Well…damn, it was windy here yesterday and we had one gust last night that just shook the house and it was so damn loud it sounded like a jet was landing in the yard…going to be in the 40’s today and I’ll take that for the end of January but then it goes down into the 20’s for weeks but I’m okay with that if it doesn’t snow…slept okay last night but I should have with getting up at 5 yesterday…stayed in bed til a little after 6 this morning and I need to get on the bike in 30 minutes to get all three rides in before noon and make the Masala for lunch…didn’t eat much yesterday…just two bowls of potato soup and I can feel that right now…but I need to do that since the soup goes bad pretty fast…and with it having milk in it, it doesn’t freeze well…I am going to make some alfredo sauce later in the week and what I’ve learned thickening the milk for the potato soup will work for the alfredo, too….I need to straighten this place up some today but I want to just read the new books I got from the library…I’ll have months worth of reading from these three authors and that is cool…not much to do today…one of these days I’m going to take an easy day but I need to get to 700 miles for the month by Friday and that means 24 miles a day til then…more later…

Well…for the first time this year, I was able to just get in the car and do the grocery run without having to shovel or worry about burying the car in the snow…and I didn’t have to plan anything…just got in the car and went…and even after I forgot to go to the library, I just got back in the car and went over there and that is just so liberating after being trapped in here for so long…and getting back in the car, I noticed that I hadn’t disconnected the battery and it would have been dead in a couple of days so that worked out well…and I got the car washed and went to DD to get 2-46 ounce cans of coffee for 10 bucks…I did forget my grocery list but remembered all but one item from Meijers and that isn’t bad for an old guy…and now I have the Parmesan I need for alfredo sauce…but I’m not going to make that until later in the week…have chicken thawed for Masala tomorrow so I’ll just have another bowl of potato soup for dinner…I did get three new books so I want to do some reading this aft…but need to take care of the dishes first…

Well…up at 5 am this morning and I’m doing this at 5:27 and will be getting on the bike before 6 to get two rides in before I head out for the grocery run at 9 or so…need to pick up a prescription so I need to wait til almost 9 before I go out…this is going to b one busy morning with hitting Meijers, washing the car, then Aldis, then DD and a run to the library for more reading material…then the third ride before noon…slept okay last night but I know I’m going to hit the wall later with only eating a bowl of potato soup and some pasta yesterday….I am going to eat badly this week…have a taste for some chili dogs so I may make them tomorrow but I have chicken thawing for Masala so they could wait til later in the week…have to take the dogs out of the freezer and I have room to fill it again…it’s going to be warmer here for the next few days and we are getting to 40 tomorrow so we’ll get rid of some of the snow…my walks are almost clear and the road is slowly clearing, too…only 4 more weeks until March and spring and I can do that easily…not much to do today…just running around and rides and it will be nice to get out of here for a bit…haven’t started the car for more than a week and it can use a run…more later…

Well…how the hell can I be running late already at 6:49am? Need to get on the bike in 11 minutes to get the rides in before Man U plays at 10 and I am really tired of being in a hurry all the time…I did sleep okay last night but…okay…I’m going to feel worn out the rest of my life so I’ll stop whining about it now…have the 24 hours of Daytona on right now and I wonder how these guys can keep talking after 17 hours? I won’t be able to get three rides in before 10 so it looks like I’ll be back on the bike this aft…still trying to make the mini goal of getting 700 miles in by the end of the month but that gives me no room to take any time off so I’ll need to grind it out for 5 more days…I do need to cook today and I’m making potato soup later to use up the potatoes that are starting to sprout…couldn’t get any chicken bouillon crystals so I’ll have to use cubes for the soup today and I’m curious how it will come out…I do want to make some fettuccine alfredo this week so I’ll have to remember to get more parmesan cheese tomorrow…it’s going to be a busy day tomorrow with the grocery run and washing the car so I’ll have to get going early…not much to do today…did the kitchen cleaning yesterday so I think I can take it easier today…more later…

Well…with all of the snow and shoveling all week, it was nice to have an easy day for a change today where all I had to do was clean the kitchen and heat up leftovers…and the 24 hours of Daytona has been on all day on a Canadian channel for background noise to read by…going to have to go to the library Monday to get a few more books since I’ve read all of the new ones I got last fall…finished up a Harlan Coben that I found buried in my bookshelf that only took 3 days…it got up to 35 degrees with a lot of wind today and I can actually see pavement in front of the house…and next week is going to be in the 30’s all week so I should be able to get out to do the things I need to do…will probably do the grocery run Monday since I need to pick up another bottle of the toenail medication I have to use for a year…still have 10 more refills to use….will probably wash my car Monday, too, since the car wash is right over by Aldis and I have to stop there for more veggies…have to check to see if I have enough quarters…okay, going to look for another book to start…

