Well…up at 5:37 this morning and feel pretty worn out…just poured the first cup of coffee and I would really like it to work soon…haven’t looked outside yet to see if it’s raining but it’s supposed to be…it’s warm enough to get out on the bike but that ends today with highs going down into the 30’s….okay…the weather widget just changed to 40 degrees with light rain so I guess the rides will be indoors today…and that’s okay…cleaned the bike up yesterday and I can leave it downstairs….got a few things done yesterday but that leaves me with nothing to do today and that’s okay, too…I can clean and probably should do the kitchen…got the biggest stalk of celery I’ve ever seen at aldis yesterday for 95 cents and that reminds me I need to make more potato soup and cut some of it up to use for snacks later…a little ranch dressing with some hot sauce in it would be good…not in too much pain today and I really should be after all the riding this week…my thighs were howling on  the bike yesterday and the pain was moving around like it normally does….not much to do today…it’s still before 7 so I can just sit here for a bit before I get going…and I think I will…more later…

Well…almost forgot about this…today when I was out on the second ride along Muskegon Lake, I saw a Bald Eagle flying north to south across the lake and it was flying like I’ve never seen an eagle do…not the normal lazy spirals but it was flying flat out like he had somewhere to be and he kept it up until he was out of sight…I wonder what would make an eagle do that? I’ll have to keep my eyes up more to try to see that again…it’s been a good day and I got lots of stuff done…the grocery runs first, then two bike rides, cleaned the bike and just finished working on it downstairs, then laundry that is in the dryer and I’ll have to put that away when it’s done…so, pretty busy but now it’s almost 4:30 and I am done for the day…it’s the 10th day in a row of only one meal and I really am starting to see the weight come off with being able to ride outdoors…but that ends tomorrow I think with rain and cold coming in…and that looks like the end until the first week of January…oh, well…I do have more “Goliath” to watch downstairs…

Well…that was weird…slept all the way through the night until 5:44 this morning and that never happens…I really can’t remember the last time that I didn’t wake up at least once overnight….I wonder if it has something to do with getting the health insurance sorted out? Have to start planning meals for after the ham runs out and I really think I need to make some pasta for a change…not a lot of food in the freezer but I do have 2 pounds of ground turkey that I can make chili with…and I’m going to make another batch of potato soup in a couple of days and then some ham soup when I use up the ham and mashed potatoes….going to go through the food my daughter left me and use that up…still have lentils and other dry goods to use…it’s only 36 outside so I may have to wait til the afternoon to get out on  the bike and it’s still going to be cold when I do…and tomorrow is going to be rainy so I’ll be inside….not much to do today…just the grocery runs and the rides but I should clean a bit and do laundry and probably will….more later…

Well…while I was sitting here tonight, I realized I still hadn’t heard from Priority Health Medicare whether I still had coverage and January 1st is coming up…so I decided to give them a call and got through…talked to a very nice woman who told me that still had my address as my son’s house in GR…but if they sent paperwork there, my son or daughter in law would have called me to let me know…so she changed my address and told me I was still enrolled and will send me all of the things I should have gotten…two cards, and a catalog for the OTC benefit…so this takes a big load off me and I don’t have to wonder anymore…I really did think they cancelled me for costing them 77K for my surgery this year…so, I’m going to have a cocktail to celebrate tonight…

Well…Man U is stinking up the place again so I thought I’d come here instead…once the rain turned into a heavy mist about 8:45 this morning, I decided to suit up and head out with my rain gear on…there was just a little wind so that made for some good rides and I came back sweating from working hard…it was around 47 degrees when I left and that is plenty warm when I’ve got the raincoat on….didn’t get too wet and when I finished the first ride all I did was fill the water bottle and got right back on the bike since I was covered in grit from the wet trails and didn’t want to track it all over the house…as it was, after the second ride, I stood in the shower as I brushed the dirt off the back of my pants and raincoat…I may be able to get one more day of outdoor rides in tomorrow but it might rain so we’ll see…it is going to rain Thursday and then the temp crashes to highs in the 30 so I’ll be indoors for the rest of the year…haven’t done much else today other than straighten the place up and clean a little…and now I need to go out and put the trash bin out for pickup tomorrow…

