Well…up at 5:25 again this morning but something weird happened…instead of just giving up and getting up, I went back to bed and actually slept for another half hour..and boy, some really weird dreams happened in that half hour and that was pretty cool…and adding that half hour has me feeling pretty good this morning…even before coffee…but damn, it’s 49 degrees out there…in June…in Michigan…and that is just not right…so that will put me back to riding until 10 so it will probably mean a one ride day again today and that isn’t bad…my legs don’t feel like they are going to fall off today so it appears I’ve not done any permanent damage by doing doubles every day but I will go back to them once the weather cooperates…I did get out to run an errand yesterday and need to do another one this morning…I mean when you can get 100% cotton polos at Target for 5 bucks, I can’t pass that up since most of mine are getting pretty shabby…so that will come after the ride when it warms up…the US plays it’s first women’s world cup match this afternoon and I have been watching most of them so far and it has been pretty good soccer that has delivered some surprises….so that means I probably won’t get anything done today…and that’s okay….more later….

Well…that was a little better…didn’t wake up until 5:24 and stayed in bed until after 6 so that is a win in my book…and I don’t feel too bad today so that’s a double win…just noticed that I didn’t come back here for a second one yesterday and I’m not sure why that would be…had plenty of time and didn’t do much but get one bike ride in and cook so maybe it was just inertia and boredom…who knows? I normally like rainy days but yesterday was just kind of blah with the rain on and off all day…maybe because it was a little cold and I couldn’t open this place up and enjoy the sounds and smells…and the cold is going to linger this week with highs only in the 50′s later in  the week…50′s, in June? That is just not right…..at least it’s over 60 right now and I’ll be able to get out on the bike as soon as I want since the rain has moved out…after cooking with the instant pot yesterday, I will have leftovers for the next couple of days but will need to start planning other meals for later in the week…I’m just so bored with food right now that nothing seems good so that may be a problem….more later…

Well…back to crappy sleep again…up at 5 again this morning and that is so disappointing because I know that will hit me later in the day and I’ll be exhausted…and what little sleep I did get was on my right eye so my sight is blurry this morning…bitch, bitch, bitch…okay, I’ll stop that now….part of that could be that I cut back on allergy medicine yesterday and my eyes feel scratchy this morning….but, I don’t have a lot of pain so I’ll take that…it was going to be a day off the bike but it’s not raining right now and it looks like I have a dry slot that is going to last until almost 11 so I think I’ll get out for an easy one here in a few minutes…it’s just too damn hard to take a day off the bike unless it pouring or there’s lightning…didn’t get much done yesterday but I am going to cook and clean today as I watch the women’s world cup and some races later today….need to fire up the instant pot for chicken and veggies later to use some of that 10 pounds I bought last week….more later….

Well…that breaks the string of sleeping okay at 6 days and I am pretty disappointed…up at 3:54 for the first time and then out of bed at 5:18 so I’m pretty early here this morning….and it looks like an early bike ride today, too, plan on getting out as soon as it’s light since it’s 57 right now and that is warm enough to go out in a t-shirt…want to get back here to watch the women’s world cup at 8 and then F1 qualifying is on after that so I may have something to nap to…and there is napcar on later, too so at least I won’t be bored today…or, I will be but there will be something playing in the background all day that may get my attention off and on…had an okay day yesterday with doing a double on the bike but not doing anything else but watching sports and today will be the same…have 10 pounds of chicken that I need to deal with either cooking or freezing it…or I’ll wait to tomorrow to run the instant pot on some and freeze some….that will be the extent of my thinking today and that’s a good thing since I really don’t want to do much more than that right now…more later…

Well…4 days without any allergy meds and my head is completely plugged up this morning…but, I don’t have a headache so I guess that’s something…and I slept all the way in until 6 so I think that makes it 6 days in a row of pretty good sleep and that never happens…I’ll take it but it is still a little confusing….I abused myself on the bike again yesterday and that leaves me in quite a bit of pain this morning but it looks like I’m going to get a day off this weekend with rain in the forecast and that can’t come too soon…getting too damn old to take 30 miles a day every day and I don’t want it to turn into work so I don’t want to ride at all and I’m edging up to that point…I do need to cook today with 10 pounds of chicken in the fridge and most of that will end up in the freezer if I have room…will have to fire up the instant pot tomorrow but I need to find a new spice blend that will kick up the flavor some….kind of bored with what I have been using and I have a full spice cupboard to choose from so I just need to search for something…just bought some smoked paprika that could be part of it….more later….

