Well…it was a pretty sucky day yesterday and I am so damn worn out from it…I remember the days when I could take the stress from work days like that every day but now I’m used to a less stressful routine…and I like that…so today will be a recovery day where I just do my normal thing of riding the bike and cleaning a bit…tomorrow will be the day I cook the big ham with mashed potatoes and gravy…or maybe I’ll wait til Sunday since I do have leftovers to use up…I know I’ve said that little things make me happy and I do mean it…Wed when I was at aldis, I went down the condiment aisle as I always do to see if there is anything new…and they had a Burman’s stone ground mustard that is probably the best mustard I’ve ever had…the only ingredients are mustard seed, water, vinegar, and turmeric but it tastes like it has horseradish…might pick up a few bottles to put in the pantry since they only have specialty stuff for a short time….I do need to get out and work on the bike as soon as it gets light to clean the shifter on the bike….the idler wheels seem to be gunked up and they are sending vibrations through the pedals that I can feel and I don’t like it…not much to do today…going to have more coffee and ease into it…it’s warm enough to get out on the bike right now but I’m not motivated to do anything right now…more later…

Well…damn what a pain in the butt trying to figure out why I never got any paperwork for the renewal of my medicare advantage plan…so aft 4 hours on hold an never getting through to customer service and a 60 mile round trip to Holland to find a closed walk in office…I finally figured out to go through sales and got right through…but I still have a fear that they have cancelled my plan and they won’t let the new registration go through…so I could still be screwed for a year or have to back to regular medicare for a year…I guess we’ll see…just a huge pain….

Well…damn, up at 5:24 this morning and it’s one of those days when I know there was no point of even trying to get back to sleep so I gave up and got up…even started the coffee a half hour earlier than the timer so I could get going…and it’s warm enough to get out on the bike as soon as it gets light…the wind was howling last night but it’s come down to about 10 from the SW so that’s doable….don’t hurt as much as yesterday but getting back on the outdoor bike this morning is going to hurt again and I wonder if it’s connected to my surgery and how sitting on the bike is different now? I do need to contact Priority Health this morning since I think they have dropped me after having to pay 77,000 dollars for my surgery…haven’t heard from them and they normally send me renewal paperwork…crap….didn’t get much done yesterday but i do need to cook and clean today but not until after I get the rides in….not much to do today…got everything done yesterday so I can just hang out today…got the car washed and bought new riding sunglasses since I broke my last pair…making chicken today that will get me to Sat when I make the big ham…more later…

Well…that’s 5 days now with the same pattern…up at 4 and then out of bed by 6:35…tossed the flat sheet and comforter off the bed so I may have to put the wool blanket on the bed tonight to add some weight…feel pretty worn out today but I think eating two meals was the right thing to do yesterday…going to make some chicken thighs  today and I’m buying a ham to cook later in the week….that will have go in the roasting pan and out on the grill…going to start thinking about buying a new stove to make my life a little easier….just need to get moving on a lot of stuff instead of just idling around here…I did look for painting supplies and found I have two packs of sanding paper for my small sander so I can get started whenever I want….not sure if it will be today or not….darn, it’s 7:30 already and I need to get moving in 45 minutes so I can do the grocery runs and get on the bike when I get back here….not much to do today…I do need to call Priority Health to make sure I’m signed up for my medicare plan before the 7th….they did pay for all of my surgery so I’m happy with them….77 thousand dollars would have put a dent in me….more later…

Well…when my new gloves came early in the afternoon, it was only 37 degrees but I thought it would make a good test to see how they work…they sure can’t keep hands warm down to -12 but they are better than the ones I was using so I can live with it…and my hands were just a little cold and not white like they used to get…so I got 31 miles in today and I’m going to try to get two outdoor rides in tomorrow or maybe do one indoor and two outdoor…we’ll see…didn’t get a lot done today and tomorrow will probably be the same since I don’t have a lot to do really…going to start prepping to paint the dining room starting with the trim and windows but I’ll need to get a drop cloth or two to try to control the dust and I’ll use my vacuum attached to my sander to help that…will probably have to go to HF to get sanding discs but I’ll figure that out tomorrow….

