Well…finally got back on the bike today for a normal ride but it was still icy out there and had to be very careful…I may be able to get out tomorrow but, if I do, it looks like the last ride until spring with the snow that is coming and the cold, cold temps that are coming with it. So, I savored the ride today but am looking forward to getting the the bike stand next week and trying that for the rest of the winter…I did get the grocery run done today and stocked up the food for the weekend and I’m going to make a new mushroom sauce to go with rice and chicken tomorrow…something I’ve never made before but with how good the alfredo came out, I feel pretty good that I can figure that out, too…oh, I talked about that this morning, didn’t I? Okay, won’t bore you with it anymore…I had a nagging feeling that I had a coolant leak in the car but I checked it today after topping it off a few weeks back and it is still full…but, I did tighten the upper clamp on the radiator hose since it was a little loose and I may check the rest of them tomorrow before the cold weather comes in Sunday…but, I’m not going to worry about it any more…all in all, it was a pretty good day but the bike ride left me sore after being off for a few days…so, I’ll probably take something for the shoulder and the rest of the pain tonight…and then settle in for a veg night since there is new tv on tonight….is it cocktail time yet?

Well…decided to run a little early today and get this done before I go out for groceries in a little while…and part of that is that I am already starting to get bored and needed to fill the time before I go…I did sleep last night but it was with a lot of tossing and turning but I didn’t hurt my shoulder so that is a plus…just a little pain today and I even slept on my shoulder some…I still woke up for the first time at 4:37, though, and that is  a little annoying…would just love to sleep through the night just once a month….I did get a few things done yesterday with running a couple of errands and even getting the car washed since it really needed salt removal but it appears that we are going to have some snow this weekend that will coat it again…and it’s going to be cold so it will be some hunker down time again…I did get 10 pounds more chicken for about 9 bucks yesterday and I am going to try to get creative with new recipes to use it…I am going to make some thighs and rice with mushroom sauce in the instant pot Sat and I am just winging that recipe…building on the Alfredo sauce I made earlier in the week and that may be fun….might even try to get out on the trails today for the last time this winter since my new trainer for the bike is coming Tuesday and I’ll be riding indoors until the weather breaks….more later…

Well…I am still trying to go back to sleep in the morning after waking up way too early to get up and had a little success today…didn’t get out of bed until 6:18 after waking up for the first time at 5 or so but I’m not sure if that is helping to get enough sleep…shoulder feels a little better today but I’m still staying away from the weight machine for a while yet to help the bone heal…will probably try tomorrow after the grocery run since I do need to keep my muscle tone…will probably drop the weight a bit, too, just to ensure that I won’t re injure it…might even try to take the bike out later today since it is a little warmer this morning but I’m going to take the car out first to get some food from daily deals and to see what the roads look like….really didn’t get much done yesterday other than making alfredo and I have enough leftovers so I don’t have to cook today so it looks like an easy, boring one today….I am going to start thinking about trying some new things to do but I’m not sure what that would be yet…but, I know I can’t just hang out here for the entire winter…more later….

Well….after the crash on the bike and the weather forecast that has highs in the teens until the end of January, I finally pulled the trigger and bought myself an indoor bike stand/trainer so I can ride the bike indoors for the rest of the winter and continue to stay in shape. I have been thinking about doing this for a couple of years now and, with having enough money in my cash back on the Quicksilver card, the stand is not going to cost me anything other than a swipe when the bill comes. I will have to rig up a way to fit the computer trigger to the back wheel so I can keep track of mileage but that can be done with a little duct tape and other materials that I can find around here…now I don’t feel so crappy that I won’t be able to ride and I think it will help to keep the depression at bay not having to think about the weather…updates to come when it gets here….

Well…I’ve kind of been bitching for a while now that I am really bored with the food I’ve been cooking since I stopped eating red meat and I didn’t know what to do to keep chicken from being so boring that I just couldn’t eat it anymore. So, today…I was looking at a jar of alfredo sauce that I picked up a couple of weeks back for a buck at Meijers, and started looking at the label as I have been doing since I have been trying to eat healthier and my only thought was yow! While the calories per serving were okay at 70 ( but that was for a 7th of a small jar), the sodium per serving was off the charts at 400 milligrams along with a huge amount of saturated fat…so, I decided to go out to the internet to find a recipe for alfredo that didn’t have the heavy cream and salt that was in the jar sauce. I found a really good one that just uses milk…but still uses butter to make the roue that thickens it, but to be able to control the bad stuff and make something that tastes great is a win. Of course it still has Parmesan cheese in it so it’s not the most healthy thing to eat but I was surprised at how easy it was to make and how good it tasted…and making it with non-fat milk does take the calories down to an acceptable level…oh, the chicken….I baked, cut up, and added a boneless skinless chicken breast to the sauce and that was just about perfect…and it makes enough for three meals for me over fettucine. There was a suggestion on the website that the sauce would go great over veggies like broccoli and cauliflower and I think I’ll get some to try Thursday…yummy….

