to my 5 year old Chevy.

My plans for the New Year were to upgrade my machine so I could take advantage of the new technology as it relates to multimedia and such. It was also my plan this year to upgrade the food I was eating this year. The slow food industry here in Toronto is staring to blossom. There currently are three companies in Toronto area that will deliver fresh Organic produce to your door. There is one small drawback…what they put in your basket for the week is not always 100% blood type compliant. You get to make two substitutions (all done online)…maybe no oranges or potatoes…but if there is a third avoid in the basket, you’re stuck with it unless it’s good for someone you know. Fortunately for me, my local grocer has a good selection of Organic produce and as well as dry organic food stuff. Going Organic will cost you about 25% more than if you bought the pesticide sprayed stuff. The only thing I find to be inconvenient buying is Organic Meat. I have to travel about 15 miles to buy it. I was fortunate to find a farm that produces organic and grass fed meat and they have a web site…which will deliver to your door for a minimum order of $100.00. It’s frozen but once thawed (don’t use a microwave) and marinated in say cherry juice or wheat free tamari, you have very tasty, succulent and tender meat

The cattle grown for "Grass-Only Beef" have the distinction of never having eaten anything other than forages (pasture grasses and hay). This exceptional product comes from cattle raised their whole lives on grass and hay, never having even tasted grain (corn, oats, wheat). They spend their days entirely outdoors on pasture from spring to fall and eat hay during the winter months. They live stress-free lives that promote health and vitality. As in nature, their rate of growth is determined by their genetics and the quality of their grass, not hormonal implants or growth promoting additives. .

The proven benefits of eating "Grass-Only Beef" include less fat, fewer calories, more Omega-3 fatty acids, a healthier ratio of Omega-6 to Omega-3 fatty acids, more Conjugated Linoleic Acid (greatly reduce your risk of cancer with this super fatty acid) more Vitamin E and higher levels of beta-carotene. The difference is even noticeable to the naked eye, because the fat color is more golden or yellow than the stark white fat from an animal that has been eating grain.

So ask yourself (mostly O’s)…would you rather eat cow meat that’s been grain fed (lectin fed beef?) or a happier cow who eats what his genetics have predisposed him to eat (sound familiar?). Are we all not a lot happier when we eat right?

Now what is the difference between Organic Beef and grass fed beef? Organic beef is fed grass up until the last three months of the cow’s life…it is than fed organic grain to provide marbling and external fat which give it the ‘quality’ look that consumers are looking for.

Grass fed beef actually takes less time to cook and unless you like your meat medium to medium rare…don’t buy it. If you’re going to eat meat well done than don’t bother eating it at all.

If you want more info on benefits of eating grass fed beef go to http://www.eatwild.com/nutrition.html.

There are times when fate seems to catch up with us in the midst of our busy lives. Last week I watched a program on television that affected me greatly. I don’t watch daytime TV as a general rule, but I was tired that day, and flipped it on as a way to help relax. The program I watched mirrored some early parts of my life, and affected me to a great extent. So much so that I felt a pressure in my chest all evening and it was there to a slightly lesser extent the following day. I considered my health options, knowing that I needed help and couldn’t do this by myself. I’d seen my MD doctor the week previous and knew he was cruising the Caribbean the day I had this problem. So, in terms of conventional medical treatment, I had the choice of surrendering myself to a hospital emergency room or going to a walk-in clinic. Neither appealed to me. Our health care system in Ontario has deteriorated so badly that people wait endlessly for attention in emergency wards, and hospitals in general are not a place I choose to hang out in general. Going to see an unknown doctor didn’t feel like any better option. Taking drugs doesn’t appeal to me, either. Fortunately, there are always more choices than may be obvious at first glance. I live down the street from a wonderful Chinese acupuncture doctor who has helped me out of difficult health situations over the past 15 years or so, from time to time. I was able to see him that evening, and between his treatment and the herbs he gave me to take, I was much relieved of my symptoms. Also fortunately, my heart pulse was strong, even when I first saw him.

My problem is high cholesterol, which I’ve had for a great many years now. It seems to be catching up to me, now that I’ve celebrated my 67th birthday recently. In fact, the reason I had visited my MD doctor was to see if we could figure out why the remedies that are supposed to help lower cholesterol levels don’t seem to work in my case. I had discovered in the book “Healthy Immunity” a little note that said that people with subclinical hypothyroidism would block the ability of herbal remedies to be effective. It also said that this is very difficult to detect. My MD was angered by the book, said it was written to make money and that it had no value. I did not point out to him that it was based only on scientific research, like the BTD, although in hindsight, I should have said this. He did order some blood tests, though, and I will see him in a few weeks to check on the results. He also protested that my thyroid levels, in recent blood tests, had been well within normal limits.

This whole episode has given me, once again, a great thankfulness for the BTD and for Dr. D’s efforts. The BTD Enclyclopaedia recommends supplements for cardiovascular health (and other health situations). I bought several on the weekend, and even without having all of them, I feel remarkably better shortly after taking them. I will buy the rest in the next day or so. I couldn’t buy the first item on the list, because the health food store wasn’t familiar with “oligomeric proanthocyanidins”. When I looked it up on the internet, I quickly discovered that it is also known more familiarly as grape seed extract, which is very easy to purchase here.

I am also grateful to the BTD because I was able to make a reasonably fast recovery. When I returned for a second acupuncture treatment two days later, the doctor said I had really scared him when he saw me initially. We cannot underestimate the value of keeping ourselves in the best possible condition, especially if one is afflicted, as I am, with two permanent situations: growing older and being a non-secretor.

As always, I end this blog on the note of gratitude to Peter D’Adamo and his incredible work, inspired by his amazing father, James D’Adamo whose intuition and intention deserves a Nobel Prize.

Starting with today, I am going to write shorter blogs in an attempt to get them back to being the daily or near daily entries that they are supposed to be. I hope that I will not be sacrificing what I feel is a quality blog for a timely one. If I don't feel that it's working, well, I'll just have to switch it back to the longer, but less frequent ones. That said, here's today's blog:

Yesterday, one of the churches that I attend* had a food drive. They used the food they collected to make Easter “baskets” for families that need some help right now just to put food on their table. In addition to the food that was collected, each family received a gift certificate to a local grocery. This was so that they can purchase fresh food items of their choice in addition to the canned and dried items.

My family donated things that were a mix of beneficials and neutrals for all the blood types. We also donated basic non-food items like soap, toilet paper, and first-aid things. Whenever possible, we chose canned foods rather than dried items because so many people just don't have the time to soak beans or whatever for the amount of time they need. Also, I figure that if you are in such a mess that you have to have help from others just so that you have food to eat you probably are so stressed that you don't even remember to think about what you are going to eat in advance even if you do have the time to plan ahead. Stress is a great short term memory killer.

I wanted to mention this to everyone because I think that it is important that everyone be aware that people are always in need of each others help...not just at Thanksgiving and Christmas when the majority of the charities and food banks publicly ask for donations.

*I am lucky in that my denomination has several churches in my area. I am a member of one of them, but I like to go visit different congregations from time to time for variety.

WARNIG! Teflon has been proven to cause extreme illness, which MDs have been unable to diagnose. If you use Teflon in your cooking in any manner, please, please throw it away. Du Pont is taking the following action because of this, but it is too little, too late!





Du Pont, 3M to cut nonstick chemical

Companies will reduce possible carcinogen PFOA at end of 2006



By Douglas Fischer, STAFF WRITER









DuPont and 3M, makers of Teflon and Scotchgard, will remove a key ingredient used to make nonstick and stain-resistant products that also contaminates our bodies and the global environment.

The move away from the chemical, known as PFOA, affects just a small fraction of DuPont's and 3M's business and won't take effect until the end of 2006. The compound, being studied by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as a potential carcinogen, will still be used in other consumer and industrial products.

"It's a small part of our sales," DuPont spokesman

R. Clifton Webb said Tuesday. "We're taking this step not because of any concerns about health, but certainly because of the perception of PFOA in the environment."

PFOA, or perfluorooctanoic acid, is found in almost all our blood in minute concentrations, with a median exposure of near 5 ppb in the United States. A martini mixed at that concentration would have 5 drops of vermouth in a rail tank car of gin.

The compound is crucial in the manufacture of a class of extremely durable and expensive industrial plastics electrical wires and cables, power- and chemical-plant pipe liners, even firefighting foam.

It's also necessary for such well-known brands as Teflon, Silverstone and Stainmaster. The switch applies only to plastics that get sprayed and then baked onto a product, such as Teflon cookware.

