Diabetes, she tells me, means that your body is unable to regulate the amount of sugar in its blood. Either your body does not produce insulin (Type I) or it cannot use the insulin it makes (Type II) properly. As blood sugar levels increase the body’s chemistry is thrown off. Organs and nerve systems begin to malfunction, at first just a little bit but gradually over time things get worse.

Eventually the body’s ability to regulate itself in other ways decreases. Cholesterol is another substance that begins to get out of control when your blood sugar stays high. As your cholesterol increases the body begins to store it in layers between arteries and healthy tissue. This cholesterol buildup eventually blocks arteries or ruptures and causes blood clots.

If a blood clot forms it can move through your body and cut off circulation in critical areas. Poor circulation in your hands and feet may mean your limbs die and have to be amputated. A blood clot in your heart or lungs could kill you. A blood clot that moves toward your brain might also kill you or cause a stroke.

Diabetics are encouraged to increase their activity. Walking more or engaging in real physical exercise not only helps the body burn calories it activates the metabolism. Foods and sugars are burned off more quickly. 15 minutes of vigorous exercise may activate your metabolism for up to 30 minutes.

You also need to change your diet. You need to eat a more even mix of calories, drawing about the same amounts from protein, fat, and carbohydrates. That is not easy to do with today’s foods because most fast foods and store bought foods pack on the carbohydrates. Low-fat foods don’t help because they are not balanced.

There is a lot you need to know when you have diabetes. It’s not just that you need to lose weight. You have to truly change your lifestyle. Living healthy and eating healthy improve your chances of living longer and being able to enjoy life better — even when you have not been diagnosed with diabetes.

More information can be found at http://www.diabetes.org/.

One of the best things about the Interweb is that it makes it easier to follow science news. I know I am not the only person who is interested in things like space news and I try to look up the latest articles whenever I have a spare moment.

Besides the NASA Website there are three sites in particular where I try to follow science news: Space.com, Science Daily, and Eureka!.

There are other sites out there I sometimes visit but these are my favorite science news sites.

There are several holidays from September to January 1: Labor Day, Halloween, Veterans’ Day, Thanksgiving, Chanukah, Qwanzaa, Christmas, and News Years Day. We call this our Holiday Season and offer each other Season’s Greetings. And of course we celebrate the holidays with cards, cakes, feasts, and gifts.

This year families could do something a little different. They could put together a holiday calendar and plan special day trips. All the kids can clear their social calendars. Parents can tell their friends they are spending time with the children. Teenagers can participate in the activities by suggesting places to go, things to do, and ways to help save money. Maybe several families could get together and share expenses.

In addition to the regular holidays many people hold parties. Company parties are for adults but many high school and college students hold holiday parties. Social calendars are carefully navigated around these important events. This year friends can get together and plan 2-4 parties for November and December, each one held at a different venue, hosted by a different person.

By planning a series of parties you can reduce the competition for attention among planners, give everyone something to look forward to, and alternate themes. Entertainment doesn’t have to be expensive as long as it is fun.

The Earth has been gradually growing warmer for thousands of years. Mankind has speeded the process through its industrial activities and we are unprepared for the consequences of the blind actions of generations of industrialized processes. Every year more species vanish from the Earth, taking with them the little ecological roles they fulfilled in keeping the Earth green and safe for humanity.

The Earth is not dying. It’s just that our ecosystem is changing. The ecosystem has experienced mass extinctions in the past so we know on some level that no matter how many species die nature will find some way to replace them. The problem is that we won’t survive long enough to see that new spurt of evolution occur.

I think there are some projects we could start that would help slow global warming and they would not cost very much. The biggest problem seems to be that too much CO2 is being released into the air. As ice melts around the polar caps trapped carbon dioxide is returned to the atmosphere. As trees are burned away to clear new lands more carbon dioxide is released. As coal and oil are burned yet more carbon dioxide is released.

If trees trap carbon dioxide then why don’t we plant more trees? In fact, why don’t we plant trees in places where people are less likely to burn them? There are several very large deserts where trees could be planted. All they need is water. And we have the technologies to move water from coastal areas to inland deserts.

Nations that are rich in water could trade it to nations that are rich in oil. Maybe an equitable exchange would be 100 barrels of water for 100 barrels of oil. Maybe 1000 barrels of water could be exchanged or 1 barrel of oil.

The world’s fresh water supply can be expanded through new desalination technologies. If these technologies are distributed across north Africa then those nations can begin transforming the Sahara desert into a grassy region filled with lakes and rivers. Trees can be reintroduced and wildlife will move back into the area.

