I used to hate to cook. In fact, the word “hate” may not accurately describe my old feelings towards cooking. On my “Least Favorite Things in the World” list, I considered cooking ranked right between explosive diarrhea and having my eyeballs fried in oil.  Not that I have ever had my eyeballs fried in oil, but a girl can imagine.

The only things that I could cook were spaghetti and tater tot casserole. We ate these things a lot. I used to joke that we ate so much tater tot casserole that my husband had nightmares about giant tater tots chasing him. The other thing we did was eat out a lot and I confess, we ate way too much fast food.

Then I was diagnosed with type 2 Diabetes. After a period of denial, I got a grip. I realized that I had to alter my old habits. I began watching cooking shows and browsing through cookbooks. Inch by inch and culinary misstep after misstep, I taught myself to cook. It started out that I was doing this to learn to help manage my diabetes, but now, I also do it because I really LOVE to cook! And, I think it must be said, compared to my old cooking skills, I am a total rock star in the kitchen!

I used to dread cooking for holidays, but not anymore. Every year I try a few new recipes. I try lots of new ingredients and new ways of making dishes. Anyone who cooks for the holidays has to think about and plan a balanced menu. Being a diabetic means you do the same, but diabetics really have to pay attention to carbohydrates, fats, and sugars.

Fortunately, there are so many holiday tips, recipes, and resources out there to help:

• A Diabetic at the Thanksgiving Table
• Diabetes: Navigating the Holidays both Happy and Healthy
• Diabetes Diet #5: A Sweet Thanksgiving
• Elegant Holiday Recipes That Are Healthy, Too
• Healthy Thanksgiving Dinner with Diabetes
• Holiday Meal Planning
• How to Cook Thanksgiving for a Diabetic

The government offers these resources to help diabetics year round with recipes and tips:

• Diabetic Diet
• Diabetes Meal Planner
• FCIC: Diabetes Recipes
• South Dakota: Healthy Diabetes Recipes and More
• Tasty Recipes for People with Diabetes and Their Families
• USA.gov search results page

Now, if I could only make myself LOVE housework. Oddly enough, I really do enjoy cleaning toilets... I'm sure Freud would have something to say about that! LOL! Anyway, if you cook for a diabetic and have any comments, tips, or recipes to share, I would love to hear from you!

Driving around town this week you may have noticed that flags were flown at half-staff, a message from President Obama to honor the soldiers who were killed in the shootings at Fort Hood.

When I was growing up, I learned that flags were flown at half-staff in the wake of a tragedy or a period of mourning in the country. So whenever, I see the flags at half-staff, I always try to figure out what happened. I never realized there were certain protocols that governed flying the flag.

When a flag is flown at half-staff it is usually a directive given by the President for how the executive branch will fly the flag. However, it's not a mandate and no one is forced to fly the flag a certain way just because the President is. Local communities, schools and agencies can decide for themselves if they will fly their flags at half-staff to recognize the death of an employee or student.

These are three of the more interesting facts I found about flying a flag at half-staff:

• On Memorial Day, the flag is at half-staff until noon and then raised to the top of the pole until sunset.
• Flags are flown at half-staff for 30 days after the death of the president or former president.
• When flying a flag at half-staff, it should be raised to the top of the staff and then lowered to half-staff.

First and foremost, a great big THANK YOU to all our veterans, their families, and to all of those who have served our great country in one way or another.

Today is Veterans Day, and as the child of parents who both served in the military, I am especially grateful to those who serve in our armed forces. Also called Armistice Day or Remembrance Day in other countries, November 11th marks the anniversary of the signing of the Armistice that ended World War I.

The Veterans Day National Ceremony is held at 11am at Arlington National Cemetery. The ceremony includes a color guard, with representation from each of the branches of our Armed Forces. A ceremony will honor the fallen at the Tomb of the Unknowns, with another ceremony following at the Memorial Amphitheater.

Veterans Day is marked around the country with various parades, ceremonies, and tributes. How do you and your community celebrate? How do you thank your loved ones who have served?