Other plastics, such as those used to make fabrics stain resistant and to coat wires and line pipes, would be unaffected.

"It's a step forward, but it's an incomplete step," said Tim Kropp, a toxicologist with Environmental Working Group, which is tracking PFOA contamination.

"They're starting to have to take this seriously ... because the EPA and the science shows it's a serious problem. It's unacceptable to have a chemical with the type of health effects (PFOA) does in more than 95 percent of people's blood."

Laboratory studies link PFOA exposure to mammary, testicular and pancreatic cancer, Kropp said, and scientists have found no dose in lab animals that doesn't suppress the immune system. DuPont notes that a study of 1,024 PFOA workers found almost no ill effects.

DuPont and 3M both say virtually all PFOA is destroyed during manufacture. Scientists do not understand how it contaminates the environment, though one hypothesis suggests that as such products break down, the chemicals revert back to PFOA.

"It signals a gradual sea-change," said Kropp said of industry's move. "But it really doesn't answer the larger global questions of how it got into everybody's blood."

Mmmmmm..........bathing.

Is there not a more luxurious yet simple thing in this world than a warm, aromatic bath?

Today at the Wedge after work, I bought a wonderful product called Dr. Singha's "Soothing Purifying Relaxing" Mustard Bath....ahhh....it contains Powdered Mustard Seed, Essential Oils of Wintergreen, Eucalyptus, Rosemary and Thyme and Gum Benzoin in a base of Sodium Carbonate. Though the label suggested pouring a quarter of the container into the bath, I settled for a tablespoon or two. My skin felt so silky soft after stepping out of the bath.

Whilst soaking in the tub, I listened to part of The Complete U2, part of my iTunes/iPod purchase, specifically the Passengers album. Still listening to it now. In some strange way, I think this experimental album parallels a Pink Floyd type of phase in their respective 70s prime. Hard to explain....just listen and see what you think.

U2 is amazing. The new album. Amazing. Bono is one of the only male musicians I've really embraced in recent years...usually I'm embracing Tori Amos and the sacred feminine she embodies, but Bono balances it all out with such a powerful male/yang energy that all at once leaves me angry at men and their wandering eyes, yet comforted by their strength, vision, and passion. Just listen...

When I woke up this morning to work I drank some instant coffee from that Gano company. Back in the fall, I signed up to become a distributor with wholesale access to their products. It was one of those spur of the moment purchases for 25 bucks, along with some coffee, tea, etc. I haven't done enough research into the company to know if this is a line of products worth aggressively marketing to others. And I'm in no rush to make a decision either way.

Later in the day, a hard-boiled omega-3-rich egg and some ShaSha spelt ginger snaps. At the wedge I drank a wonderful smoothie with kefir, raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, and I don't remember the last ingredient. Something BTD-friendly of course.

Later on, I celebrated(?) Palm Sunday at the Basilica. It was a really beautiful Mass with a youth ensemble (a couple of kids on brass, three vocalists, and a pianist, at least). The music was somber, and the male vocalist had so much depth and heart in his interpretation of the responsorial psalm "My God, My God, why have you abandoned me?" Throughout Mass, I was on the verge of tears because the Mass enabled such an immediate access to the pain we all feel as human beings trying to get through the day in a confusing world and the faith we must cultivate as indiviuals, families and soceties in order to make the world a better place. The Passion of the Christ (according to Matthew) was recited by the priest and two other youth group members.

Another highlight/low emotional threshold occurred when the youth vocal trio performed Psalm 77. Whoa. Don't cry, Erika, don't cry, you're in the middle of church! It's been one of those weeks.

Well, there is something so comforting in the Psalms. They are so universal in the beauty and suffering of mankind. Gosh, I'm glad I went to church! Almost wrote "damn" instead of "gosh" but that sentence just wouldn't be quite right given the context. Hmmmm...

After Mass ended, I checked out the beautiful artwork downstairs. They always have the coolest worldy artwork on display. I love that place. Cool bookshop/giftshop, too. I swear this place is the center of the universe sometimes, haha. It rocks.

Came home. Made another Erika Klus grilled Goat cheese creation: two Fat Flush Tortillas by French Meadow Bakery with goat brie. It was greasy and messy but feels so much better than eating it with processed Kraft American cheese and Wonderbread, heehee. Apricot applesauce preceded this and fresh pineapple followed a about one half hour later.

And after a long, full day, here I am, ready for bed. Ready for the other "half" of the week (an accidental nine day work marathon was scheduled but it's been OK thus far....).

May peace be with you throughout Holy Week no matter who or what you believe in this universe.

OK, my life is finally getting organized. I don't know what it is, but suddenly things just started to click again. One of (wo)man's greatest pleasures has to be organizing the sock drawer. But there is so much discomfort in finding unmatched socks. I don't know what it is....something about the incompleteness and loneliness of that sock missing its mate. OK, here's some sock poetry....

Something so pathetic

About envisioning

Yourself as that lone sock,

Sitting in the

Singles drawer of life

With a bunch of other

Single loser socks full of

Holes in the heals

That don't match with you.

Unused, unloved,

Ready for Goodwill

Or.....the trash can.

I'm sorry, too much dark comedy as of late. That sounded like it could have come from a movie or something.

Anyway, hey, let's lighten up this blog a bit and talk about food, the reason for having a blog in the first place. I had a mini-breakfast of an organic Bartlett pear. One of our technicians slept in and was going to be a bit late for work. His punishment: pick us all up some burritos from chipotle. Well, we all had burritos. I almost always the vegetarian fajita burrito. Yum!

I got home took a little nap. Not something I usually do but boy did I need it! Later, ate a fat flush tortilla grilled with Goat milk Gouda. Not bad! It needed something. Lettuce or veggies or something. I can't quite figure it out.

Well, I think I'm going to get to bed now. It's seriously time. Ugh. Late nights, not good for As!

Wednesday was my O husband and mine’s wedding anniversary. The weather was overcaste and rainy, and, I was glad of it. We really need the rain here. Cooler weather is nicer for snuggling up in front of the fireplace while watching the movie The Quiet Man with John Wayne and Maureen O’Hara. We also did go out to celebrate as planned. And neither one of us got sick off of any of our food later on because of having eaten too many avoids or for any other reason for that matter (always a plus)! So, where did we go?

We made the drive to Portland to my all time favorite restaurant: Greek Cusina. If you would like to take a look at what the place is like, they have a nice online site: www.greekcusina.com

What else has been going on since my last blog? Without getting into any details, I can tell you that if you are under an unusually large amount of stress that Tranquility Base should seriously be considered. It does deliver.

With regard to Easter: why am I serving a lamb roast when I have an A to serve? Just because salmon is still $$$ doesn’t mean I have to serve anyone an avoid. Answer: In our family, we do not observe the BTD on major occasions unless the individual so chooses to. There are just too many emotional ties to food and tradition to make it worth making a fuss about. My A loves lamb and has chosen to have lamb. But, he will only be having it for one meal for that one day. After that, it’s good-bye lamb for him.

For today’s AB recipe ideas there’s revamped burritos, tacos, and quesadillas. Yes, I know we AB's can have burritos and quesadillas without messing with them, but I feel these are just too good not to mention:

Chanur’s Rabbit Burritos Supreme:

sour cream (check for hidden avoids)

shredded (or chopped) lettuce(s) of choice

seeded & cored Roma tomatoes

lots of chopped fresh cilantro (I wouldn’t advise the dried type for this recipe)

combo of grated or shredded mild Cheddar and Monterey Jack cheeses

chopped onion (green, red, yellow, white, or any combo of them - I like red onions best for this)

chopped pitted olives (optional)

spelt tortillas (check the fine print for hidden avoids)

warm mashed pinto beans that have been seasoned with garlic, chili powder, cumin, etc.

boneless, skinless rabbit meat that has been seasoned with chili powder and grilled

Warm the tortillas in a pan until they are soft/pliable. Fill with the assorted toppings and meat. “Glue” together with sour cream. I prefer a glass of beer instead of wine with this.

Chanur’s Soft Fish Tacos:

boneless, skinless cod or red snapper filets grilled (or baked) with chili powder, garlic, cumin, etc.

chopped, seeded & cored tomato, drain it well if it's still kinda watery

chopped onion (any type will do, I prefer to use yellow or white if they are avail.)

chopped cilantro

combo of mild Cheddar and Monterey Jack cheeses, shredded or grated

finely shredded green cabbage

aioli (mayo flavored with garlic) with a bit of chili powder added to it

spelt tortillas

Warm the tortillas and fill them with the warm cod and other toppings. Serve with sides of Spanish rice (no bell peppers, cook rice in veggie broth not chicken broth) and pineapple tidbits. I like these with a glass of Maryhill's sauvignon blanc.