Well…December 26th used to be my favorite day of the year when I celebrated christmas…everything done, no more traveling and a few days off before I had to go back to work…have had a hard time figuring out what day it is over the past week or so…it’s Tuesday? Weird….it’s raining out there right now and just saw the high wind warning pop up on the screen so it may be an indoor ride today but I guess we’ll see…I did get 45 miles in yesterday and the third ride was a surprise when it was warm enough to go out in shorts…not sure why I’ve been sleeping okay for the past few months but I’ll take it…I mean getting up only once a night around three and then staying in bed til almost 7? And feeling okay as I have my coffee? Now that I’ve hit my 5,000 mile goal, I can start to think about taking a day off the bike this week but, as you know, that is really hard for me…maybe that is something to work on? Still don’t need to cook today with the soup and ham leftovers but I will need to start some meal planning today so I can get the food tomorrow…one thing I know is I have to cut down on the salt…not much to do today…the day will probably revolve around getting the rides in before lunch as it always does and then getting some cleaning in…need to start a new book today to fill the hours…more later…

Well…about 2:45 this afternoon, I noticed that the little weather widget at the bottom of the screen said it was 58 degrees out here so I decided to go out for a third ride and this time in shorts for the last time this year…put Pink Floyd’s “Wish You Were Here” in the ears and it started to rain as soon as I left here but that was okay since I had my rain gear on…not sure if this is the latest in the year that I’ve been out in shorts but it has to be close…I do remember being out on New Years day in shorts a few years back but that was that year without a winter when it never really snowed at all and I could ride outdoors all winter…oh, I did make it to 5,000 miles for the year with doing the third ride…might even be able to add another hundred miles by the end of the year…

Well…having a heck of a time getting started this morning with the first cup of coffee just poured and only one sip in me…it’s a fresh coffee day today and I always like those…slept okay and only woke up a couple of times then dragged myself out of bed around 6 and that’s pretty normal…going to get on the bike as soon as it gets light since I need to get three rides in if I’m going to get to 5,000 miles today…watching “A Christmas Story” and it still makes me laugh after all these years….didn’t eat a lot yesterday with only having a bowl of soup and I’m not sure how that is going to effect the rides today…my legs will probably be flat but they feel okay right now…not sure what else I’m going to do today…probably a load of laundry and maybe some cleaning but I did some of that yesterday so maybe I’ll just wing it a bit…sure hope cleaning the bike took care of the problems I was having yesterday…not much to do today…just need to get going but that’s not happening right now…so I’ll just pour more coffee down and wait for the light…more later…

Well…just a had a visit from a friend and his dog and it was a lot of fun…I did get two bike rides in outdoors today and then had to wash the bike since there was so much dirt, sand, and leaves on it that had jammed the front shifter and started to make a lot of noise…will take it out again in the morning to try to get two rides in before the rain comes in and it looks like it will be warm enough as soon as the sun comes up…I should get to 5,000 miles tomorrow and then everything after that will be gravy…the Lions won today and that makes them NFC North champions for the first time since 1994 with an 11-4 record…so now maybe some playoff football for the first time since I was much younger…now it’s time to make ice for the cocktails tonight…

Well…I really thought that today was going to be one of those days when you wake up at 5 and just know you won’t get back to sleep…but then I looked at the phone again and it was 6:26 so I guess I was wrong…and I can get going on the bike this morning at first light since it is 45 already and the wind is cooperating, too at only 6 out of the SE…so I’ll have both rides in before 11 and then can get on to doing nothing the rest of the day…I think the Lions play at 1 so maybe I’ll just veg out this afternoon…need to use the soup I made the other day and I need to keep with the one meal a day thing I’ve got going to keep losing weight…didn’t get a lot done but the rides and cooking yesterday and just need to clean the kitchen up a bit today so that shouldn’t take long…going to voltaren my right thigh before I get on the bike today since it hurt like crazy yesterday…my whole right leg hurt from my hip down and now the damn gout is back and my right big toe is killing me,,,might try voltaren on that, too, just to see if something works on that…not much to do today…just the rides to get started and then I’ll wing it from there…more later,,,