I had the privilege of spending much of Saturday at the first annual New Jersey Bicycle Summit, which was a convocation of engineers, planners, and cycling advocates to discuss common issues and ways of addressing them. The theme of the summit was "Complete Streets", which is shorthand for "designing an infrastructure which supports every mode of local transportation" -- cars and trucks, bicycles, pedestrians, mobility-assist vehicles (e.g. wheelchairs & scooters), public/mass transportation, and so on. One of the more important takeaways from this meeting was that the details of a "complete street" will change from community to community, from street to street -- kind of like the way the details of diabetes management will change from person to person, from year to year.

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I have been pondering traveling the world lately. I can’t quite seem to narrow down exactly what I want to do, but I know it has something to do with traveling the globe, being around others, and spreading peace. The thing I realize, and that we/I sometimes forget, is there is something to be said about a person who just “jumps”. In other words, instead of losing myself in thoughts of what might happen or where I might end up, or how I will get my (diabetic) supplies…I’m more interested in just living and the experiences that come along with it. The idea of just spreading my wings and flying…no matter what happens.

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I found some old blood work results from 2002 and was comparing them to my recent results. In 2002 I was a newlywed and had not had gestational diabetes yet. The only inkling I had of any blood sugar problems was a strong family history of type 2 diabetes and a diagnosis of hypoglycemia when I was 19.

My numbers are exponentially better today. Fasting sugar, cholesterol, triglycerides, HDL; you name it. This got me to thinking about my health and lifestyle today versus 5 years ago. I may be 5 years older but I should be feeling 10 years younger!

The biggest change, health-wise; is that I no longer smoke. 27 years of a pack plus a day are history. I have been smoke free for almost 22 months now, this alone would bring up my HDL levels. I remain very proud of this and it continues to remind me that I can change old ingrained habits. (READ MORE)