There's another recipe that I would like to share with you here, but cannot because it's not my own and I didn't have to change even one single ingredient. I didn't find this recipe, it's from my B brother who first made them for me one afternoon. He got the recipe from one of his cookbooks otherwise I'd just ask him for permission to share the recipe with you. I can give you the general idea though and you can most likely figure it out for yourself. It's tuna quesadillas. Hints: use cream cheese instead of Cheddar or Monterey Jack & lose the tomato product. I like 'em with a beer.

Happy Friday!

Alaska’s 1000 mile Iditarod race was won today by a Norwegian man in 9 days, 18 hours, and I don’t know how many minutes. He also won last year’s race. I do believe that the legally blind 18 year of girl is still racing onward and determined to finish.

They determined that the whale that washed up on the bank of the river this week was a humpback calf. It was only 27 feet long. Scientists from the Seward Sea Life Center came to take tissue samples for a necropsy. One of the men said it's heart was as big as his entire chest cavity and torso and he is 6’3” tall. Now, the coyotes, eagles, ravens, sea gulls, and other carnivores will make fairly short work of the carcass. When I drove past today, I could already see a lot of the skeleton.

Well, I’ll be heading farther north soon, so I’ve begun making “food” (aka spaghetti with rice noodles) that is easy to reheat and eat, and ground beef jerky for instant protein. I still have to gather some more Ezekiel bread and sandwich makings, and fruits and vegetables for munchies. My guys should be able to manage successfully for a couple days.

I hope that the mild weather pattern we’ve had for the past week will continue on for another week or so. It’ll make our trip and walking around town much more pleasant if it doesn’t turn back into the normal March weather pattern. Till next time…

Ok....not the healthiest BTD choice but w/ St. Patrick's day, I figure a few of us will be drinking..... I SURE AS h*** will !!! LOL!!! Anyways....(slowly regains composure), a few days ago, we were at a brunch that gave out a few free alcholic drinks. White wine isn't too healthy for us but ORANGE JUICE is even worse in my opinion (digestive wise of everybody, not necessarily vitamin wise....) so I asked if she could substitute it with grapefruit juice. DELICIOUS!!! You might be thinking "Oh....but I'm on a diet, if I screw up, I might as well screw up all the way...."

That's simply not true....

You really ARE what you eat. If you decide to have a peice of devil's food cake, are you going to eat the whole torte? If you have a Snickers bar, does that mean you're going to buy the whole box from a 4th grader doing a fundraiser? Heck no! We have something called RESTRAINT & you can use it with BTD (Blood Type Diet) too!

So, even though, I was having a mimosa, it was only half as bad. And I didn't get a tummy ache half an hour latter from the OJ either. :-) When possible, substitute what you can or take things out. For the brunch itself, I had a monte cristo sandwhich with turkey, swiss & told them to hold the ham. I also asked for sweet potato fries insted of steak fries. Coincidentaly (sp?) all the O's LOVED the grapefruit mimosa & started ordering them. I've started a trend.....if only I were this popular in middle school!!! Sweet potato fries were also a big hit over the steak fries that languished on everyone else's plate.

So, just b/c you're going to have something fried, it doesn't mean it can't be kinda healthy for you.....or at the very least compliant.

Cheers Everyone! Join me at Croxley's in Long Island if you all want 20 cent wings (all you lucky O's & A's) & $3 Irish coffees!!!! I'll be gnawshing on the yam fries as usual..... :-) They also have a LAMB special on St. Paddy's day at this pub.....yummmm!!!!

Mood: Chamomille/green tea

Music: The Cure - Greatest Hits





It is well know to sience that certain parasites have the ability to control the host that they live off of... Science has no idea how this works. There are parasites that infect ants, the ant then climbs to the top of the highest plant around and sits there, completley paralyzed, untill it is eaten by a bird. Once in the bird, the parasite can evolve to it's adult form.

There is another parasite that does a remarkably similar thing to nocturnal slugs. The slug comes out during the day, when it is normally inactive and safe underground, when birds are active, and sits still on a leaf, waiting to be eaten by a bird.

Again, there is a parasite that infects ocean fish, they summarily swim around in circles at the waters surface, waiting to be eaten by a larger animal.

It is my hyopthesis, that when humans have imbalanced flora levels, a nasty overgrowth of Candida, or some sort of parasite infection, that we tend to "crave" certain foods, in certain amounts that sustain the infestation...

Someone with systemic candida, will tend to crave wine and honey, mushrooms, syrups, and other sugary, predigested, and fermented foods...

Parasites may make us tend to crave highly acidic and low-oxygen foods.... To support the environment that they thrive in.

How do they do it? I don't really care, to telll you the truth.. He he... It's just an idea... It is my belief that all living creatures have the will to survive. It is this "will", this "intention", that enables the manipulation of the energy and space around it. The intention of one tiny 'lil bit candida albicans pales in comparison to the intention of a human being. But how about the will and intention of a severe systemic overgrowth? Interesting, if not logical...

Of course, this alone is not 100% responsible (if even 1%) for any sort of craving... One must take into account the health of the liver, colon, pancreas, intestines, cells, mineral/electrolyte balance, etc. Malapsorption can lead to overeating, wich in turn leads to insulin spikes, wich in turn lead to sugar and fat cravings, etc., etc. (see the Ask Miranda colimn for more info) Vicious cycle, eh?

Well... I just thought that I'd throw that out there. Thinking about it lately...

On a BTD note. I have given up coffee (two months ago) I just decided a few hours ago to give up all flour (rice, spelt, whatever, as of tomorrow. I suppose that I'll eat it once in a while if I'm at a friends or a restaurant. I'll eat it if it's fresh grond by yours truly too... Say I have a bunch of amaratnth and I throw some in the coffe grinder. Fresh. You get the idea.

So... What does that leave me with. Vegetables, legumes, nuts and seeds, fruits, whole and fresh ground grains, oils, and tons 'o' seasonins'. Done and done, baby. 'Tis just how I like it.

Try this if you get a chance. It makes a delicious 'chocolate shake"...

2 Tbsp flax (linseed) seeds.

1 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder

1 Tbsp nutritional yeast

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ginger powder

Throw all of the above into a coffee grinder. Grind it to fine powder. Mix it with about 8 oz water. More or less, sepending how thick you like it. Soy milk can be used for an even creamier mix. Or try rice milk...

Anyway... Mix the heck out of it with a fork as it has a tendency to clump. Let it sit untill it's nice 'n soaked (10 minutes or so). Now... Mix in a Tbsp of vegetable glycerin or an acceptable sweetener. My favorite is Frontier alcohol free vanilla flavoring (vegetable glycerin-water-vanilla). You could also try raw honey, organic maple syrup, agave nectar, etc. Or if you don't have any vegetable glycerin (go get some!), and you are avoiding sugars (good idea!) Just try using a couple of drops of vanilla or almond extract. Enjoy tour shake! It fantiddlyastic! Scrumptulescent even!

Peace be with you friends. May your tolerance for terrible writing and spelling/grammar errors be high~

My family and I are back from a 2 week vacation from the "Happy Land of Excess" or Orlando, Florida. My whole family was shocked at how large the people are. My kids are pretty lean and not exceptionally tall but they said they looked like "runts" compared to the American and British children we saw at the beaches, parks and swimming pools.

There is definitely an obesity crisis in the US that is starting to reach Canada. Because we had a condo and could cook, I spent some time in the grocery stores and was amazed at what people bought. The vast majority of them bought huge bags of "snack foods", chips, pop (soda), pretzels, cheezies and chocolate. There were very few vegetables to be seen, lots of juice type drinks, very little or no meat.

We had to wait in lines to get on rides, and families would share a Costco size of chips among 4. The chips would be gone in 20 minutes and then the kids would be whining for ice cream. My oldest son is almost 14 and asked me why none of the girls had "flat stomachs" like they have at home. I said too many chips, and not enough exercise. I noticed that many of the teenagers and older children spent their days lying around the pools rather than swimming, playing tennis or basketball.