Well…up at the predictably normal time of 6:25 this morning and I’m sitting here trying to get moving at 7…I like this hour between pouring the first cup of coffee and needing to get on the bike…it didn’t snow last night and it looks like all of it stayed to the south of here…I did control my eating yesterday with only having a bowl of soup for the day and that would be about 400 calories….need to lose more weight and get back to about 160…slept okay last night but no dreams and I wonder why I even talk about that anymore since they never happen…didn’t do a lot yesterday and today could be day three of that if I don’t get off my butt and get something done…and that is weird since I was just bitching that I couldn’t take it easy but it looks like I can…but I’m still stressing about it so maybe that’s not taking it easy….it looks like I’m going to be able to get out on the bike for the next few days and I can’t wait to ride outdoors…and I’m getting my new gloves tomorrow and I hope they are warm as they advertise…and that order has the flonase in it that I really need…not much to do today…as always, I just need to get the rides in and then figure out what the meals will be…I have some chicken thawed that will last me a couple of days and I think I’ll buy a ham tomorrow at 99 cents a pound…and I do need to make potato soup again after I use up the turkey soup…more later…

Well…damn, up at 4:04 this morning and that started the long process of getting out of bed that ended at 6;47…and I am tired today…cripes, I’m tired every day…didn’t get a lot done yesterday but I really need to get off my butt and do something or I’m going to fall into a doom loop of inertia and guilt….man, doom loop would be a good name for a band…have been sore the past few days and I have no clue what I did to hurt myself…only have 40 minutes before I have to get on the bike and the coffee is not working at all yet…and I ran out of shows to watch on the bike so that sucks…okay, I need to stop bitching and get doing…still don’t need to cook today with having one more portion of ribs and a full container of soup in the fridge and I am on the fence about buying a ham this week…have 3 ham bones in the freezer to make soup but they are small and I could use a little more…but Meijers doesn’t have Cooks ham anymore and they were much better than the Meijer branded hams….not much to do today…I am still working up to taking a day off and I’m running out of time to do it…I’m getting really old and I don’t know how to shut off my guilt to allow it….more later…

Well…was just sitting here doing some math in my head and thinking that I must be getting close to my new 4,500 mile goal on the bike for the year…and I just hit it today…3,032 outdoors, 1,124 inside before the battery on the computer went dead, and another 352 since then for a total of 4,508…and I still have all of December to ride still with the potential of getting another 448 miles in if I keep doing 16 per day…and that’s not too bad with having to take 12 weeks off for health reasons…never thought I’d get near to 5,000 miles this year and that’s only about 1,100 miles less than my all time record…next year the goal is going to be 7,000 miles and I’m not sure if my body will allow me to do it…I guess we’ll see…

Well…damn, this was as close to a day off as I’ve taken in a long time with only doing the two rides this morning and then taking the rest of the day off to basically do nothing….didn’t have to cook today with having lots of leftovers but I did only eat one meal today of 5 ribs and a handful of crinkle fries…after only having a bowl of soup yesterday, I’m not sure if 5 baby back ribs is enough…but that’s all I’m eating today…and tomorrow will be back to the soup again…need to start planning meals for the rest of the week and I may make potato soup again since I still have celery that is going to spoil if I don’t along with yellow potatoes going bad…so maybe Wed for that…I do have some chicken thighs in the freezer that I can take out, too….still have enough apple brats to use in the soup, too….so I guess I’ll have to take a look…

Well…up at 5;24 this morning but there was no damn way I was going to get out of bed that early…so I just laid there until almost 7 and the thought hit me that I have been planning every day of my life since I started college in my 20’s….and I’m not sure if I like that anymore….it’s more like work than living and I wonder when I get to just relax and live? Never, probably….I have to control my weight so that means on the bike for two rides here in a minute and then not eating much as I did yesterday when I only had a bowl of soup to eat for the whole day…I wonder how I can reset my brain and allow myself to be less disciplined? Okay, that’s enough of that…didn’t get much done yesterday and today will probably be the same since I don’t have to cook…have leftover ribs and the soup I made yesterday…and that will last me for at least a few days…it’s a mix of rain and snow going on out there right now and it would be perfect to sit here and drink coffee and look out the window but I won’t…and that is just wrong…oh, well…more later…