Well…got the text I was dreading yesterday from T that her mom died and I feel so bad for her…she had been her primary caregiver for 5 years as she was slowly dying from dementia and I really hope she can now find some peace and take care of herself…a sad day…I had an okay day yesterday but last night I was up and down and crawled out of bed at 3:30 and then tried to go back to sleep around 4 or so and then out of bed at 6:26 or so and I am worn out…so the bike rides are going to be a huge chore…and I’m going to need more coffee made after the first ride…I wonder if I’ll do three rides today? Not sure yet…but it’s already 7 and I haven’t even gotten through the first cup of coffee…the racing season starts today with the 24 hours of Daytona starting this aft and it looks like the whole thing will be shown on a channel from Canada so I’ll have background noise for the whole day…the weather is going to cooperate for the next few days and we are not getting any snow and temps near 40 for three days…we’re near the end of January and only a month left of winter but Feb is the month that I grit my teeth and just survive…going to make some potato soup tomorrow but pasta and leftovers today…and I have to pick up a prescription for my toes Monday…not much to do today…I do need to clean the kitchen and microwave today but I’m not motivated at all right now…need to get on the bike by 7:15 so that gives me 10 minutes to pour coffee down and get moving…more later….

Well…after I got the three rides in and had some lunch, I suited up to go out and shovel the alley but when I got out there I found that someone had made a pass down it with a plow truck so I only had to clean out the entry and that only took about 5 minutes…and when I was clearing the inch or so of snow that fell overnight, I looked up and saw that the end of my sidewalk was plugged up and that meant they had plowed the streets again and now they look pretty good and I’ll have no problem getting out of here Monday to get groceries that I need to make some alfredo sauce…ran out of mozzarella and I need a cup of it to go in the sauce…and I need more carrots, celery, and cauliflower…it actually was a pretty nice day out here today and I’m glad we didn’t get any more snow…32 inches since Tuesday night is enough…looks like we’ll melt some of it starting tomorrow so that will be cool…it looks like T’s mom is not going to make it out of the hospital and I feel good and bad for her…I mean taking care of her has been a full time job for over 5 years as she declined from dementia and it has aged her terribly…so I’ll dread that text coming in the next few days….darn….

Well…I am damn tired of having to get going every morning when I just want to sit here and do nothing…I do hurt some from all the shoveling yesterday and I’ll be out there doing that again today with the 4 inches we got overnight…and that makes almost 30 inches in the past two days…and I still haven’t done the alley yet so that will be the work for the day today…so that means I’ll be able to get out of here Monday to do a grocery run but that will be the only thing I have to do until the 3rd….I do need to figure out the second meal for the day today and I’m leaning toward pasta since I’ve had garlic bread in the freezer for a month and that would be a nice change…and I have two pork chops in the freezer that would make a good meal…haven’t had any meat in quite a while other than chicken and it would be good with roast potatoes and some veggies…damn, it’s almost 7am and I need to get on the bike to get the day started right now…this is looking like a normal Michigan winter with the cold and huge amounts of snow and I’m not sure how I feel about that…nothing I can do about it but survive and I do feel good that this 71 year old body is holding up to it…more later….

Well…damn, we got another foot of snow overnight and, with the wind blowing like crazy, the drifts were even higher and bigger than yesterday…so much snow that I hit the wall before I finished the driveway…started to shake and couldn’t lift any more so I dropped the shovel where I was and came in for some lunch since I didn’t eat much yesterday and I needed the fuel…feel good now and went back out and finished up the driveway and digging out the snow thrown onto the sidewalks by the plow…and yes, they did plow the street here today and I’m pretty damn surprised…so I decided to wait to work on the alley with fingers crossed that they will get out here and plow it…and I just checked on mychart and my next dr appointment is not until the third of Feb when I thought it was Monday…so, no stress at all since I have enough food for a good week…Man U plays this aft in the Europa League so I need to find a political topic and get that done….

Well…we got another foot of snow overnight and it’s still snowing right now and I am sore from shoveling…we’re still under a winter storm warning until 10am and there are bands of lake effect that will be coming through for a few more inches…and that will make two feet of snow in the past two days and I don’t think I’ve seen this much snow since the 1978 blizzard that shut down the whole state…I may only do two rides on the bike today but we’ll see after I get moving…I will need to make some bean coffee since I only have two cups or so in the coffee maker…have been sleeping okay lately but I don’t feel like it right now…all the stress from shoveling and not being able to get out of here is wearing on me and I’ll need to do the alley today…at least it’s a little warmer and I’ve been able to get through the shoveling without freezing by heating my gloves and boots before I put them on…I am glad I shoveled yesterday or I’d be out there for three hours today…going to need to cook something tomorrow and I think it will be potato soup to go along with the ham that I thawed…I do have ingredients for Masala and just need to thaw the chicken…and I can do pasta…maybe some fettucini alfredo?  Not much to do today…just need to get going before 7am so I can do three rides before 11, then lunch and out to do the snow…more later…