Well…running about on time this morning with the damn birds waking me up at 5…there must have been a hundred of them out there and I left the window open to get some air so it was really, really loud…slept okay last night with having cocktails for the first time this week and it may be the last time, too…just don’t enjoy it like I used to and what’s the point if I don’t enjoy it? Was so sore yesterday that I had to take some ibuprofen for it and had the thought that maybe I should take a day off the bike? Nah….I am only going to do one ride today since Tom and I are going to try to go out and shoot pool this morning and maybe that will do the trick….I have been drinking a lot more water lately…something I didn’t think was possible….but I’m not sure if it is doing anything for my foot…my toe barely hurts but my foot is still a little puffy and I have started to get my back to crack in little pops so I’m hoping that will help, too….I did get some work done on the downstairs project yesterday but I still have a bunch of work to do there and need to get on it tomorrow….I think I’m taking the day off today and just vegging with watching racing….I may clean some but I won’t feel bad if I don’t….the bathroom and kitchen needs work but they needed work all week and I didn’t die from it so I guess I’ll get to it when I do….more later…

Well…I made it…5 days of no cocktails and it is getting easier as time goes by….and my foot and liver are thanking me today…I did sleep okay and had some weird dreams again that had to do with my gardens being pulled up for some reason and that was a little strange…but, I feel okay this morning and the first ride is coming up in a few minutes that I am looking forward to….it feels good to have gotten so much done yesterday that I don’t have a lot to do today but work downstairs and on the gardens and watch some soccer this afternoon…I do need to start cleaning the oxidation off the garage siding so I can paint it next week but I think I’m going to wait to do that until next week…I am taking the weekend off to just fool around and clean…this place needs a scrubbing everywhere and I have been putting it off to get other things done…and this afternoon could be the perfect time with the storms that are predicted…the damn power outage from a couple of weeks ago has ruined storms for me…I used to anticipate seeing them and watching from the porch but now, after the 10 hour outage, I cringe when I see them coming in….I guess I’ll have to see how durable the power is here but it doesn’t look good with it failing  during the first big storm of the year…my lawn sure needs the rain after hitting it with crabgrass killer yesterday and not having any rain to speak of for weeks…water costs too damn much here in the city to water it so I guess I’ll just let it go brown…not much to do today….going to finish the first cup of coffee and then get out on the bike by 7 so I can get two rides in this morning….then I’ll just wing it for the rest of the day with no plans….more later….

Well…man, this has been another busy day and I have been running since I got out on the bike for the first ride around 7…and it was a good ride with fog, cool temperatures, and so many animals I felt like I was in a Disney cartoon….after I got home from that one, I needed to make a run out for some more groceries since DD had pizzas on sale for 1.99 again and I splurged on some beef brats for 1.88 for 6 of them…then, over to Aldi’s for some chicken since they are a block away from DD…and then to Menard’s to get some crabgrass killer, and then to Meijers to get the rest of the stuff I needed to make a pizza later in the week….after I got back here, I jumped back on the bike for the second ride and when I got back, I mowed and edged the lawn, then put crabgrass killer on…then, on to leftovers for lunch and then back out to wash the car…whew…pretty damn busy for someone who is supposed to be retired….oh, and then I did two of these and that does take some time and effort….so, I worked from 7 to 3 today and got a solid 8 hours of work in…and I still have to vacuum the car and do the glass since I haven’t done the glass yet this year…and I have work to do on the downstairs project that needs to be done too….I wonder if I should have saved some of this for the weekend? Nope, I like to take weekends off just like when I was working…okay, didn’t take them off then either….I am going to take an hour or so off and watch a little soccer and get some more water in me….