Well….with the ice covering everything outside, it looks like a day off the bike so I thought I’d do a shoulder update just because I’m bored…yesterday, when I got up there was no pain in my shoulder so, like an idiot, I decided to give the weight machine a try since I had been off it for 3 weeks…as the title says, that was another mistake since it started hurting on the machine and still hurts right now. The pain made me realize that I was right in speculating that I cracked a bone up there and must have re-injured it on the machine yesterday…so I guess that puts me back to almost square one and need to rest it to make sure the crack heals before I load it up again…darn….

Well….just noticed that yesterday’s post got me to 6,800 of these and that seems to be a lot…my shoulder is hurting again and I think I shouldn’t have used the weight machine yesterday….think I’ll wait a couple of days before I do that again…might even have to take something for it this morning…and my stomach has been giving me fits the past few days and I’m not sure what that is about….I wonder if I should just stop eating entirely? Need to get some more zantac at the store Thursday just in case it gets worse…haven’t needed any of that for a long time…I did have nice day yesterday and I won at pool for the first time in a couple of weeks so that was cool…and I got a bike ride in but it was 23 when I went out and that is just a little too cold…paid for that the rest of the day trying to get warm…it’s warmer than that now so I am going to try to get out before the freezing rain hits in a while…we have a winter weather advisory on until Friday morning so it looks like a couple of days of hunkering down here and taking it easy…and, with the wind supposed to blow around 35, that just way to windy to get out no matter what the rest of the weather does….more later…

Well…I wonder if I’ll jinx it if I say that my shoulder doesn’t hurt this morning? Haven’t felt anything but stiffness since I got up, other than in my collar bone, and I even slept on it without pain so maybe I can stop talking about it…I was down to about 6 hours in bed last night so that means about 4 1/2 hours of sleep and I’m not sure if that is sustainable but it has been going on for quite a while now…getting up at 5 or 5:30 is starting to get old especially since I have to wait so long to get on the bike with the cold… and it is going to get colder over the next week with the temps in the 20’s for highs so I think there will be quite a few days off…I am going to try the weight machine for the first time in 3 weeks this morning and I hope it doesn’t re-injure the shoulder… I do need to have some exercise without the bike…didn’t get much done yesterday and today will be the same with pool this aft…although, with not riding the bike, I do have time to do something this morning…will have to think about that…more later…

Well…it’s a typical Sunday so I’m running a little late after reading the paper before coming here…slept okay last night and my shoulder is better with barely any pain, just a little stiffness and that is a welcome change…but, it took three weeks to get here from the crash and that seems to be a long time…it looks like the workouts on the weight machine will start again tomorrow and I am kind of looking forward to it….feel like I’ve lost half my muscle mass and need to get that fixed…I did get a nice ride in yesterday but my toes got pretty cold and I may need to splurge on some wind proof socks to help that with the cold weather that is coming next weekend…highs only in the teens but I won’t be going out when it’s that cold…just no reason for it….didn’t get  a lot done yesterday but didn’t have to and today looks the same with no cleaning necessary again after the big clean last week…so, how bored will I be? Soccer doesn’t start for another 2 hours and Man U doesn’t play til 11:30 so it will be a chore to fill that time….maybe I will clean a little….more later….

Well…didn’t get up til after 6 this morning and, for the first time in 3 weeks, I was able to sleep almost pain free and do my normal flipping and flopping from right to left side all night…and my shoulder is almost pain free right now so I may try to do the bike ride without ibuprofen today….I have been waiting for this since the crash and I was wondering if it would ever happen…had an okay day yesterday and got a bike ride in but it was pretty cold going out at 27 degrees…I think that is the bottom edge of temp for me…made the ride uncomfortable but it is already over that right now so I can go out as soon as it gets light…the trails were dry and should be today, too, and it makes it more fun when I can zone out a little and not pay so much attention…didn’t get much done yesterday but didn’t have to with getting the place cleaned Thursday but I will have to cook today…have to look for a new recipe for chicken thighs since I am getting bored with the normal baked with potatoes and veggies…but that is pretty easy so I may just say the heck with it and go with what I know…more later…