My stomach was better yesterday in that I only had one bout of the runs. But that upper right tummy pain was annoying as hell.

Then I started to have a feeling they weren’t going to find anything wrong in my poo tests, which would be great, but also not so great as that puts me back to square one, trying to solve the mystery of whatever the fuck this could be. Sure enough, they all came back negative.

I did a lot of research into the possibilities and I’d say cancer, Crohn’s, and Celiac seem unlikely because those cause weight loss. Besides, I’m going to be 57 in a couple of weeks. No, I won’t complain to Tom when Jessie forgets my birthday because he’ll only defend her or come up with some excuse for her not remembering. Sometimes I just need someone on my side but I’ve never gotten that with him and I never will. I don’t know what it is with him, but if I complain about someone, he goes into automatic defense mode on their behalf. I never understood it, I still don’t understand it, and I likely never will.

Anyway, it’s a little hard to believe the last two could start this late in life. I think I’m looking at possible gallbladder issues, or worse, IBS. Having my gallbladder removed would be expensive, but it would be a quick fix. If it’s IBS I’m screwed because there’s no cure or treatment for that, as far as I can tell. But would IBS also turn itself on this late in life? I guess I’m going to find out soon enough. It doesn’t make sense that I would all of a sudden have the runs every day for nearly three weeks, any more than it ever made sense for me to suddenly become anxious as hell. Therefore, my doctor is going to send me for a stomach ultrasound and have me do a Cologuard test. This isn’t the kind of test that I did in Citrus Heights that looks for blood. This looks for cancer. It will be gross, but not nearly as gross as the last tests I did because all I have to do is shit in the container, add a chemical to it, and then seal it up.

It’s chilly here now, but I just have to deal with it because this is how it’s going to be till March or April, especially late at night and early in the morning. It’s still not as bad as NorCal, though.

I figured early yesterday morning was a great time to clean the oven because it would warm up the house. So I got the self-cleaning oven started, but then it started getting a little too warm in here and I didn’t want to have to run the AC later, so I stopped it. It doesn’t work well anyway. The only self-cleaning oven we ever had that actually worked was the one in Maricopa.

Speaking of Maricopa, I’m riding through there now in VZ. I definitely miss some parts of our lives there and in Oregon. The M is still there too. Driving by one of the mountain ranges in town, there was a white M painted on the mountainside and it’s still there. However, I don’t know if I can ride right up to our old place because I don’t think they have Google Street views there yet. I’m only about halfway through the trip, so it’ll be a while before I find out.

Now my petra plant is dying. Ugh, I really screwed up these plants! I shouldn’t have given them food so soon after planting them in soil that is already fertilized. I also think some of them couldn’t handle being transplanted. I’m going to try to save what’s left of the plant and move it into the kitchen under the plant light. The only one that’s still thriving is the fittonia. And of course, my bamboo. The fern died, the ivy died, and so did the money tree. We ordered a new and bigger money tree in a self-watering ceramic pot. You fill the reservoir every month. The color of the pot is listed as turquoise, but it looked like a soft minty green to me. The pink looked more like peach and the rose looked like coral, so that’s why I went with this one.

I’m also getting a nail-stamp sample kit for just the cost of shipping and handling which was $8.

I reminded him that if we ever are in a position to move, to remember that yes needs to mean yes if we were ever in a position not to live in a highrise or on the beach but to get land instead. If that’s not what he wants he needs to speak up and be honest! Don’t say yes if yes really means no. I get it though; the desire to please your loved one and not wanting to disappoint them. It would be hard for me to say no if he suddenly wanted a cow, even though I have absolutely no desire to own one. But it’s still important to be honest with each other because when we’re not, we’re lying to the other person and not being true to ourselves.

Realizing it had been a month since I left the comment on Mark’s obituary and that it should have been seen by now, I requested to have it removed. If the termite wants to keep it as “evidence” it will really piss her off to see it disappear. I wonder if they’ll notify her that “Bud” requested to remove the comment.