Well…it’s a new record! Up at 2:34 for the first time today but I will say that I did go back to sleep until almost 5:30 so I guess that’s almost normal….but my allergies are really bad this morning and I feel pretty crappy which will probably continue all day with the pollen counts at their highest of the year…I just noticed that I’m walking around pretty well this morning with very little stiffness so it looks like the crash damage is repaired already and that is quite welcome…I normally hobble around here for an hour or so when I get up but not today…didn’t get anything done yesterday but I am going to go over to the house to see if I can get rid of the pile of stuff in the back yard while the dumpster is there for the roofers but not until after the F1 race and the bike ride this morning…I keep saying that I need to clean around here and I do but, as I get closer to moving, cleaning seems to be less important and I just can’t get motivated to do it…that will be the job for the day…more later…

Well…have a half hour until I can have a cocktail and start a movie so I thought I’d come here and do one of these so I don’t get too far behind for the month…and I haven’t done a trail on in a while so I thought that would be the topic for today…the crash yesterday did do a little damage that I am feeling today with my back still stiff and painful and everything on my left side a little bruised…but I did 30 miles today so it can’t be that bad…it looks like there is a third set of bunny litters for this year since I am seeing tons of tiny bunnies over the past few days but it seems a little late for that…I don’t remember ever seeing new litters this late in the year…or that many bunnies in total in any year…haven’t seen many snakes this year, though, and that is a little unusual…could be that it has been so hot that they don’t need to come out on the pavement to get warm enough…I have been seeing second and third hatches of ducks, too, and I wonder if that is connected to the weather, too…hmmmm….there are nuts this year after no walnuts or hickory nuts at all last year and I really missed getting free nuts last year….it did hit me today that I am winding down my trips on the trails out here and only have a couple of months left of riding before I move….after all of the miles I’ve ridden, I’m going to miss it some….just did some quick math and I’ve ridden over 40K miles since I started out here…I wonder where I’ll be riding on the west side? It looks like some exploring will be in order…there should be some trail maps on the internet so I can map out a new route…might be fun….

Well…okay, I feel like crap this morning and I think it’s allergies since my head is plugged up and I have no energy…getting up at 5:30 doesn’t help, either but there really is nothing I can do about that…I am a little sore today too with being run into on the bike yesterday and hitting the pavement…some woman just rode her bike out of a blind side trail and hit me and I landed on my left shoulder this time and bruised my knee that hurt through the second ride…no damage to the bike so I guess I’ll live through it…no scrapes from this one so that’s something…didn’t get anything done after that since I was pretty sore but I don’t hurt much this morning…my back was really hurting all day so to get up to almost no pain is a good thing…I was going to clean yesterday but didn’t get to it…I do need to do some work around here today but my motivation level is so low that I’m not sure what I’ll get to…more later….

Well….don’t feel quite as sore this morning and I think it may be the two ibuprofens yesterday along with only doing one ride…my right thigh was screaming in pain yesterday, too, and that is gone this morning…or almost gone along with my right elbow and shoulder…so, after hobbling around here all day yesterday, this is a welcome change…but, it was another night of being up at 3:54 so that tempers my happiness with the decreased pain….I didn’t get anything done yesterday but cook but need to clean up the kitchen today and will get at that at some point…and the cobweb gremlins are hard at work again so that will have to be dealt with along with doing the floors so I’ll have something to do between rides…yeah, I’m going to be dumb again today and do two rides since I have the bike working so much better with the new shift cable and a week’s worth of adjustments that it is fun to ride again…they are still working on the roof of the house so working over there will be on hold until Monday and I’m okay about that…was doing too much and even K thought I looked tired when I saw her Wed so some time off should help with that….I do need to dig into the freezer today to plan food for the weekend but how hard could that be when all I have is chicken? More later….

Well…I think I’ve finally reached the breaking point with my body and need to take today off…I am just so stiff and tired that the last thing I want to do is go over and work at the house since it will aggravate the pain in my elbow and shoulders…so, I’m just going to take it easy today and may even skip the bike ride, too…but, that may be too much to ask of my guilt…at least I think I’ll wait for a while to go out and have the rest of the leftover coffee…I do have to remember that I’m not 30 anymore and have to stop trying to work like I am…have been taking too much ibuprofen to just cope with the pain and I hope that two a day won’t kill my kidneys….didn’t get anything done yesterday but work at the house but I do have to clean around here today and cook since I have no leftovers in the fridge…maybe I’ll make some pasta later…I did buy bad food yesterday since DD had brats on sale for 99 cent for 4 of them and I need some easy food with all of the running I’ve been doing lately…more later…