Almost every newscast had reports on the "obesity crisis" every night but no solutions on how to solve it. Many of the children in the reports had such bad habits instilled in them, that anything that was not sugar laden was unpalatable. I wonder if these children and their parents will ever be able to get on a Blood Type Diet or will they find the food so different they will be unable to change

As I just got done viewing the exquisite art film, "Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle," I thought it was only appropriate to entitle this blog in the movie's reflection. Man, that was a funny, funny movie. Really dumb, but worth every minute of my relatively short life on this earth. It truly reminds me of the fun I COULD have been having in college had I not applied myself and taken it so seriously.

Unlike Harold and Kumar, White Castle food was not on my craving list. I was craving veggies all day long actually. And oh how yummy those veggies can be.

I had my carpet cleaned today and the chemical smell is absolutely disgusting. I seriously think it's going to affect my offspring! What the heck do they use in that stuff??? Needless to say, I spent many hours with the window open just to air it all out! Next time I have that done, I'll make sure I'm out of town for the week! Yikes!

One of my favorite pastimes as of late is the innocent flirting with the guys in the fish market (if for no other reason, to ensure the receipt of the freshest fish). I don't know what it is, but it seems that whenever I go into a store with a fresh fish section, there are always some nice young men trying to get me to take their fish out of the case (don't read too far into that one). Out of all the dudes (e.g. the produce dudes, the meat dudes, the deli dudes, and the check-out dudes), the fish dudes seem to always be the friendliest and most flirtatious. Hmmmm.....why is that?

Well, finally purchased and downloaded the complete U2 collection on iTunes. Will I put them all on my iPod (which I also finally charged up after receiving it for xmas)? Perhaps, for now, it's fun to just get back into the year 2005 where 12 year olds everywhere have a better grasp on the technology than I do.

Speaking of which, going back home to Iowa, I have almost given up on the six remote controls needed to operate my family's stereo/digitalcable/vcr/dvd/tv, etc. I just want to be able to turn to channel 36 and watch Food Network, but now there are all these crazy buttons and this needs to be on that channel and then you go to this menu and this menu and then...

Yeah, OK, I have the $12 cable here in MPLS. I have maybe 30 channels, most of which are crap. I could certainly afford the upgrade, but really, why? You can subscribe to 300 channels and still find nothing to watch. Plus, here in the cities, you really don't need to pay and arm and a leg for good shows. All you have to do is turn to the public access channels and I guarantee you, you will be thoroughly amused...from drag queens to bible beaters to elementary school talent shows to Somali talk shows....everything is right here in the city.

If I didn’t know better, I’d say that spring has sprung. Our 10 foot high snow pile has dwindled to about five feet tall. The highway easement sections reached by the sun are sprouting dead and dried grasses, but hey, it is ground not covered by either snow or ice! And, someone has cut pussy willows! But, it is still just the first half of March and really unlikely to maintain these temperatures for very much longer. However, we will certainly enjoy them for however long we are able. This early reprieve should help the moose find more browse, too, which should keep the mortality rate down.

As I was leaving to take my son to work, I heard some ravens making a ruckus so I looked up into the tall spruce surrounding our home. In the middle tree perched a large bald eagle checking out the chicken house. The chickens weren’t in much danger as their yard is covered with leftover fish netting from a commercial salmon site. The netting does a good job protecting the poultry from both eagles and owls.

A carcass of a 23 foot baleen whale washed up near our bridge this week. I’m not sure of the species and the tide took it out before a determination of species was made. We often have toothed whales in the inlet and river, but a baleen whale in these waters is very unusual. Baleen whales are often found on the other side of the peninsula.

This week’s food treasure is homemade ground beef jerky. The information and recipe was found on the forum and posted by Don. I could hardly wait for the jerky gun to arrive and then turn four pounds of ground beef into jerky. I finally had to hide a bag of it from my type A husband! He really doesn’t believe that beef and especially jerky that tastes that good could be bad for him! He can ferret out almost any food I hide. When I finish this, I plan on snacking on a few pieces of jerky IF he hasn’t already found it and finished it off.

Sure do enjoy that opportunity to learn from others and have some input myself. If you haven’t been to the forum, click on the recent threads button and check it out. See what you can learn.

Well, it's been a sobering last few weeks in the BTD world. My mom sent in her secretor status sample to be tested, but it was purchased so long ago that she didn't realize DHL was supposed to come out to pick it up. Hopefully it doesn't sit out too long and hopefully the post office knows what to do with it if they cannot deliver it...

My little sister has been told all her life that she is an O by my mom. She was always quite happy about this because she enjoys all my dad's red meat cooking. Since she is a smoker we also assumed she is an O. Well, in her biology class she tested as an A and the test kit I bought for her also found her an A. This has been very tough news for her. She accepted and liked being an O. Well, knowing how much she despises exercise besides dancing, her A status is not THAT surprising to me now.

Grubster tested his secretor status and is indeed an O secretor as I had always suspected based on his amazing metabolism and hearty immune system. I thought, hey, that's good. Now when I cook for him, I can focus on O secretor/A non-secretor combo meals. There are enough similarites with these two groups that cooking for two can be done with ease...

Just ate a nice meal of sesame kale and palak dal (mashed lentils) served over brown rice. I've grown very accustomed to obtaining water from the Wedge or Whole Foods instead of using tap water for tea, drinks, etc. Eventually if and when I own my own place I'll have a water filtration/reverse osmosis system installed so that I don't have to keep lugging water back and forth. Till then I don't mind so much.

My family saw Billy Joel's dance/musical "Moving Out" this weekend in Des Moines. I loved it. It's very similar to the Shapiro and Smith production with Bruce Springsteen's music that I saw back in fall....at least in its concept. I welcome the direction theater is taking these days. Dancing to live or other modern hits to tell a story, wow. This was an excellent way for Billy Joel to leave his legacy.

Did anyone catch Ashley Smith on CNN? Did anyone else cry along with her as she told her hostage story? What an amazing outcome that she is blessed to live to tell. This is one of the most healing "breaking news" stories I've seen in a long time. Perhaps we will see more miracles like this highlighted.

This is a pun, you see.....the subject of this blog is errata by Erika....so naturally when you combine the two words, you end up with erratika!

The errata I wish to mention is my misquoting the author of the Maker's Diet in my previous blog. I listed the author as Rubenstein vs. the correct name: Rubin. Sorry Jordan, or any followers of this Diet philosophy for incorrectly quoting your diet guru. I have since edited that entry to reflect the correct name!

There is much talk about how BTD relates to the Bible in the forum section of this webpage....it's very fascinating....something I myself have touched on a few times in my blogs. I would suggest to anyone browsing this website to visit the forums. They are very much alive and well and full of many cool people who are passionate about nutrigenomics, both laypersons and scientists alike!

After listening to both audiobooks "Angels and Demons" and "The DaVinci Code" I am amazed what can be accomplished in the world when science and religion work together rather than fight. The concepts these two books are breathtaking sometimes. I love the concept of integration. And synergy. "Yeah, man, synergy...."(sometimes at moments like these I wish I was a carefree teenage stoner dude because it would sound so much cooler coming out of the mouth of some young dude guy, haha.)

This past week I went from eating very, very healthful food to very, very unhealthful food in a matter of hours....more on this at a later time....the beast must sleep now. She has some serious drugs to deal in the morning. Hmmm.... all my life, going from watching Boyz in Da Hood and listening to Ice Cube in high school, never had I imagined doing this type of work for a living, haha....legally of course. (OK, kids, if you are reading this, pharmacy is cool, but it's not THAT cool; it's a lot of hard work and you spend more time dealing with insurance than you do in helping people get better sometimes!!!)

Wow! It is 41 degrees F and not even the middle of March. The weather forecast is for temperatures to remain like this for at least the next five days! The snow is rotting and melting at a rapid pace. Puddles all over the place, too. We still have about four inches of ice on our driveway with puddles of water afloat. When out and about there is a noticeable lack of winter jackets or any jackets for that matter. It feels as though we are having a very early breakup.

I’m certainly not getting my hopes up too high about an earlier than usual breakup. I’ve lived in Alaska for 41 of the past 46 years. This is most likely a teaser but whatever it is, real or imagined, it is a nice change to winter weather. It is an optimistic reminder that winter does fade away each year.

Next week we are to travel to Fairbanks where my husband will receive a very special award for his help with transitioning Alaskan Native males coming in from the villages into a prison system. He did that for 20 years before retiring 15 months ago. Fairbanks is about 550 miles from home and we will likely be driving through some really bad weather and road conditions both directions. We could take planes, but I really don’t want to go through the hassle of the airports’ infringement of my body and privacy. Boy, am I showing my age. So, I’ll drive the distance two days, each way.