Well…running a little early for a Thursday and I’m not sure how I pulled that off with feeling as crappy as I do…on the third day of no allergy meds and the low grade headache that comes from that is starting to get annoying…but, I can breathe some so we’ll see how that works out over the course of the day…slept okay for the 5th day in a row now and I am still confused about that…haven’t done anything different so I’m not sure how to replicate it when it goes away…I did get out to have a couple with K yesterday…oh, okay, that’s why I feel crappy today…had some fun and it was nice to get out of here for a while….I did get two rides in yesterday, too, and I think I’ll try that again today but I just can’t get started right now…I should be on the bike but the couch and coffee is a bit better of a draw so I think I’ll do that instead…and I do need to read the news to ease into the day…didn’t get anything done yesterday and will probably do the same today…just can’t get motivated this early…oh, I did do something yesterday…a load of laundry…does that count? more later…

Well….sitting here trying to decide whether to go out for a second ride and thought I’d come here and talk about something that came to me on the ride this morning…as you know from my rant about food yesterday, a new study has shown that eating chicken is not much better for your cholesterol levels than eating red meat…that was pretty depressing given that I gave up red meat last year for just that purpose…but, on the bike this morning, I remembered one of the things that not eating red meat does do…like lowering your chances of getting colon cancer by almost 50%….that made me feel better about missing out on burgers, steaks, and pork chops and will keep me motivated to continue just eating chicken and fish…along with more veggies….so, this was not a rant today…just don’t have it in me….

Well…running a little late this morning with not getting up until almost 7…feel a little crappy this morning and part of it is the experiment of not taking any antihistamines last night to see if that was helping me sleep…I’m completely plugged up this morning but I slept okay so I think I can say that it’s not the drugs…but, that leaves me confused since it’s been years since I’ve slept well…hmmm….not taking any ibuprofen last night has left me really sore this morning, though, after a double on the bike yesterday so I may have to re-think that….I guess my liver will thank me but being in pain is not a lot of fun…didn’t get a lot done yesterday but there is rain coming in so I will have some time to clean today…and I have a couple of errands to run today…even though chicken has been shown to be as bad for you as beef, I still can’t pass up leg quarters for 59 cents a pound at Aldi’s so that will be a stop….and I am going to try to kill myself with a pizza from DD for 2 bucks….I am going to skip the chips from now on and that depresses me some…oh, well…more later….

Well…After trying for so long to try to eat better; cutting out red meat and eggs etc. and getting much more exercise, new studies out over the past week basically say don’t bother…everything’s bad for you and your going to die anyway. The food study took a look at the difference between eating a diet with chicken with one of beef for the primary protein and guess what? Yep, they showed there is no difference…or very little difference in cholesterol levels between the two diets other than chicken results in more large cholesterol particles which aren’t as bad for you as the small ones that you get with beef. Essentially, the study said that all of us who are suffering with eating only chicken to try to control our cholesterol really aren’t doing any good, that to be better, you have to eat only fish if you are going to eat animal protein at all…but what does that leave? Going vegan? There is no way that I can afford making fish the primary source of protein at over 6 bucks a pound when I can get chicken for 59 cents a pound….and vegan is not cheap either. So, I think I’ll just start to try to edge to that direction and try to eat many more veggies than I do and hope that helps. Oh, the exercise thing…well…it appears that my chosen mode of exercise, riding my bike, does nothing for preventing osteoporosis…you need the pounding of running to keep the bones strong but I refuse to do that…I used to be a runner and hated it so I wouldn’t do it…I think I’ll do some more research and not hang my behavior on a couple of studies…it is a little disheartening that all the work I’ve done is really for nothing…I guess I’ll just have to think of riding as something I enjoy and that will be the reason for doing it….and there is cardiovascular benefits so that’s something…

Well…okay, this is weird…that was the 4th or 5th day in a row that I slept okay and I think it may be the allergy medicine that I have been taking just to survive…so, tonight, it looks like experiment time to see if that is it…won’t take anything today or tonight…well…maybe some ibuprofen if I do a double today…had a good day yesterday with getting out to shoot pool and a nice top down drive out and back…oh, and I won so that was cool…and I ran the table for one of the games and that never, ever happens….have to look under the car this morning to see if it leaked any after the drive yesterday…not going to worry about it, though, since I don’t drive much but I think I’ll start saving some cash to plan on a new water pump or whatever the leak is…didn’t get anything done yesterday but will try to do something today….not sure what that will be right now but something…only did a single on the bike yesterday but may go out for two today if I feel like it but I have to cook today since I am almost out of leftovers so that will take some time….more chicken…yummy?  More later…