Well…running early this morning and was up way too damn early at 4:45 but just couldn’t sleep so it looks like I’m back to the old patterns and that sucks big time….at least my BP was down to 116/76 when I got up so I guess that’s something….I did get a bike ride in yesterday but it was wet, cold, and windy and it took me almost two hours to warm up after that one…and it looks like I’ll be waiting til this afternoon to get out today with it raining right now and storms all the way back through Illinois…didn’t get much done yesterday other than a little cleaning in the kitchen so I’ll have to do better today…but there is lots of sports on starting at noon with Michigan and Man U playing and then a race on later so I may be able to catch up with a nap later….don’t even have to cook again today with leftovers to be used and a few more bagels and salmon to have for breakfast…I did look up the calories in a bagel with cream cheese and salmon and yow! Almost 500 calories but I’m not going to cut anything else out…just a splurge for a few days and I am not going to feel guilty about it…more later…

Well…up again at the new normal time so that puts me here a little early and still shaking off the cobwebs…slept okay last night but feel a little sore everywhere today and I’m not sure why that would be….might take something for it before I get on the bike but that will have to wait until around 10 or so since it is pretty cold and I need it to be at least 47 so I can go out in shorts…I did get a lot of cooking done yesterday with soup, smoked salmon, and chicken stir fry for dinner and I am looking forward to a toasted bagel with cream cheese and salmon with my coffee here in a few minutes…I think I finally ate enough yesterday and I need to continue that today to see if that helps with the flat legs I’ve had lately….this place does still smell a little smoky today since the fan over the stove is not the best and some of the smoke escaped into the kitchen…but it was worth it to figure out how to smoke fish…didn’t get a lot else done yesterday but I do need to clean some and spray some bug spray to keep the spiders out with it getting cold outside…not ready for that yet…more later…

Well…just finished up the first part of the cooking day and now it’s break time for a few minutes…I am going to brag a little about my ham soup…I have this recipe down and it appears that it doesn’t matter what the cooking method is….I normally do it in my big stew pot on the stove top and it takes most of the day…but today, I used my instant pot and it was only a total of an hour or so including the prep work for the veggies…oh, and an extra hour to get the ham to fall off the bones by pressure cooking it…and it didn’t take a lot of work like the old method did…just loaded the pot up and walked away…I thought the 8 quarts was smaller than my stew pot but I ended up with three two quart containers in the freezer and half of another one in the fridge so I guess it’s the same…and that’s cool…oh, I did figure out how to make a smoker for my stove top and smoked two fillets of salmon that Tom gave me…they came out pretty darn good, too, and I can’t wait to have some on a bagel with coffee in the morning…and I still have to make stir fry chicken for dinner later…or I may wait until tomorrow and just have a couple of pieces of pizza instead….I do know I need to eat more since two bowls of soup is just not enough…maybe a couple of apples this afternoon? Who knows?

Well…running a little late today with doing the grocery run and then getting the pressure cooker loaded up to make ham soup…it is going to be a cooking day today with the soup and with trying to figure out how to smoke some salmon on the stove top along with making some chicken stir fry…and I need to wedge in a bike ride, too, so it will be pretty busy but fun….slept okay last night but I know I didn’t eat enough so I am going to make up for that today…getting two ham bones out of the freezer sure freed up some space and but I won’t have to buy any protein for a couple of weeks….my coughing seems to be getting better and I didn’t even use any flonase yesterday for my allergies and I think I’ll try that again today to see what happens…had a weird blood pressure day yesterday and couldn’t get it below 130…but, the lower number got down to 65 which is a good thing…and I have been reading about what is optimal for someone my age and it is all over the map so I don’t know what to shoot for…more later….

Well…running early again today but if I continues, is it still early? Not sure about that but my head hurts to have to think so early in the morning….had an okay day yesterday and got the oil changed in the car so I guess that’s something…and I continued to get rid of stuff that I don’t need anymore…I mean, I still had parts to the MX-6 that went away over 6 years ago so they went in the trash…slept okay last night and had some weird dreams about chairs and cars that were quite entertaining and I hope that happens again tonight…it’s been a while and I really thought they’d come back after being good for so long…oh, well…I did have a nice dinner with some of the salmon that Tom gave me and I am going to make a stove top smoker tomorrow to smoke a couple of fillets so I can have them on toasted bagels with cream cheese….and I am going to use the new cooker to make soup at the same time so tomorrow will be a cooking day…..not much to do today…going to clean some after getting the workout and bike ride in and it looks like there may be some storms later in the day so I hope I won’t be bored…more later….