I’m already planning my picnic basket of BTD foods to take along for snacks, beverages and meals. I’m finding it more and more necessary to avoid wheat and dairy. If I want to sleep without waking often due to stuffiness and severe drainage (both, although I don’t know how you can be both stuffy and draining) I must stay away from both wheat and dairy (except for butter). I’m going to need my sleep for this trip.

I wonder how many other people we know from up north that I'll be able to tell about the BTD? Well, there's Chad, Amy, Miranda,.....

My family grocery shopping is rarely ever done all at the same store. It is also done more than once a week for the simple fact that our ‘fridge cannot hold all the veggies that are needed for four people for seven days. My employer’s building is not far from a Whole Foods and there are several “regular” groceries along the way on my way home.

The cashier where we normally buy the lion’s share of our produce has seen us enough times that we recognize each other now. While she was ringing up our items, curiosity finally got the best of her. She asked me what kind of pet we had. I told her a cat. She looked completely puzzled. After further discussion, it came out that she thought all the produce that we regularly buy was for some sort of an exotic vegetarian pet...oh, dear.

A few days later, when I was at a different store and the gal was ringing us up ‘n’ out she mentioned how delicious everything looked and asked what I had planned to make with the Jarlsberg specifically. After I told her, she asked what special occasion it was for. I asked her what she was talking about and she said all the food I was buying...especially the Jarlsberg. I told her no special occasion - that it was just our regular food. She was completely amazed that people really do still actually cook for non-special-occasions and the fact that it was on a weeknight too really threw her a curve. Yikes!

If this is what my dry goods and produce suppliers were thinking then I would hate to imagine what the place where I get our animal based proteins are thinking...

All of this implied “eat anything from a box - it’s fine” brought this next event to my mind. It happened awhile back when I was over at the mall. I was approached by a woman who wanted to give me a free sample of the “all natural weight loss aid” she was selling. Now, first of all, I do realize that I am obviously overly fat...but it just seems like it’s rather insulting to just walk up to people like that...let us come to them. You couldn’t miss the kiosk in the middle of the walkway.

There was no way I was interested in her product, but out of sheer curiosity, I asked her what was in it. She had no clue, but assured me that it was perfectly harmless because it was all 100% natural and went into her pitch. Then she tried to hand me my free sample again. I turned her down. She asked me why and got just flat out obnoxious about it this time. That did it. I told her that hemlock was 100% natural as well, but that didn’t mean that I wanted to drink any. She just looked at me mystified. I walked on.

All of this lovely weather has finally gotten to me. Yesterday, a strong urge to grill came upon me while I was peacefully eating my tuna panini at lunch. That solved what I was going to have later for supper. Yes, I know grilling = carcinogens from the smoke. Well, that’s one of the reasons I own a caste iron grill pan. The other reason is I live in the Pacific NW and it’s normally raining and you can’t use a standard grill even if you want to. That’s also why I have a grill plank for use in my oven, but that’s another meal entirely.

The meal finally shook out with: onion rings with aioli sauce (garlic-y mayo), grilled scallops alternated with thick half moon cuts of zucchini and yellow squash ‘kabobs on a small bed of onion rice pilaf with sides of steamed broccoli & cauliflower (no cauliflower for the O’s) and spelt pasta dressed with manchego & mozzarella, olive oil, Italian seasonings and garlic powder. It probably sounds like too much grain with the pilaf and the pasta, but the pilaf really wasn’t very much. It was a way to use up some leftovers and make the skewers look a little nicer than just sitting on their platter.

The sauvignon blanc was from New Zealand: Whitehaven’s Marlborough 2004. It’s very grapefruit-y. If you would like to try it, it’ll cost you about $12/bottle. Yes, it’s more than my $10/bottle maxium price range at the moment, but I’m currently drinking less than one glass a day so the same amount of overall cash that is coming out of the grocery funds is actually less. No, the O's didn't get any of it, white wine isn't a good idea for them.

The O’s had crabcakes instead of scallop ‘kabobs. The A preferred to make his own, which was a tofu item. Yes, folks, you read that correctly! My A preferred to make his own, which was a tofu item! WOW! I could type that a third time it was so amazing, but I won’t. I am so happy for this change in him. Desserts were spelt bread-pudding with hazelnut glaze for the O’s & A (yes, technically this meal was too much grain for the O’s, but they liked it anyway) and lemon cheesecake pour moi.

On the horizion: Next week (Wednesday) my hushand and I will celebrate our anniversary. We are planning on going out. I got our lamb roast ordered for Easter. It gets picked up on Good Friday so it can start marinating. I thought about doing a salmon and halibut braid this year, but since Easter is so early this year the salmon would have to be the frozen type. The flash frozen isn’t nearly as healthy (the polymines are upped from the flash freezing process) as waiting for the fresh sometime in April.

I recently turned 41 and usually that signals me to visit my doctor for my yearly physical. Last year, I actually skipped my physical…I was feeling so good at the time (not saying I don’t feel the same now) I think I totally forgot I was 40. Anyway, when a male turns 40, it signals your doctor to start talking about your prostate (A walnut (beneficial for all)-sized gland tucked away under the bladder and adjacent to the rectum), and prostate cancer. After about 10 minutes of listening to my doctor give me a brief synopsis while pointing to a poster of the male anatomy, he ran through some stats and risks and reasons why it should be checked every year.

Here’s the rundown on it…Prostate cancer is the most common type of cancer found in American men, other than skin cancer. The American Cancer Society estimates that there will be about 230,900 new cases of prostate cancer in the United States in the year 2004. About 29,900 men will die of this disease. Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in men, exceeded only by lung cancer. While 1 man in 6 will get prostate cancer during his lifetime, only 1 man in 32 will die of this disease. The death rate for prostate cancer is going down. And the disease is being found earlier as well. There are 2 screening tests for prostate cancer. They are a blood test called a prostate specific antigen (PSA) test and digital rectal examination (DRE), examination of the prostate by a doctor using his or her finger (for the guys reading this who have yet to have a DRE and are wincing… get over it, there is no pain involved)

A high PSA level (above 4 is usually considered high) generally indicates some form of prostate disease. The PSA test will tell you that there might be a problem with the prostate gland, but not necessarily that you have prostate cancer. As many as two-thirds of men with a high PSA level will turn out not to have prostate cancer, and some men with a normal PSA will have prostate cancer.

In the DRE test, If the doctor finds something suspicious, such as an enlargement, a lump, or any irregularity in the shape or texture of the prostate, further tests will be carried out. According to my doctor, the DRE test is not very accurate and will miss many early prostate cancers (he got me to dish out $27.00 to get the PSA test done)

If your doctor suspects that you may have prostate cancer after doing a PSA test or DRE, you will usually be referred to a specialist doctor called an urologist.

The urologist may recommend that you have a biopsy to find out whether it is cancer. A biopsy involves having very small pieces of your prostate taken out by a needle so it can be checked under a microscope. To find out if the cancer has spread a bone scan or special x-ray known as a computerized tomography (CT) scan, may be taken.

Anyway, my prostate tests came out normal as well as the tests for blood pressure, blood sugar, white cell count, cholesterol, which were all within the low end of the acceptable ranges. It makes me feel good to know that the choices I make as to what goes into my mouth, works.

In my last blog, I had made mention that I’m only responsible for my own well being and growth and hopefully people close to me can see it and will genuinely want to know the ‘how’ or ‘why’. Well someone close to me (I’ve been seeing an O for the last 4 months) has been suffering from arthritis for many years. She was a former ballet dancer with the National Ballet of Canada and all those years of dancing obviously did a number on her knees. She has been taking supplements (one was Chondroitin, which actually makes the inflation worse for type O’s) and icing her knees down after working out or teaching dance. I Picked up Dr D’s Arthritis book for her and she started on the recommendations immediately. The diet for her was not too hard to adhere to. She is not a wheat eater because her mom is celiac so she grew up without eating it much. It’s also been easy that I’m an O and when we share a meal it’s 90 to 100% O compliant for both of us. I’m happy to say that after three weeks on the diet (staying away from the usual avoids as well as night shade vegetables, coupled with an anti inflammation and arthritis protocol of supplements for type O’s), she has not felt any pain in her knees. Even after she went to her Physiotherapist for her routine of strengthening her knees, her knees did not ache…In her words,’ I feel like I have a new lease on life’ (words from somehow who attributed her pain free state the first two weeks on the diet to the ‘placebo’ effect)

Lastly…from time to time I’ll buy some of the ERFYBT supplements and this time I picked up Harmonia Deluxe (a green superfood) and I must say if you need a mental/energy boost in the afternoon, get some of this stuff. You’ll likely give up the afternoon or morning caffeine fix. It’s great for those on the run a lot and for those who find it hard to have the daily recommended amount of fruits and vegetables. Tastes all right too even when mixed with water.

