The phone rang yesterday morning and I shook The Mr. almost violently to make him wake up and answer so the rings wouldn't wake the kids. It was 6:30 a.m. Something must be wrong, I was thinking, for us to get a call this early.

The Mr. answered as if he hadn't just been sucking the roof tiles off. The conversation was odd and Detective Kowalski couldn't figure out who was on the phone.

Then I started hearing familiar instructions -- put the strip in the machine first... you have to wait until it's done with the numbers then you can let it suck the blood up... no, prick your finger first.

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vancity197 @stock.xchng

I feel like such a mean dad.

I am the father of two very awesome kids. My son is 14 and my daughter is 10. They are both very smart and well mannered kids. My wife and I are extremely blessed in that they are both good kids. We thank God all the time for them.

I am usually considered the "cool dad" with my kid and their friends and as much as I am "cool" I am also pretty strict. I have definite rules with my kids and as long as they do not break them then they have lots of freedoms. Break a rule and freedoms are gone.

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I can feel it. Mom and I are standing in line to pay for some clothes for an event I'm going to on Saturday night with The Mr. I'm OK, but I know a low is coming.

I don't want to alert Mom. I don't want her to get scared for me. I look around to see if there's anywhere I can sort of inconspicuously check my sugar.

We walk to the car and I get in the driver's seat. I've forgotten the potential low for some reason. Must not have been too bad. I start driving. It's dark and I'm in a parking lot I don't know very well. We have to do a lot of maneuvering through the parking lot. Then there's construction on the street.

By the time we get to a clear place on the street, I start to feel that slightly shaky feeling that often tells me that I'm not low, but I'm dropping. It's not a full-blown low, but I know it's coming. I can feel it.

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There are a lot of things in our lives that require guessing. There are few things in everyday life considered an exact science, particularly when it comes to diabetes. If you're a person with diabetes and/or a person who regularly reads this site, you know that what works for one person with diabetes may or may not work for someone else with diabetes. Not only that, but there are so many factors that influence our individual diabetes -- right down to the weather! -- that what worked for ME yesterday may or may not work for me today.

So when someone tells me to adhere to some of the basic principals of diabetes management -- like testing before eating (which I admittedly don't always do, but don't necessarily need a lecture on), and talking with a diabetes educator -- I actually get a little offended. I'm far from perfect, and heaven knows I don't know everything when it comes to diabetes. I do, however, feel like I know my body pretty well. (READ MORE)

It was literally in an instant that I felt a low, tested and then was blown away from symptoms. I was about two minutes from going downstairs to eat lunch with the other editors in my group.

I found some Skittles and ate a handful, all while my symptoms continued to get worse fast. I knew I was going to have a nasty rebound high, but I continued to eat the Skittles until I thought I was feeling better. I heard the girls get up to go downstairs.

"Are you ready?" D asked as she passed my cube.
"I'll be down in a second," I said knowing there was no way I'd be able to walk yet, much less walk down three flights of stairs.

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There's something like 100 people or more who work for my company, at the same location I am. We take up two entire floors of a huge office building in downtown Phoenix. This is a much different atmosphere than the intimate, six-people office I came from where diabetes seemed to be a much more familiar topic.

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