It wasn't till I was 18 that I started to wear glasses. I probably needed them alot sooner, but didn't realize till I started to drive. When I drove I would veer to the right like a "drunk driver". It was one of my sisters who noticed the problem and told my mom to get my eyes checked. After not passing my drivers test 2 times. My mom finally took me to a vision center.

I can clearly recall that day. It was just one of those quickie mart eyeglass places with the thousand frames on the wall. My mother was a reluctant visitor of doctors so this was a very big deal for her. My father never had health insurance so we just never went to the doctor. If we were sick we went to bed and my mom worried over us.

I had the quickie mart eye exam and got my glasses within an hour. I remember putting them on and walking outside, it was a beautiful spring day with all the trees in bloom, I was amazed at the intensity of the colors. I could now read the street signs and I finally passed my drivers test. I was missing so much of life by not being able to see clearly.

The world is a better place when you can see things clearly.

I visit the BTD forum just about everyday to see the goings on of all my friends.

I particularly like when we get new people who have embraced the BTD. Just about once a month someone will post some study from a health "Guru" that they admire. One in particular that people always seem to come back to is the controversy about soy. Soy like eggs and beef has gotten its fair share of negative publicity. Dr. D'Adamo has addressed this controversy many times in his books and on the internet. He always says that for A's soy is a good thing, just as beef is good for O's. Dr. D'Adamo has special BTD glasses.

I like to tell these people that they need new glasses. They need ones that filter out the one size fits all health studies and commentaries. These glasses will help them see the world differently. They will see more clearly, the world will be a better place once they put on their glasses.

I really like my BTD glasses they give me focus, they help we weed out the information that does not apply to me. I can then keep my attention on what matters for my blood type.

I am what my sister calls a "peeker". She came up with this recently at a family dinner to describe the way I always looked for the Christmas presents my mother had hidden. It is true, I was the one to sneak into my mom's room climb on a chair and search the top of her closet for the presents. I just couldn't resist. My sister on the other hand would cover her ears as I yelled what the presents were. Other holidays were similar, at Easter I always ate my chocolate bunny within a day or so and on my sixteenth birthday I some how knew I was having a surprise party.

Maturity has not changed this, as an adult I still display this behavior. I will read the last chapter of a book to see what happens next and I have even fast forwarded movies to see the end. I always look in the oven before the food is done.

I have always been a peeker I want to see the end.

On Wednesday I start teaching my first BTD class. I am so excited to see who attends and why they decide to come. The blurb about the class was posted on Sunday and on Monday morning I received a call from a gentleman inquiring about the class.

He stated his name and told me that he is 76 years old and has been overweight for over 10 years, could this blood type diet help him? He wasn't sure what his blood type was, would that be a problem? I reassured him that I could test his blood for about $10.00, as for his age and weight being an issue I confidently stated the facts," No, it will not be a problem".

The whole time I am on the phone with him, I am thinking about the future of this overweight 76 year old man who has failed to be able to lose weight, with all the conventional diets. I am trying to read the last chapter of the book and peek into the top of the closet, I want to eat the Easter bunny all in one day. I want to see what he will become given the right tools for his body, I want to peek.

About three years ago we adopted a Yorkshire Terrier from a family in the Bronx in NY. The family we adopted the dog from had 5 small children and a pitbull. The owner of the dog said they were moving and could not keep the dog. Mocha as the dog was then named, was not all that attractive. She was scared, scrawny and had a scraggly haircut she was quite a pitiful sight. I was a bit leary of the whole thing, what if the dog was sick? What if she was a biter? My husband Jeff believed it would be alright; I had faith in his confidence, so we took the dog home. She remained a very frightened animal for about 6 months. If you raised your voice she would cower, if you raised your hand she would run to a corner, she wouldn't go down the stairs and she didn't bark.

I have often wondered what her life was like, with 5 kids and a pitbull to torture her. Why did she cower in the corner? Did the kids chase her and mishandle her? Was she put in the same pen as the pitbull? I will never know the answers to her early life. I just figured she had a few internal emotional scars that would heal over time. We all are not unlike my Yorkie (who I renamed) Molly, we all carry our own personal scars, our past histories, that effect how we respond to the world.

I was raised by a Polish father and an Italian mother. Their culture influenced what I ate as a child. My mom was raised in a home where pasta was the meal of the day, rarely did her family have fresh vegetables or fruit. As a result of this her mom died of diabetic complications early in life. When my mom finally had a family of her own; she made sure we had fresh vegetables and fruit in the house all the time. She knew the evils of sugar, fatty meats and canned vegetables. She tried her best to commit herself to helping us eat healthy. She took her food history, her personal scar and used it to improve her families life.

Repeating our past is easy, it takes very little thought. We do it when we pull the same box of crackers off the shelf in the supermarket or make the same mac and cheese meal we have been making for our families. It takes thought and patience to change our food histories and heal the scars.