Music: Depeche Mode ~ Freestate

Mood:Ylang Ylang



Ahhhh yeeeah.... The Asian Market.You gota love it. For the simple fact that they have stuff there that you would NEVER find anywhere else. Duck heads? Check... Beef tendon? Check... Aged, fermented goose egg? Got it... No less than 10 different kinds of fish powder ? Yup...

Would I eat any of the above? Wellllll... No...

You can find a lot of rariries, oddities, and abominations... But... Be careful! Most of it is LOADED with sugar, preservatives, salt (not sea salt),colorings, and whatever else you can think of...

Of course... Occasionaly you do find a gem. Frozen Jack fruit (type A super beneficial)? Got it...

Every kind of rice noodle ever made? Check... Soba (100% buckwheat)with no added wheat flour? It's here. Maitake, shitake, and every other kind of mushroom? Done... All kinds of different miso? You guessed it. Enticing insence, okra, bitter gourd, Chinese celery, durian, mangosteen, asian pear, pommelo, longan berry, did I mention Jack Fruit!? Wheat free soy sauces, shoyu, and tamari... Go and get some!

Tonight for dinner I had steamed okra tossed with soybean noodles (funky) and kombu seaweed. Yum! Seasoned with soem miso, turmeric, red wine, water, mustartd powder,a nd ginger. Delicious... Oh yeah, and GHEE!

Did ya' know? That kombu seaweed contains enzymes that assist in breaking down the fibers in more fibrous veggies and legumes? Makes them much more easily digested and assimilated. Try soaking your beans with a bit of kombu, or, just adding it to your favorite foods. Taste like a delicious mix between... Well... Ocean water... And... Sumthin' else... I dunno. It's good though! While your at it, try some nori, dulse, wakame, kelp... Gotta catch 'em all! Great sources of iodine, enzymes, minerals, vitamins, phytochemicals, etc.

Still jammin' vegan style... save for the occasional gelatin in a capsule, and ghee (if you can consider it an an animal food as it contains NO protein, milk solids, etc.) I am animal free. No. I don't believe everyone, or every "A" should be a vegetarian, 'tis just a choice I made that I believe is the best for me at this time. Follow your nose, go with your gut. Be well. Love and light your way~

Not spell checkin' this campers... Typin' way too fast and carelessly as I gotta go to bed!

A friend of mine sent along a news item a week or so ago which was very fascinating. Research done recently in the U.S. shows there is a link between junk food diets containing additives and disturbed or hyperactive behaviour. (This came from a news item, and the research is not cited, so please don’t ask for particulars.) One study showed that children are significantly less likely to acquire a criminal record as they grow up, if they have been fed an enriched diet from a young age. In Britain, they have discovered that boosting young offenders' diets with supplements reduced disciplinary incidents - such as attacks on fellow inmates and officers, or breaking prison rules - by a third. While prison menus did offer healthy options, the researchers found that inmates avoided them in favour of a diet of junk food that left them deprived of nutrients. Further research is planned for a larger group of young offenders to examine the effect of good food and vitamin supplementation will have on reoffending rates.

It is, of course, very interesting that behaviour and nutrition are so closely linked. It is something that those of us on the BTD more easily observe in our families and daily life: the well nourished and well behaved youngsters vs. the junk food eating youngsters who act out as a matter of course. Often, the youngsters who eat junk food are also the ones who border on being obese or are actually obese.

It is encouraging to note that more and more people are noticing that eating proper food affects everything they attempt to do in life, and that this awareness is spreading around the world. I believe that this is the beginning of a more refined awareness of how the blood type diet comes into play for each of us, and how it affects our performance in daily life.

We sometimes get lost in psychological approaches to life, forgetting that some things can be solved in a much simpler and very practical way. A lot of guilt can be diminished or eliminated if we could remember this as we go about our lives. Instead of feeling guilty about various mind trips, just eat a salad and take some vitamins! Ergo! Problem solved. Next patient, please!

Today is the actual beginning of the Iditarod Sled Dog Race of over 1,000 miles. This year’s field is quite diverse. One musher became age-eligible to race by turning 18 on Friday; another is 64 years old. Several countries are represented and there is a legally blind, young woman participating, too. She will have another musher staying close and in wireless radio contact with her to help her maneuver through some of the really rough terrain, avoid low-hanging branches, or eluding a moose on the trail. The race will take 9-12 days for all to cross the finish line in Nome.

There was a 10 mile preliminary start in Anchorage yesterday with the official start to begin today at Willow, a hundred miles above Anchorage. It is always fun to watch the dogs as they prepare to leave on any race whether sprint or long distance. The dogs are so excited they can’t be still. They yap and leap with anticipation and eagerness. They love to race! There is nothing they would rather do than be out on the trail.

One of the “riders” in the preliminary start was an 81 year old woman who was one of those in Nome to receive the diphtheria serum that was transported there by dog teams during the epidemic. She’s the last surviving recipient of the serum run, too. The cry for help came by telegraph and serum had to be shipped by boat to Seward. That Iditarod trail ran from Seward to Nome and several dog teams were used for that delivery, much like the pony express. Today’s Iditarod race is a commemorative of that dramatic first run.

My oldest daughter called from Anchorage this morning at 6:15. “Mom, are you awake?” she asked. “Yes” I answered. “Good. You’ve gotta go outside and see the northern lights! They are absolutely spectacular and the best I’ve seen in a long time.” Got up, put on my robe and went to see the vivid display. Unfortunately, we had haze and I could only see some of the brightness towards the north. Oh, well. I’m glad she wanted to share the beauty with me, anyway, even if it was a bit on the early side.

Well, today’s special treat was a big batch of fresh vegetable juice made with a variety of really good root veggies. The boys and I enjoyed large glasses of fresh juice over ice. You know it’s a good juice when the teenagers come into the kitchen to get some before it’s finished being made! Never lasts for more than 10 minutes!

Grrrrr......I want to write blogs almost solely on food but today I need to rant.

First off - I made the big mistake of going to a Mexican dinner party with no flour tortillias. Everything was corn. I brought a can of refried beans but that didn't help with all the corn chips & corn taco shells. I've had a dorito every now & then, usually to have a stomach ache later but this was awful. Diahrreah (sp) like you wouldn't imagine & the worst tummy ache ever. Last time I eat corn, EVER again. Never that much. I think I had maybe a dozen tortilla chips and a taco shell filled with refried beans (beneficial) lettuce (neutral) tomatoes (nuetral) & cheddar cheese (neutral). Unlike Pedro, this was not a "holy chip" - in the movie, Pedro must be an A then....LOL!!! If you haven't seen the deleted scenes of "Napolean Dynamite" on the DVD & you like deadpan humor; definately check it out. I cracked up with my husband all night long. :-)

In case you haven't noticed, I really haven't been blogging much or been on the forums. Our DDR workout is going great but exercising for an hour 3-4 days a week does take away from computer time. The good news is, starting this summer, around late July, I'm quiting my job and staying at home for a while. It's not until you have a place & start living with someone that you realize how much there is to do. Worse part is, I actually like house work and get a sense of great accomplishment doing it but never have the time. And our place is small. If you've ever lived in a small place, you understand that they are actually harder to keep clean than a large place. Don't ask me how but, my family has proved this theory right over and over again :-)

So, this summer (end of June, after gradutation) I will stop teaching, start fixing all the meals & doing laundry & the like. And once I get a system down, start my own business from home. I've always wanted to do that and I'm fortunate that my husband actually brought up the idea. I'd been toying with wanting to be a house wife for like 8 months & then one day, as I was complaining about my job, he said "I wouldn't mind if you stayed at home & did all the work around here that needs to get done." Totally different response from when we first started dating but I'm not about to look a gift horse in the mouth!

My friends, all in their 20's, think I'm crazy. I mean, who becomes a homemaker now a days? Especially without kids? They just don't get it, I think mainly b/c they're still living at home & don't realize how much there parents actually still do for them. I know it won't be all fun and games but I'm willing to give it a try for the summer. Since we eat out a lot & Carlos gets his shirts pressed, we're hoping to save a little money just on that. And if I grocery shop once a week & only buy the things we're going to fix, that will save a lot too. (Will get weekends off, Carlos says everyone needs a break, even house wifes :-) At least I won't be stressed out by anyone but myself :-) And of course, this means more time for blogging! Yeahhhhhhh!!!! And having the time to fix all sorts of compliant meals. Double yeahhhhh!