When I was in third grade, my elementary school sponsored a Veterans Day essay contest. The winner was to read their essay at the dedication of the community Vietnam War Memorial. My sister was in the 6th grade and also in my school at the time. When the Principal announced the winner throughout the school over the PA system he said my sister's name but my classroom teacher as the sponsor. Ultimatley there was a lot of household confusion and hulabaloo over who was the rightful winner.  When things were sorted out, as fate may have it, I was the winner. Just call it my Ely Manning winning the Superbowl  moment. I'd love to find that essay again, and see what was going on in my 8-year-old head, but I'm just glad that even at that age I appreciated all that our veterans sacrificed for our country.

Much gratitude to those who have served.

I was shocked last week when I heard the report that a cat in the U.S. was sick with the H1N1 (swine) flu. Poor kitty. The CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) website confirms that there was a cat with H1N1, and the kitty required medical care, but recovered. They also say that some ferrets were infected with the virus.

The good news is that the CDC thinks you won’t get the H1N1 flu from your pet. The bad news is that they think that your pet can get the flu from you.

If you get the flu, how do you protect your pet? You protect your pet the same way you protect your family and friends: cover your coughs and sneezes, wash, wash, wash your hands, and try to minimize contact until 24 hours after your fever is gone.

If your pet gets the flu, what should you do? If a person in your home has flu-like symptoms, and your pet becomes sick with coughing, sneezing or other respiratory symptoms, contact your veterinarian. Oh, and tell your kitty to sneeze into her paw.

In honor of World Usability Day, which will be celebrated Thursday, our guest blogger today is Whitney Quesenbery, a user researcher, user experience practitioner, and usability expert with a passion for clear communication.

Between websites, blogs, twitter, and all the other new online communities, there are more ways for the government and citizens to communicate than ever. Just communicating more won’t mean much unless everyone understands what is actually being said. 

That’s where plain language comes in.  This is not a new concept. The idea of speaking directly to people, in terms they understand, seems obvious. It can be hard to break a long tradition of arcane terminology and long-winded sentences, but the results can be a win for everyone.

Which would you rather read:

“The Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends a half hour or more of moderate physical activity on most days, preferably every day. The activity can include brisk walking, calisthenics, home care, gardening, moderate sports exercise, and dancing.”

Or

“Do at least 30 minutes of exercise, like brisk walking, most days of the week.”

That example is from a Department of Health and Human Services project that replaced a 6-page article with 1-page fold-out brochure. The shorter version is not only fewer words to read, but gets right to the point. It speaks directly to the reader, uses an active voice and keeps the message as simple as possible.

Who wins when you write information in plain language?

• Citizens win - they can understand something on their own.
  After one government agency rephrased the language in a letter that it sends to citizens many times each year, phone calls to ask for explanations dropped by more than 80%. 
• Agencies win - they don’t have to spend as much time and money answering questions.
  When a cable company rewrote and redesigned its bill, call volume dropped by 15%. The calls were shorter, too.
• You win - when you don’t have to spend as much time explaining what you meant. In the first example, the new letter meant almost 1,000 phone calls that a small staff didn’t have to answer.

Want to learn more?

• Plainlanguage.gov has more examples and useful tools.
• The Center for Plain Language has a toolkit for starting plain language in your organization and other resources.
• The Office of the Federal Register has guidelines for clear and concise legal writing.

World Usability Day is on November 12. This international day is about “making life easy” and user friendly.  It is celebrated in over 36 countries.

In Washington, DC, Webcontent.gov and the Center for Plain Language have teamed up celebrate the sustaining power of Usability + Plain Language on World Usability Day. World Usability Day events and resources to help you build your skills and improve your documents and web sites include:

• Free “mini-consultations” with a usability or plain language expert to improve your government web page or document by phone on Nov. 12 from 1:00 – 4:00 pm ET
• A free in-person plain language course on Nov. 12 from 9:00 – 11:30 am in Washington DC near Union Station
• The Plain Language + Usability Resource List to help you conduct a World Usability Day activity at your agency or company and improve your website year-round