I have scars from my past beliefs about food that I will always carry with me. But like my mother I don't want to repeat them in my children and like with Molly (the dog) I know they take time and patience to heal. For me the GTD heals my past food history by providing a way to navigate the future. I know when we change the pattern of the past and heal our scars that we give the greatest gift to the future both for ourselves and families.

Slowly Molly (my dog) began to come out of her shell. It has been 3 years from the day we brought her home. Now she is a happy, wonderful dog, who loves to alert us with her barking, her hair has grown, she has gained weight. Her scars have become less visible.

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference. Robert Frost

I love peanuts.. no I mean I really love peanuts!
Peanuts are also known as earthnuts, goobers, goober peas, pindas, jack nuts, pinders, manila nuts and monkey nuts. Cool names don't ya think?

I discovered how much I loved peanuts as I followed the BTD and was glad to see that diamond on my GTD list. I was buying whole peanuts in the supermarket that were not organic, they gave me indigestion. I suspect something about the oil that was on them did not agree with me. The organic ones do not give me indigestion.
I eat them just about everyday, even if it is just a handful.

One of the things I like to make is Peanut Sauce Gado-Gado. I fry tempeh in ghee till lightly brown and dip it in the sauce, I put the sauce on top of rice or quinoa, I add it to tofu (even if the tofu has sauce already).

Cook Right for Your Type, page 330.

Here is the recipe:

Peanut Sauce
1 clove of Garlic crushed and peeled
2 scallions (can use a bit of onion, or omit it)
1/4 cup of cilantro or parsley
1/2 cup of peanut butter
1/4 cup of Tamari (wheat free)
2 TBS lemon juice
1/2 cup of water more will give you a thinner sauce.
1 tsp fresh ginger (you can use ground, fresh is always better)

I just put everything except the water into the food processor and pulse till blended.
Once it is blended I add the water a little at a time till I get the right consistency.

If you haven't made this yet you are missing out on something delicious.

I encourage you to give it a try this week.

I have always admired Julia Childs. Having failed out of cooking school in France she didn't let that stop her from achieving her goals. She is well known for her light airy voice and the glass of wine she always drank while cooking, a little for the food and a little for her.

Her husband was her first fan and did the initial photography of her cooking in their home. I recently took one of her early VHS tapes out of the public library and was very surprised to find her cooking on an electric stove, with a non stick teflon pan and a plastic spatula in her hand. The kitchen is very primitive, she stands with her back to the camera, as her husband manuvers around her 6 foot 2 inch frame. It is just her on the camera, no audience. The tape is very simple, Julia cooking, and talking about cooking, the raw chicken laying on the counter. She is all about the food, her love for her work is evident. I am energized by her "can-do' attitude. I repeat to myself in true Warrior fashion "If Julia can cook in that kitchen with those tools, I can do the same!"

When the Geno-type diet came out in December, it took me a bit to get my self sorted out. Three new food lists to learn, rather then two blood type lists, I struggled for a few weeks with the ideas in the book.

Just a month prior to the GT book being released, I had been toying with the idea of becoming a "full vegetarian". I even posted on the forums that I was considering being a vegetarian I got mixed responses, regarding the need for animal protien. I really felt like my body was asking me to be a vegetarian, I kept refusing. I have always eaten a lot of chicken, considered the healthier meat it was easy to justify. With a family of four (two O's and two A's) chicken was the one meal I could make that my whole family would eat peacefully and it filled in all the meals when I didn't know what to cook. It also is the one food that is easy to get while dining out. Giving it up was not an easy choice; I have sympathy for all the BT B's, that do not eat chicken.

So I will admit it came as no surprise to me when I read the list of poultry items with the words "none recommended" and turkey being neutral. I knew giving up chicken was what I needed in order to enter middle age and continue feeling fit. Seeing it written down in the Genotype book made all the difference for me. Once I saw it in print I was ready to embrace my Warriorness and become a vegetarian (I do continue to eat fish). I just needed the push forward towards my conversion.

For years I have had chicken cutlets neatly stacked in my freezer, they are all gone, replaced with turkey for my Gatherers and Teacher. The fridge now has about 5 packs of tempeh and tofu ready for a quick meal. I feel good, I even lost 5 lbs without even knowing it. I feel settled both physically and emotionally, amazing how food can do that to you. I think I am the most contented I have been in years. With this change has come an ability to move forward and believe in myself. I am taking on new challenges, that I would not have thought of a few months ago. Like Julia my husband is my biggest fan.

Julia Childs didn't get married till 1946 she was 34 years old considered old for her time. Then it wasn't till she was 40 that she brought French cooking to the United States. She demonstrated to a generation that they can cook like pro's in their own kitchens. She had a true "can-do' attitude.

Julia Childs has a famous quote in regards to when she first tasted fine cuisine and knew it would be her destiny "an opening up of the soul and spirit for me" (Julia Childs). I'll bet Julia felt very content once she discovered her destiny.