I was ready to start today more in control of my situation, however I had to find some paperwork for my case worker. After hours of searching through piles of papers, I found what I was searching for. Having a panic attack during the process as the hours were passing. I realized after delivering the paperwork to her office, that I panicked needlessly. The stress and not eating my lunch when I planned, it elevated my blood sugar.

After arriving back home, I sat and thought about my disorganization as I ate my lunch. How did my household paperwork being stacked up in piles get so out of control this past year? My business paperwork I am better organized because I have a system of routine with it, but not with my household papers. I thought I was always in the past somewhat organized. This past year has been a year of lots of health issues, neck surgery, breaking my leg and lots of physical therapy appointments. Time to manage filing papers in my file cabinets seemed non-existent. Therefore, I ended up today having to search for much needed papers and having the panic attack from not being better organized.

I found a website that I did find helpful with being disorganized whether personal or professional, National Study Group of Chronic Disorganization. According to their Clutter-hoarding scale, I am a level 1 at this time, going towards level 2. This scale is an assessment measurement tool.

I know I need to work on my organization skills and time management. Baby steps of getting organized by setting mini-goals, using a planner or day organizer, and setting time limits by using a timer or an alarm clock on certain tasks seem to be a key to starting me on my way.

I woke up thinking about all I need to do today and started feeling overwhelmed. I remember a former boss of mine telling me take the big picture and break it down in small pieces. Small pieces do make up the big picture of different situations. To work on one small piece at a time, still I got that accomplished, then go to the next piece. Figuring out how I was going to accomplish this, I was going to need help. Which piece to start on.

For the past two weeks, I admit I have been feeling overwhelmed and like in a whirlwind. This in turn causes anxiety. Anxiety causes stress which in turns to panic attacks and depression. My body does not respond to lots of stress well. I start feeling sick again. My blood sugar yo -yoing. I have been fighting depression due to getting behind on so many things I need to do.

So I decided to start doing a Time Management. Working to balance time for my family, businesses, blogging, church, activities and myself. I am having to assess myself in what am I wasting time on that is not making my time more efficient. It is a difficult task making yourself admit you are not perfect and make mistakes and to forgive yourself.

So I am putting my foot forward to working on accomplishing this task and keep moving forward. That will be a long hurdle. I am willing to get started.

Three of the biggest time wasters I found I have are interruptions, hopelessness and poor delegation skills. These time wasters were causing me to feel tired, irritable, loss of sleep, feeling sick or down, and difficulty concentrating and out of control.

One of the benefits of doing time management is, YOU are in control. Learning to say no is hard to do when called asked to help with another activity when you haven’t finished the other ten on your list. Taking charge of your lifestyle will help keep you in a routine to help manage your blood sugar too. We all have to make choices everyday. Mine is definitely going through new and good changes with a more positive attitude.

Today, I went to my monthly Women’s Christian Luncheon held by Stonecroft Ministries. Our luncheon theme was a combination of honoring our Veteran and celebrating Thanksgiving. I really enjoyed the meeting and the luncheon. Some of my favorite foods I had to avoid, like pumpkin pie with real whipped cream on top. < Sigh>

I have another Thanksgiving Dinner to go to tonight for an employee’s banquet. I am sure there will be lot of sweet temptations and high starch foods there too.

It is hard to resist these sweets and starch foods, however knowing how they will affect my blood sugar I have to abstain from overindulgence. Following my diabetic diet and watching my calories will help maintain a balanced blood sugar. Being honest with myself and setting a realistic goal on the amount of weight I need to lose. I am anxious about my next doctor’s visit in how much weight I have lost, because I don’t own a scale, and how my a1c is doing. My last visit it was not good around 9%. The average is 6%. My doctor asked me to keep a record of my eating habits and what I ate.

One thing nice that some of the restaurants are starting to serve more of is sugar free desserts, i.e. apple pie, puddings and cake. Now I don’t feel left out when others are enjoying their sugary desserts, I can have mine sugar free.

November is awareness month for diabetes. According to the ADA (American Diabetes Association), it is called American Diabetes Month. According to the CDC (Center for Disease Control and Prevention), it is called National Diabetes Awareness Month.

Nearly 21 million people are living with diabetes, 6 million people do not know they have it.

According to the CDC:

The lifetime risk for diabetes for people born in the United States in 2000 is:

• For all Americans: 1 of 3

• For African Americans and Hispanics: 2 of 5

• For Hispanic females: 1 of 2

On November 14, 2007 is designated as World Diabetes Day as a United Nation Day. Worldwide over 246 million people have diabetes.

ABC News is giving you a chance to tell your story through video submission about living with diabetes. They are also accepting recipes. So click on the ABC News link for more information on how to submit.

Sorry I haven’t posted in a few days. Between being sick this past week, my blog went down for a day or so. I appreciate those who have been reading my blog, writing to let me know something happen to it.

Trying to catch up with work on my online businesses and blog. So bear with me folks.

Did get to go to my daughter’s school wiener roast last night. Lots of fun and great food to eat. Several of the moms made chili and brought the making for smores. As I watched the people roasting their marshmallows on the open fire, I was wishing I could have one. Resisting that sweet temptation is so hard to do. I remember as a child going to Girl Scout camp and sitting around the fire roasting marshmallows, taking graham crackers with some chocolate and putting the roasted marshmallow between it. We sang songs like Kum-Ba-Ya.

As a diabetic, we must watch how many carbohydrates (carbs) we consume each day and how many in each meal or snack. Keeping control of our diabetes by testing the blood sugar to measure the amount of glucose in the blood is important. Glucose comes from carbohydrates. Carbohydrates are an essential nutrient that are an excellent source of energy (measured as calories) for the body and is the fuel for your brain, nervous system, cells, tissues and organs. All forms of carbohydrates will increase a person’s blood sugar, depending how many carbohydrates are consumed. There are two types, simple or complex.