Well…after all of the abuse I’ve heaped on my body lately, I should sleep like a rock but it was another 5:14 morning today…maybe after I get the house done it will be better…ha, that even made me laugh…I did get news from the contractor yesterday that they are going to get the roof on the house starting tomorrow so that should be done by the weekend and the windows will be measured this week so there is lots of progress happening…should have the water on by the end of August and then can start moving my stuff by early Sept…when I first looked at the house, it appeared to be an impossible task to restore it but the job seems to be shrinking every day….I think I’m going to have to take the weekend off of working since I feel I’m wearing out and might be doing permanent damage…I sure damaged my ankle yesterday and need to be back at the lawn today to get everything ready for the dumpster….right now I need to have more coffee and get ready to get on the bike…more later….

Well…it’s 6…you know, when I was younger, it was really easy to sleep in on the days that I could…I remember when I was in college that I didn’t get out of bed until 10 or 11 in the morning on Saturdays…and now that I can sleep in every day, it never works and that really sucks…oh, well…man, I beat the hell out of myself at the house yesterday my shoulders hurt like crazy but I can’t take the day off since I need to get the stumps cut out…yep, still working on them but I did get one of them out yesterday and hope to get the second one out today…and I need to finish painting the garage door…or repainting it after I decided the yellow was just too much and started painting it brown yesterday but it started to rain so I had to give up on that until today…and I got the new string trimmer so I’m going to try that out today, too…didn’t get anything done around here yesterday after doing almost 5 hours at the house but I need to start getting rid of stuff to get ready for the move…I think I’ll make that a weekend project…after all, I do have 3 months to get that done so there’s no rush…I’m surprised that my body is holding up so well to all of the abuse and I wonder how long that will last….it appears that I’ll be able to finish the house but I wonder about the house I’m going to buy in a couple of years…we’ll see…more later….

Well…running a little early coming here today but I was already getting bored so what else is there to do before it gets light? Don’t feel too bad today so I may have eaten enough yesterday but we’ll see when I get out on the bike in a few minutes…did two rides yesterday and probably shouldn’t have…I do need to conserve some energy for working on the house since I need to really go to get it done so I am going to cut back…even though the bike is working okay again….I think I may have an excuse to take the afternoon off with the rain coming in by 11 or so and it is supposed to continue all afternoon…so that may mean cleaning around here instead of the ride….and that’s okay…I was hobbling around here yesterday pretty sore and don’t want to have to take ibuprofen every day to cope with it…but my shoulder will be screaming after painting today so I may have to…my new string trimmer should be here when I get back from the house and I’m going to work on the yard there tomorrow to make sure it’s all done for me to use the roof guys dumpster to get rid of everything….have to get a hatchet from HF today to finish getting rid of the stumps and another free light along with some wider painters tape…that will make 4 free lights in the last couple of weeks but they come in handy so why not? More later….

Well…running a little late this morning with deciding to go out for a ride before coming here…didn’t sleep well at all and was up at 5 or so and I didn’t have any coffee before the bike so that made it a little tedious…but the new shift cable has made the bike better so that helped some…it has been a tough couple of days with T having to have her cat Princess put down Friday…I remember when she got her and just found photos I took when she was a kitten that I am going to give to her the next time I see her…and yesterday, C had to have Ren put down and that one hurt…I always called her “my Ren” and she was one of my favorite dogs of all time..and I knew her from when C brought her home as a puppy…just a great Akita but the last time I saw her, I could see that her time was fast coming and I’m glad that C did the right thing for her….not an easy couple of days…more later….

Well…no…I didn’t crash or anything like that…just damn sore from working on the house and like an idiot, I didn’t rest today but went out and did 30 miles…the first ride was really screwy with the shifter so inconsistent it was three gears off at times on the indicator and finally wouldn’t come out of top gear so I had to use the front shifter to be able to get back here…so, I made a huge adjustment before going out this afternoon and the damn cable broke just a few hundred yards out…at least I knew what the problem was and had to run over to the bike shop to get a new one and install it which went quite well and that made the bike ride much more normal…but, the shifter is still worn out and that makes it impossible to get it adjusted right…I did buy a new shifter for 19 bucks but that won’t be here for a while but I can live with the old one now that the cable is new…and the weird thing is where the cable broke…inside one of the sheaths which I have never seen before and was the reason I couldn’t figure it out until it broke…now it’s break time and I am taking the rest of the day off to just veg out and watch some races…I think I may have earned it…