There would be plenty of room for new farms, new ranches, forests, tree farms, and wildlife preserves. A new tree belt could be created in the Sahara desert in the next 30 years. Those trees could hold a lot of carbon dioxide. They might just slow the process of global warming. More importantly, as sea levels rise the Sahara desert could be nourished by desalinated water drawn in from the coasts. It would slow the process of global flooding that is predicted.

These measures would buy us some time to figure out what to do in the long run. After all, the Earth will get warmer no matter what we do. Maybe that is what is supposed to happen. If so, we need to start preparing for a very different climate anyway.

Okay, we were probably not ready to sell our housekeeping services but she appreciated the help. We tried not to fight but sometimes tempers flared because we still had to do our own chores and the yucky jobs mom usually did for us.

Maybe next year I’ll look into getting a local jeweler to make a personalized ring for mom. I never thought about something like that.

Other neat things I might look at could be a necklace or brooch or maybe a watch. I don’t know if you can get a personalized watch but I know a jeweler and I may ask him about that.

Of course, you don’t have to wait for Mother’s Day to appreciate your mom. You can celebrate her birthday with her, see her for Christmas (or whatever winter holiday you share with family), or even give her something special on Thanksgiving.

Poker must be the most glamorous card game in the world. It seems like everyone has played poker as a kid. We played for rocks because our moms wouldn’t let us bet any money. I was always the kid with the smallest pile of rocks.

Coletivo Brasil has an interesting story about a poker player named Chris Moneymaker, who was the 2003 world champion in poker.

Can you imagine competing in a high stakes poker game with television cameras looking over your shoulder? I guess they hide the cards. I have never watched real poker tournaments on television but I see the players in movies and they always look intense. Is that the way it really is?

I don’t think playing poker is as easy as it might look on television and the movies. It’s not the game for me. I stick with spades, thank you.

One very well-known house has a long and distinguished history. It is more than 200 years old and has been through fire and war. Crowds have tramped through it and partied on its lawn. The house was even built on swampland, so you would think its real estate value would not be very high.

In fact it is the most valuable house in America. I am talking about the White House, which is the only public private residence in the world. That I know of, anyway.

I have never been to the White House although I have been to Washington, D.C. I would like to take the White House tour one day. It holds memories not just of the families that lived there but for the whole nation.

I got through college on a collection of grants and scholarships like many other people. And I had to take out my share of student loans, too. I didn’t like the loans. But what I hated most was the application process. You had to fill out so much paper work.

Now it seems you can apply for Federal student aid online. Of course there is nothing like getting some tips from your college financial aid office. If you know which school you’ll be attending next term, you can always ask them for some help.

My financial office was pretty good about telling me when I was eligible to apply for new programs. They would call me down to the office, explain the process, help me with the forms, and often I got the money. Those $300 scholarships added up.

People say a lot of students never apply for student aid because they think they will be turned down. You know, that is only the worst that could happen to you. You might just get some money to help you through school.

It’s worth looking into, especially if your only alternative is student loans. They take SO long to pay off!

People have become so obsessed with online shopping they buy special debit cards that they use to control their spending. The thinking goes that if you only put so much money into your debit card each month you won’t get carried away with your online purchases. The debit cards cost about $5 a month, I hear.

People can even find online bargains for major brands although I don’t know how good the merchandise is. How do you know you are not buying fake stuff? I guess you have to take some chances and learn to trust the merchants you buy from.

Some of my friends only buy stuff on eBay. They say they get great value and rarely run into a bad deal. The auction system lets you give feedback and a lot of people post reviews of both buyers and sellers. I have never used eBay because it just seems a little creepy to me. I’m one of those people who is concerned about online privacy.

So why did I use my name on my blog? Go figure.

Everyone in my family has some form of 401(k) plan. The neat thing about 401(k) plans is you contribute money before taxes are deducted from your pay, so you are actually taxed on less take-home-money than if you do not join a 401(k) plan. Even when the company does not match your contribution the 401(k) helps you set back some money for your retirement (or an emergency).

In the United Kingdom people have the option of starting an Independent Savings Account, also called an ISA. It sounds to me like a Roth IRA plan but with some advantages. You can start your account when you are 16, for example. I don’t know if anyone in the U.S. can have a Roth IRA before the age of 18.

Retirement savings funds have fueled the incredible growth in business investment for more than 20 years in the United States. As more nations introduce these plans their economies should see bursts, boosts, and busts like the United States economy. I sometime wonder if we have learned all the lessons in store for us when it comes to managing retirement money. I read somewhere that right before the Great Recession of 2008-2009 U.S. retirement plans had accumulated almost $200,000,000,000 in value.

That is so much money it could have paid off the U.S. national debt and lost less value than was lost in the recession.