But, since I do go to work tomorrow, I better get moving on this day.....still too much to do & too little time. Oh, I can't wait for the summer.......

PS - Carlos allergies have really been acting up. Unfortunately he's not as BTD as I am (Still eating pork, coffee, wheat & the like that bad O.....) so, I've been reading up about how pet dander sticks to the walls & how they should be washed every few weeks if you have severe allergies. And my friends think I'll be "bored"....yeah, right!

This has been a rather hectic week. We’ve enjoyed some beautiful, mild weather to give us just a hint of what’s to come in another month or so. We’re nearly up to 11 hours of daylight and today’s high temperature was at 41 degrees F. The ten foot high snow mounds have decreased in size to about nine feet…not a great amount but at least on the downward trend. The ground snow cover is probably slightly over two feet in depth. It won’t be long until breakup when everything is a dirty brown, very wet and still weeks away from the first bit of green. Then spring will burst forth, sometime between mid-May and mid-June.

I babysat for two of my grandchildren this morning (ages 4 & 5). During that time we had a nice discussion about eating fresh foods as often as we can. We talked about the vitamins and minerals in the foods we eat and how they help them to grow. I introduced a new word to them too. It was “enzymes” and how important they are for our health. I’m sure they’ll be informing their parents about the importance of enzymes soon.

We’ve had some wonderful and very BTD compliant foods this week. We’ve enjoyed baked king and red salmon, baked chicken, fresh steamed asparagus, steamed carrots, fresh green salads, brown rice with kamut flour gravy, and spaghetti with lots of meat, crimini mushrooms, sauce and rice noodles. My husband even made a nice pasta salad using eggs, quinoa pasta, onions, a fairly compliant mayonnaise and the slightest bit of pickle relish. I was tickled to see that he had made such a good effort. Red grapes and bananas were on sale, so we took advantage of that and ate them for a treat.

My husband, an A, makes his own breakfast daily. It consists of a bowl of organic oatmeal seasoned with some ground ginger root, cinnamon, flaxseed or flaxseed oil, and soy milk. He’s not a total convert to this diet because he thinks he must have red meat, but he has transformed quite a bit and is making an effort to eat better than he did in the past.

As many of you readers may cross-read alternative medicine and diet books like I do, I'm sure you may have come across Jordan Rubin's book, "The Maker's Diet." In a lot of ways, I really do like his book until he begins to criticize other diets (including the BTD). The purpose of healing is to integrate, not compete, in my opinion. But his book does have some very valid points that I believe allopathic (as well as other naturopathic) docs should consider.

Another one of my favorite "competition-based" alternative medicine conversations I have encountered was just a few days ago. There is this Ayurvedic spa I've been eyeing for a couple of years; it seems very comprehensive but it's very expensive. I finally got the balls to call/email about a reservation. I have had six days off work so I figured, why the heck not? Well, this place was booked this week but the person who explained the vague use of Ayurveda to me was very defensive when I explained that I used the BTD as my "base diet and health philosophy" and then work other concepts around it, including Ayurved. I explained that I am a pharmacist hoping to reach out further into the field of naturopathic medicine and hope to go back to school one day in hopes of entering the ND field. As I was barely able to get a word in edgewise, she barely let me tell her that I do know quite a bit about the doshas and find Ayurvedic philosophy valuable based on what I've read (which is why I decided to make a reservation in the first place!!!). Her reaction to my following the BTD was all about how their treatment is more "whole" than other treatments and because it's so ancient, its wisdom is superior to anything else out there.

OK, this made me roll my eyes a bit (too bad this person could not see past the phone, haha) because I think that diet and medicine are like religion. Not only are they like religion, they are part of religion the way religion is part of diet. You see, where you come from on this globe, whether you are Jewish or Christian or Hindu or Buddhist has a lot to do with the reality of your culture. In order to feel grounded in society, most people need a base. Christianity is my base. But to exclude the wisdom of other religious sects is ignorant. If Christians and any other group of religious groups were to take every word written as exclusive truth (and unfortunately, many do), it would be a much more violent world than it already is.

And, OK, while this Ayurvedic philosophy is ancient and valuable, what is more ancient than BLOOD? Very few mutations have come about to change blood. While it's not the only factor in health, it's a very big one. It keeps us alive.

Anyway, off my soapbox and back to this Maker's Diet book. One of the most profound thoughts in the book is that foreign objects should not be placed in the body, including contacts in the eye. This is an interesting concept to me because I wear contacts most of the time. I didn't usually wear them much to work, but then Dr. Toomey hooked me up with a pair of CIBA Vision Day and Night contacts. They are silicone-based so they don't dry out as quickly as other materials and allow more oxygen into the eye so you can sleep with them at night. Because I'm very, very near-sighted, it's been a little weird waking up to clear vision. In fact, at first it was actually hard to sleep simply because my brain, over the years, has sub-consciously associated *clear vision* with *wakefulness* and *blurry vision* with *somnolence.* Also, I think deep down the concept of putting something in the eyes IS not innate for people. At first, it's very uncomfortable and scary, then it becomes routine.

I suffered the most horrible corneal abrasion in 1999 due to a combination of factors: staying up too late with contacts in the night before, then flying (dryness) to Texas for a pharmacy conference, then being very tired, fell asleep in the middle of a movie wearing these contacts. This was probably the worst pain I've ever experienced. Well, there have been other bad pains, dental surgery, high school dysmenorrhea, and other moments, but I think this one sort of takes the cake.

My point is, like some sort of half-Buddhist, half-Monotheistic philosophy of "desire leads to suffering," my desire to look "pretty" without glasses led to this corneal abrasion.

My eyes are much healthier now. The technology of contacts, of course, is better today than it was back then, but the other wonderful thing I discovered was the AOSept line of contact solutions. An optometrist in Uptown Minneapolis that I used to see before my HMO changed and I had to switch docs told me that it doesn't make sense to put all these chemicals (enzymes, cleaners, disinfectants, etc.) directly into the eye and most of the "no rub/3-in-1" products on the market today do just that but claim they are safe. Ever since I turned away from these products and let the hydrogen peroxide process clean my contacts and leave them ready to wear the next morning with saline freshness, also using pressurized preservative-free saline solution for rinsing, my eyes feel much better today.

Still, I'm apprehensive about screwing with nature too much. Is it really a good idea to wear contacts for 30 days straight without taking them out to let the eye breathe?

Another "don't mess with nature" concept near and dear to my heart as a pharmacist is that of the birth control methods that allow you to skip periods. In college, I tried this. But: my body WOULD NOT LET ME go more than 5 weeks without spotting despite the hormonal control. It was telling me, to "PLEASE cleanse out your old tissue, please have your period!" Now, it's one thing if someone has a medical condition that requires one to go that long without menstruating (endometriosis, cysts, fibroids, etc.) or perhaps it's a once in a while occurence due to vacations, wedding, etc. But doing this to the body on a regular basis is very out of touch with nature. The moon is there to guide the cycle and many women have "lost the moon." I'm happy and lucky to say that I've found it again.

Well, besides eating yummy pineapple while typing and having enjoyed the benefits of my peanut butter and raspberry jam "fat flush tortilla sandwich" this morning....I have not much more to report in the food realm. Teas (infusions) with added herbal elixirs as well as flower essences have been my thing lately and most likely will continue to be. I'm downing the Black Elderberry from Herbpharm like crazy this season to stay healthy around all these sick people. I'm also really getting back into taking vitamins from the Type A combo pack. I love how radioactively yellow my pee turns after taking the Polyvite formula for As. You know those B vitamins are abundant! Food, of course, is my overall passion...all these things, despite having medicinal properties, are in essense, foods. We ingest them, hopefully with joy and thanks.

Sorry for all the back-tracking in these recent blogs. I keep talking about the past so much, but it sort of feels good to express it and release it, learn from it, and then hopefully, HOPEFULLY, move on.

Yum, spinach quinoa with roasted garlic from Whole Foods deli. The only ingredient on the list that is an avoid for As is the rice vinegar. It certainly is not heavy in the recipe so that's a good sign. Later, in the next couple of days, I'll bust out the pineapple, mixed berries, and salad with honeyed goat cheese. Doesn't that sound delicious? Hmmm...perhaps sprinkle some chopped walnuts on top and drizzle with lemon, oil, and herbs in a homemade dressing? Too easy.