Well…it was an okay day yesterday but so damn cold and dreary that I think it depressed me some…I did get the top down on the car on the way out to pool…which I won…but, with the misty rain that came in while we were shooting, I had the top up on the way back and that was not too bad since it was only about 50….just not used to the cold yet…it is over 60 right now so when the rain moves off, I can get out on the bike in a t-shirt today and get a long ride in to make up for skipping yesterday….didn’t get a lot done yesterday but I do have an errand to run today…need to get out and get an oil filter for the car so I can change the oil tomorrow with it going to be sunny and warm…and I am going to do some of the other maintenance I need to do to get ready for winter…it looks like I won’t get a house bought before the Nov 1 deadline so I need to sign another lease here…but that will take the pressure off and will allow me to get the house I want…and, I don’t mind living here…who knows? I may find one in the next two weeks…I can only hope..or I’ll win the Mega tonight and then all bets are off…more later…

Well…running a little early this morning with getting up early to see T on tv but the rain washed that out…slept okay last night and finally feel okay after having the zyrtec wear off…felt so lousy all day yesterday and I’ll never try those for my allergies again…will stay with the flonase for now and hope they get better…it was basically a wasted day yesterday but I did get a bike ride in…it was only misting when I went out but it started to rain like crazy about 4 miles away from here and I got soaked…my shoes are probably still wet this morning but it looks like I won’t be getting out today with the rain that is supposed to be here all day….and it is too cold to go out right now….just not used to it yet….and I went out yesterday since I wasn’t going to be able to today so maybe a day off will do me good…not much to do today…pool this aft but that is about it….the first season of the Avengers is playing now so that is a pleasant surprise….oh, and I had the best blood pressure reading this morning since I got my machine….114/76 and that is not bad….shooting for under 110 in the next week or so….more later….

Well…I remembered to come here this morning! If you’ve been here on Sunday morning, you know that it is quite unusual for me to get here before 8 or so but today I remembered after I read the paper and before the F1 race….slept okay last night and feel okay this morning and part of that is eating enough…or close to enough…the venison roast that I made in the instant pot yesterday came out great and I’ll have that for leftovers for the next few days but I need second meals so I need to get some of the boneless skinless chicken cooked for sandwiches….I do think the coughing I’ve had for weeks now is from allergies at this point but I am still not going to take anything for it…I may try some of the generic zyrtec that my daughter gave me just to see how it works…the side effect list is a little long and that is a concern, though, so I may have to think about it…not much to do today…lots of sports on and I am going to try to get a bike ride in after it warms up and if it stops raining but that is for later….I need more coffee and to catch up on the news…more later…

Well…it has been a little bit of a strange day…not really strange but there were a few strange things in it…and it all started with my last water stop up in the park this morning…just sitting there taking in the scenery and I looked down at the play toys where a little blond toddler was running across the grass heading for  what I thought was a group of geese and that is not a good thing since geese can be pretty frickin mean…when I looked closer, the birds were actually turkeys and I couldn’t figure out whey they didn’t take off running like they always do when I ride by them…I’m not sure if they didn’t think the little girl was a threat or not but they just moved a little when she got to them and kept that up until her father got there and put her on the toys to play…one of the weirder things I’ve seen this year…oh, and one little strange thing rounded out the day…for the first time since I got my BP machine, I had all of the readings under 120/75 for the entire day…not sure if it’s something I’m doing or not but it was still pretty cool…

Well…it’s been a weird morning with the fuse blowing in the microwave and having to go over to Miejers to get a new one…I knew I had a fuse in the junk drawer and couldn’t find it…so I got a new package of high amp ones…but, damn…got back here and found the fuses I was looking for on the counter…3 bucks down the drain…I did get the counter cleaned under it so I guess that was okay….slept a little crappy last night and had to put the heat on for the first time and that will take some getting used to…had an okay day yesterday but didn’t get much done but I am going to clean a little today after F1 qualifying and Man U playing…but, they are both on at the same time so there will be some flipping back and forth…and then I have to get on the bike before football starts…and I am going to make the venison roast that Tom gave me in the instant pot but that will be for lunch…going to try making gravy with cornstarch for the first time and I still have lots of leftover rice to have, too…2 cups goes a long way…more later….