Simple sugars like marshmallows will raise the blood sugar quickly because they contain corn syrup, cane sugar and dextrose. Simple monosaccharides sugar are from glucose (dextrose) and fructose, fruit sugars and disaccharides is sucrose (table sugar), fruits and milk products. High fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is a sweetener that is added to soft drinks and a preservative to many processed foods. The food industry started using HFCS in 1984 in soft drinks due to it was cheaper to use by the manufacturer of soft drinks. It has since been added to packaged foods. Recommendations I have read about, say HFCS should be avoided from consumption by diabetics. Fructose is often recommended for, and consumed by, people with diabetes mellitus or hypoglycemia, because it has a very low glycemic index (GI) relative to cane sugar (sucrose). Fructose naturally occurs in fruit, vegetables and their own juices, and honey. Eating fresh fruits instead of canned fruits in heavy syrup is a better choice. If you must eat canned fruit, choose one that is packed in its own juice. Simple carbs are sometimes converted into fat and stored in your body causing obesity.

Complex carbohydrates include whole grain breads and cereal, starchy vegetables and legumes. The best way to consume natural carbohydrates is through consumption of foods in their most natural state such as bran, barley, wheatgerm, maize, buckwheat, cornmeal and oatmeal. Complex carbs are broken down into glucose more slowly than simple carbs providing a gradual steady stream of energy throughout the day. Most natural, complex carbs provide many of the vitamins and minerals needed for energy production.

Diabetics should always read food and drink labels for carbohydrate total and the ingredients it contains. Educating yourself is essential in maintaining your blood sugar level.

I haven’t felt very well for most of today. Started with a headache and feeling achy all over and chills. I think I have the symptoms of the flu. It is that time of year for the nasty flu bug to spread. I still have not gotten my flu shot. Procrastinating because I usually get the flu every time I get the flu shot. Sick for weeks and it is no fun at all being sick as it affects my diabetes. I did get my shot last year for pneumonia, which my doctor informed me is good for 5 years. As a diabetic, health care professionals advise diabetics to get the flu and pneumonia shots due to contracting these illnesses can be dangerous. People with diabetes are about 3 times more likely to die with flu and pneumonia whether you are a Type 1 or Type 2 diabetic.

Extreme tiredness was coming over me this afternoon. I took a nap to see if I would feel any better, however I slept so long I missed my afternoon snack. I awoke feeling nausea. One way I can tell my blood sugar is getting low usually.

I have always been told even when you are sick, you must eat and continue taking your medications. My stomach doesn’t feel good and I don’t really feel like eating. Guess it will be a soup and crackers dinner.

As the weather has continued to get colder here, I am experiencing my cold weather episodes of Raynaud’s Phenomenon in my fingers turning very white, cold and numb. In addition, along with the tip of my nose gets extremely cold. I bought gloves that I can use when typing at my computer as typing for long spells seems to aggravate the condition. I was misdiagnosed with carpal tunnel in the past. However after a surgery on my neck last year for spinal stenosis, the pain I was experiencing in my neck and down my arms, wrists and hands had ceased with the exception of the Raynaud’s Phenomenon in the cold months along with my arthritis.

Our cold months are usually 7 months out of the year here. Oh the joys of winter conditions. We have already had snow flurries two days ago. I do love in the winter, the look of a snow covered ground and huge icicles hanging off a mountain side near my home. The mountain has a natural spring that runs through it. Many years ago, a road was dug through the side of the mountain and this is where the icicles form on that side of the mountain.

I pray that I am well soon, as the Thanksgiving holidays are approaching quick. If you haven’t gotten your flu and pneumonia shot, please do so while they are available. You have to be well to be able to get the shots.

Last night, my last blood sugar testing was 240. Not sure why it elevated late in the evening when I didn’t eat anything after dinner. Had to take an increased dose of Lantus insulin. I awoke to a normal blood sugar of 112.

Ate my breakfast around 9 AM. Started on a major housecleaning project today. About 1:30 PM, I started not feeling good and my face color started turning very white. I had forgotten to check my blood sugar and eat lunch or have a snack.

I checked my blood sugar with my monitor. My blood sugar was 68. I had to get something to eat quick. My hands were starting to shake. I was experiencing hypoglycemia. It took about 30 minutes before I started to feel a little bit better after drinking some OJ and a sandwich.

Had a banquet to attend tonight. I was pleased to see foods that I knew I could have being served.

I woke early this morning after not having a fitful sleep. I had certain tasks that I had to get done today. I checked my blood sugar this morning and it was 168. Had a light breakfast and took my shot of Novolog.

As the day progressed, attempting to work at my task on my computer, I could feel myself feeling stressed. With the end of Daylight Savings Time, my body has not adjusted to eating and sleeping at different times. Eating at a set time and continuing to monitor my blood sugar throughout the day helped to keep my blood sugar more balanced today.

Stress, both physically and mentally, does cause elevated blood sugar levels in most cases. Stress is a killer, because it affects your heart and other parts of your body as a diabetic. Learning relaxing techniques as a diabetic is essential. Here are a few techniques that I have done in the past that I have found that works: Exercise, Deep Breathing, Progressive Relaxation Therapy and Thinking Good Thoughts.

I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes 11 years ago. Started on one pill a day. Now on two different pill medications for my diabetes, plus two different insulin shots. I test 4 times a day with my blood glucose meter, Life Scan One Touch Ultra Smart.

It has been a struggle to maintain a balanced blood sugar when the rest of my family at home does not have diabetes. I have taken classes to help with my diet and carbohydrate count.

To buy groceries for the family is a juggling act to please each person. It is difficult to resist the simple sugar and carbohydrate foods that are in the house.