I have also enjoyed sweet potato w/orange maple dressing and broccoli w/hazelnuts (also from WF) while watching Maria, Full of Grace. The lead female was nominated for Best Actress last Sunday and indeed she performed amazingly in this movie.

It makes me sad what people do in desperation after watching that movie. Stuck in a corrupt country with no future. But the movie truly explores the word crisis. I read somewhere recently that crisis can mean two things, the meaning being up to the person the crisis hits: danger or opportunity. Maria saw the opportunity amid the danger.

I only hope that when Americans watch this movie they realize how fortunate they are to live in such a great place. How important it is to protect our freedom. To exercise the right of choice. The choice NOT to support businesses in countries that are corrupted by drug lords, or that do not treat their workers fairly or humanely, and to choose sustainable consumer goods and services. And not do heroin or cocaine or any other drug that requires such extreme measures to bring that drug into the US for our illegal and careless consumption.

Anyway, about that trip down memory lane, keep reading...

Last time I was home I brought back with me this box full of memorabilia from middle school and high school. In an effort to spiritually cleanse myself of the past and live more in the present, the idea was to discard most of the contents of this box. The only thing was that once I began to dig through all the papers, I realized that so much of it is worth keeping around simply for the sake of instant nostalgia.

The most amazing thing is that I found so many wonderful memories of my four best friends from elementary, middle, and high school: Cat, Kerry, Megan, and Sarah listed alphabetically, not by list of importance . Each one of these girls is still a huge part of my life though we are all far apart (except one). This box was full of notes passed in class about boys, Valentines, birthday cards, photos...it's amazing that most of this was fifteen years ago plus and minus a few amazing years. Sometimes I don't know what I'd do without these women in my life.

Like a fifth element, sixth sense, what not, then there is Mark (my "other" boyfriend, haha). One of the most important men in my life besides the Grubster and my dad. If he outlives me, I'd want him to play piano at my funeral and even design the casket, haha. All those funny skits we did in French class (I found the script), cards, and other funny memories in this box. I truly think it's time to make a scrapbook and organize all these funny moments!!!

Then of course, the box was full of all sorts of cute little puppy love notes and cards from boys I dated. Those are very cute, but I think it's time to toss them out now. My favorite set of letters that really cracked me up was from one of my 10th grade boyfriends. The month or two we dated was full of all these affectionate letters and cards. We lived in different towns so we either had to communicate by snail mail or phone (and of course back then in the stone ages we didn't have email nor cell phones yet!!).

These letters were full of his yearning, his missing me, and quote unquote his "love." I find it very funny when the word love is passed around so liberally at age 16. You see, he decided to dump me a week before homecoming. Very mature. Definitely true love, eh? A year later, he decided to write to me to see how I was doing and to tell me about his life. Some girl had broken his heart (hmmm...karma?) and he proceeded to tell me that in dating her, he found out what "real love is (no offense)." OK, now here's when I question my masochism and ask myself why did I keep these letters?????

Well, things happen for a reason. A year or two after telling me in these letters how he was going to the communinity college and then take MCATs, go to med school, etc (he was a smart guy with a great potential), he got into some really bad drugs I guess, then dropped out of community college. Not sure what he's up to now. I think he's probably doing better now, perhaps married with a kid or something like that, but all I know is, I wish I could tell him thanks for breaking up because while I'm no perfect angel, I am glad I did not get caught up with that type of dead end to my future. I've done incredible things that I probably would not have done had I been held back by not being able to live out some big dreams on my own as a single gal with no kids. I've traveled to many countries, received a good education, and have met many interesting people along the way.

Part of me, however, feels a bit stuck. Realizing that this 20 mile long-distance relationship in high school was my first taste of far away love, little did I know that 10 years later I'd be using similar methods of correspondance to get through the relationship I'm in now. Perhaps it was just a little practice run for what I was about to encounter in the next ten years of my life. Well, I think it's time to break those patterns. And perhaps even burn those letters (well, at least shred them, don't need the fire marshall at my door!).

I will certainly say that years gone by with Grubster, when we were close, when we were far apart, and now, when we appreciate the need for closeness and the desire to make it work has been challenging. Patience, faith, and love (true mature love this time vs. the apparent high school fraudulent puppy love) have been paramount in holding us together. However, this pattern of distance is one I'm ready to break. It's time to take maturity to the next level and start life together as a team.

Goodbye puppy love letters....into the shredder you go. That really is cleansing...

I would like to start off by saying ‘sorry’ for not blogging for a while. My weekly routine has changed somewhat in the last few months and my thoughts have been on other things/people/places (whether they be important or not is a whole other subject). It’s not to say I have put the BTD aside, but rather it’s become second nature to me now…part of my daily routine. I’m not saying I’m the BTD diet guru or 100% Compliant Man (0% Lectin Boy), but rather I’m become comfortable with it. “Comfortable”’ is a word I hate to use in any sentence because I consider the word to be synonymous with “stagnate”. Has this state of being comfortable with the diet, stagnated my blogging? I can’t answer that for sure but I know that I have not stopped my fascination and wonder with the science behind the diet. I just registered to go down to the Ifhi 2005 conference this April where I am going to attempt to get myself certified as a BTD educator. I already consider myself to be one of sorts but the letters…FIFHI… beside my name would give me a lot more credibility.

I come across many people in my daily life that I know would benefit from the diet if they chose to try it. My dad has GERD (apparently runs in the family…his father had it and so on) He refuses to try anything… other than Tums… to relieve himself of the pain and discomfort. I have made many suggestions (protocols and such) and attempted to get him to stop eating some avoids but he refuses to change. I joke with him that the GERD is going to skip a generation or rather end with him for his second son, Mike, will less likely ever feel the discomfort of stomach acid running up and burning his esophagus after a meal.

I have friends and loved ones with Lupus, high blood pressure, Cancer and Arthritis…many co-workers with Type 2 Diabetes, high cholesterol, weight problems…many right now at home suffering from the flu. Many people set in their daily eating ways whom I’m sure would love to feel more energetic and have a better sense of well being.

What kind of responsibility do I have for their well being? I have been struggling with this question ever since I picked up the book two years ago. I’ve come to a conclusion...I’m only responsible for my own well being and growth and hopefully people close to me can see it and will genuinely want to know the ‘how’ or ‘why’.

Hopefully going to Arizona will better prepare myself for this eventuality (people asking me how or why) if and when it presents itself.

Side note...I’m also going to Arizona because I have this liking for taking photos of cacti.

Guess what? My computer is connected to the internet again tonight! I hate wireless connections!

Today was warm (in the 30’s) and sunny. For the most part the roads were clear where the sunlight was able to melt the ice. Those shady areas had patches of black ice and that can make driving a bit challenging. The moose are in abundance having come down out of the mountains because of snow depth. The eagles and ravens have been soaring and gliding high in the sky, sometimes playing and sometimes searching for food. The daylight has increased to about 10 ½ hours a day. Within a month or two it will begin to turn into spring.

I’ve been spending hours upon hours going through my bead catalogs trying to determine exactly which beads and findings I need for the next few projects. Fortunately, I did well at bingo tonight so now I'll be able to order a few of those beads! I’m so pleased with a necklace I finished this weekend. The focus bead is wire sculpted sterling silver encasing an absolutely gorgeous, large, wine-colored stone from Russia. I’d sure like to find a good source for them (they are called eudealite). I have another Russian stone to work this week. It’s clinaclore or seraphinite. It is so much fun transforming a beautiful, polished stone into a wearable piece of art.

I used to have that same enthusiasm towards dinnertime. Somewhere along the line I got tired. The twins and my husband have never been much into specially prepared foods and I think that played a part in my dwindling enthusiasm after the girls were grown and out on their own. My guys like simple foods that taste good and fill the stomach. I try to make the meals as BTD compliant, wholesome and affordable as possible.

Tonight’s dinner was chicken quarters, rice with kamut/rice milk gravy, and green beans. There wasn’t a bite left over, so I guess it was okay. However, I didn’t buy the free-range chickens for $6.79 per pound. I got tonight’s chickens on sale for $.79 pound. The guys eat a LOT of food at a meal. I do buy quality whenever I am able, but $6.79 a pound and not even organically raised!

One health benefit I’ve noticed since changing our diets to compliment our blood types is the twins don’t have those painful mouth sores nearly so often. They used to have five or six at a time and rarely were free of them. Now, they are free of them most of the time with only one or sometimes two when they reoccur. Anyway you look at it, that is a blessing!