Well…okay, that was weird…went to bed early last night from boredom and had some strange dreams where I was in charge modernizing Russian industrial production in the 50’s…yeah, I get it, who the heck dreams about that kind of stuff? Just the fact that I had dreams at all was pretty cool but the weirder, the better…I even slept okay with the normal tossing and turning and didn’t get up til 6 so that’s a win for me…. and my foot could be back to normal if I skip cocktails this weekend but I think that is a bit much….I’ve been so good this week with no cocktails or salty foods and lots of veggies that I think I have earned being bad just a couple of days….we’ll see….I did get some stuff done yesterday and today I want to work on the lawn and car….fooling around stuff that I don’t consider work…this is kind of funny…my car gets dirtier just sitting in the garage with all the dust than it ever did sitting outside…and I haven’t done a full interior cleaning yet this year and the glass is pretty ugly so that will be done today even though it’s going to rain tomorrow and saturday….I got some detailing brushes at HF for 1.49 last week that I am going to use to try to clean the wheels since they really need it…and I’m going to make another grocery run this morning since I only did Meijers yesterday and only spent 10 bucks…I may splurge on some brats since I have been good and they are easy and they have pizzas for 1.99 again at DD so I think I’ll get one of those, too….but I need to get on the bike first and have another cup of coffee….more later…

Well….cripes, I wonder if this no cocktail thing is going to be a habit now? It is getting easier and easier to sit here with a glass of water at night and I think I’m easing up to it being a no decision thing but the default for my nights…and I slept okay again last night…tossed and turned, sure…but, all in all, not a bad night and I can live with that…and my right foot is down to only about 20% bigger than my left and it doesn’t hurt at all this morning so how can you argue with those results from no cocktails? I can’t so I’ll keep it up and see where it goes…I did get the front door painted yesterday but didn’t use the new sprayer I bought…it was just too much work to put up the sheeting to capture the overspray and then try to use a new tool so I just painted it with a brush like the back door…came out pretty good but it needs a second coat after going from beige to dark brown…but, I’m out of paint so I’ll need to get another gallon mixed today so I can get that done…and I forgot that I’m going to use the same color on the awnings so that will be the trial for the new sprayer…I do like how the color looks on the door…looks sleek and modern and I think the awnings will be the same…oh, and DTE came yesterday to put a new gas meter in since the old one was put in in 1980 but that was pretty painless so that was cool….not much to do today…need to get on the bike in a minute so I can get the first ride in before the grocery run, then I need to get out and get the paint for the door and siding before I get back here for lunch….then I think I’ll take a ride before I paint and watch Man U play…going to be a busy day…more later…

Well…that wasn’t a bad night…didn’t get up til almost 6 with only the normal amount of tossing and turning so I’ll take it…and I don’t feel too bad this morning after being good for the second night in a row…I wonder how I’ll feel after another 5 days off week? I know my foot is appreciating it and it may even be back to normal since it looks good this morning….the poison oak is finally healing pretty well and the only thing left on my arm is a red mark and it doesn’t itch too much but I am still going to treat it with hydrocortisone again today to keep the progress going….going to be much more careful about the trail from now on….I am going to get the front door painted today and I am curious how the new sprayer is going to work on it….I do know I need to build a little paint booth in the vestibule with a drop cloth since I just noticed that the dust from sanding is all over the living room and will need to be cleaned more…don’t want any overspray to get on the floor or walls since the dark brown would look nasty on my clean white walls…..or the hardwood floors…I think the brown is going to look classy on the door but I do still need to buy a new lockset and dead bolt so the door will work normally….not much to do today…need to get out on the bike here in a few minutes but want more coffee and to read a little news first….the bike rides felt good yesterday and I went hard on both…yeah, stupid, I know but damn, what’s the point if you can’t go hard? More later…

Well…finally…got something done today! Got the front door filled and sanded today and it’s ready to paint….it has been a struggle to get moving lately and part of it was the pain everywhere that I’ve had for the past couple of weeks…along with the pain in my foot it has been tough at times…I am so glad that the dust from sanding is finally over…I am tired of cleaning up and having it everywhere…I think I may try out my new sprayer if I have enough paint left…really don’t want to spend another 38 bucks for a gallon if only have the door and 4 feet of trim to do…it’s going to be close….but I think I’ll be able to thin the paint with some water for the sprayer and make it work….hope so anyway….time to take a break…

