A PJ kind of day

Woke up at 5 a.m. feeling icky.  Spent the next 4 hours visiting the bathroom.  Oh swell!  And things were going  so well lately.  IBS maybe?  Still no definite answer from the gastro guy who I saw this morning.  He wants me to get a blood test now for celiac disease.  Meaning gluten.  From the symptoms I looked up online, I don't think that's it.  I do suppose, though, that something I'm eating is throwing my insides into a panic.  Heaven knows I've never been a poster child for eating healthy.  He wants me to come back in January but I doubt I'll bother.  Been going to him every three months since LAST January and still don't have a definite diagnosis!  Guess I'm going to have to try and figure this out on my own by recording what I eat.  So boring!  Yet....these diarrhea episodes are the pits!

At any rate, I plan on staying in my pajamas today and laying low.  Can't really get into sewing if I feel punk so I'll veg out in the recliner and watch tv and crochet.  Plan on watching the debate tonight  too.

Got a call from my cousin's wife in Vancouver (Holly Blankenship) telling me Jim was taken back t the hospital.  Has pneumonia and that's a scary thing on top of his emphysema.  He fell recently and is trying to recover from those wounds, as well.  Last time I talked to him, he said he was more than ready to leave this world.  Welcomed it.  Feel so bad for him.  He's had health issues for many years.

Maddie went to her cross country banquet with her mom last night.  She got the coveted coach's trophy and Jen (who cried) said she's over the moon happy about it.  Hunter also lettered in tennis. So proud of both of them!

I finished the red quilt I'd been working on and will start a new project tomorrow, most likely.  Looked over my Christmas stash of gifts put up in the closet and they're slowly starting to accumulate. I'm cutting down this year, however. My fixed income just isn't stretching the way it used to.

Got a bill from the optometrist this morning for what my insurance wouldn't pay for an exam. I have to pay $59 out of pocket and I'd already paid $159 for the lens!  Apparently the exam was $256. Seems excessive to me. I should have went to Walmart.  Lesson learned.  I know I don't pay as much as some people do for medical insurance but it's still a hardship on  my budget.  Not sure exactly what is taken out of my social security check for medicare and prescription insurance but I know it's high. On top of that, I pay $202 each month to AARP for supplemental.  What a damn ripoff!

I'm going to have to watch my pennies even closer than I already do.  I suspect a whole lot of seniors are "just getting by" most months.  I'm thankful I have a roof over my head every time I see homeless people on the street.  And seems like I'm seeing more of them all the time.

Hometown paper had another obit of somebody from my class this morning.  He didn't actually graduate with us as he ended up at Antioch High School but he was still considered part of our class as he attended a few years.  I remember him, at any rate.  Bob Rodgers.  Nice fella'.

Got a picture a while back online from my cousins in Tacoma. Katy and her mom have been on a "watch your carbs" type diet and both have lost a substantial amount of weight.  Looking good girls!  So proud of you.  Katy and Ann on the right.

Saw this rock design on Facebook and am thinking I might make a trip to the beach soon to start collecting stones.  I love things made with rocks, sticks, buttons, etc.

Dryer just turned off so I suppose I'd best get that laundry put away.  Found on yesterday (via Facebook) that an old high school teacher of mine (Mr. Raymond) is living in a senior community in Olympia and will be 96 come January.  Man!

Here's the red quilt I finally finished.  Not perfect by any stretch of the imagination but I learned things along the way.