Well…not sure if I’m on time or not this morning but it’s 6:29 and I’m here so does it matter? I did sleep okay last night and don’t feel too bad this morning so I’ll take that every day….and I’m not too sore today…even my foot doesn’t hurt much and I’m not limping much either….it is kind of weird that I am cheering that my back hurts but that means that it may be getting ready to crack and re-align which will help the swelling in my foot….had an okay day yesterday but didn’t get much done other than playing in the gardens but I am going to get at the front door today and start prepping it to paint…have decided to use my new spray gun to paint it and I am a little curious of how that is going to work….should be a good dry run for the rest of the painting I need to do with the sprayer….that damn chipmunk is back and digging in my garden again and pulled up one of my small green pepper plants looking for sunflower seeds it buried last year I guess…got mad enough that I wanted to kill the little sucker but then realized he is just looking for food and I re-planted the pepper so no big deal…..I will scare him a little when I see him but that will be it….had a couple of nice rides yesterday and will be going back out for two rides today as I head toward 2300 miles in for the year…have been making sure to drink all of the water I take with me on every ride for the past few days and I think it may be making a difference…at least my toe is barely red and I can move it so that is progress…but, I need to get at making ice so I can drink all day around here…think I may have to put a couple of trays in the downstairs freezer if I can make room for them…I do want to order some of the cool new silicone ones but amazon is so damn slow that I wouldn’t get them for over a month so maybe I’ll look at Meijers wed….more later….

Well….have been a little disappointed how slow the plants in my gardens are to fruit when I started them downstairs when it was still snowing outside with the specific purpose of getting them to flower and fruit before they normally would around the end of July or the first part of August…and I think I may have only cut a couple of weeks off the standard fruiting times even with all of the early starts…but, today I have beans! My bean plants started to flower last week and today they have little beans starting to grow…even with having 5 plants, I don’t think that is going to be a lot of beans unless they continue to flower through the summer…it has been so long since I’ve had a garden that I really don’t remember how any of the veggies grow and mature..except tomatoes, that is…so I am going to be learning this year for my own garden at my own house next year…I know I’m going to put some herbs in next year too since I forgot them this year…so that makes beans, jalapenos, green peppers, tomatoes and a few green onions that have started to grow fruit…and the cukes have started to flower like crazy so I should have a lot of those in a month or so…even my potatoes are growing pretty large and that will be a laugh digging them up at the end of the year and seeing just how many potatoes will be there….and I think I’ll try to plant some regular onions too just for the heck of it…so, I guess I can stop stressing that I didn’t do the garden right this year and just enjoy what I get in a month or so…it will be so cool to just walk out and grab some tomatoes to eat as I take care of the gardens…so, everybody…get ready to take some of this stuff off my hands….

Well….running a little late this morning but that is normal for a Sunday….slept okay even in the heat but my thumb hurts like crazy for some reason today…have to not use the space bar so much…not sure how that is going to work but it hurts enough that I’m going to try it…maybe hit it with my left thumb? Cripes, it 7 am and it is still sticky and I’m already sweating so I’m going to be soaked on the bike in a few minutes…I did get some news from my middle son yesterday that he and his wife are having a girl so that will be one of each in the next year…I’m pretty excited about that and it will be good to get things back to a semblance of normal….didn’t get a lot done yesterday and today looks the same as I wait for the weather to cooperate and get a little cooler…but, I can’t wait too long…need to get up on the roof and get started on the dormer this week and get the front door done, too….my foot is not going to cooperate but I guess I’ll just have to live with it….still haven’t seen a hummingbird at my feeder so I moved it to the back yard to see if less noise will help…I’ve never been able to get them to come to a feeder any placed I’ve lived so it’s not too much of  a disappointment….not much to do today…just the two bike rides and lots of soccer and races but that will be it…I do need to make a pizza for lunch to use up the veggies before they spoil then back to leftovers for dinner…I think I need to up the calories a bit since I have been under 1500 cals for weeks now and I don’t think that is enough….we’ll see….more later….