Well…that sucked…when I went to bed last night I felt like I wasn’t going to sleep much and I was right…tossed and turned all night and woke up at 4:10 and never really got back to sleep until I got out of bed at 6:10….it was a nice ride out to get the paper this morning with the sky completely clear and just a sliver of the moon in the sky…and it is still warm enough to have the top down but I know that will be gone soon….only did one ride yesterday and there was no reason for that other than the sports that were on and that my thighs were howling in pain that is still here this morning and I’m not sure why that would be….going to try to get two rides in today but will go slower than normal to keep from doing more damage…but I won’t get out for the first one until 11 or so after the F1 race…or maybe if I can get myself in gear, I’ll get out here in 17 minutes and get the first one in before the race…I did decide that I really don’t like what I look like without the beard so I’ve started growing it back…it covers up some weird lines beside my mouth and I don’t look like I’m frowning all the time….not much to do today…no soccer but a couple of races will keep me busy along with masking off the back door to get ready to paint the frame but that will be it for the day…going to take it a little easy since I’m just not feeling too motivated…it did rain a bit yesterday so I can take the day off watering the lawn and save a bit of cash….more later…

Well….you would think that with my advanced age, I would have made homemade lasagna before but today was the first time…and it was so damn easy and I used some of my homemade tomato sauce in it and that was very yummy….it only took about 10 minutes to prep it for the oven and, when I count up the cost, it only cost me about 7 bucks and it will provide me with 9 meals so that’s not bad…oh, and it tastes good, too, and I now have another go to meal that is easy to make and is not chicken or pork….chicken is okay but not for every darn day…..I think I’ll modify the recipe and add some Parmesan to the layers before I bake it…just put it on top and that isn’t enough….I even took a photo and may post it on FB since it is the first one…maybe…

Well….running really late today with not getting out of bed until almost 7:30 after waking up at 6 or so…feel pretty crappy today and I think that is an extension of how I felt yesterday…I think I won’t do two rides today since my thighs have been hurting quite badly over the past couple of days and I think they may need a rest to heal up some…just feeling old lately and I don’t like it one bit….have to get into a new routine with college football starting up and Michigan playing at noon today…and F1 qualifying is on here in a few minutes so the earliest I could get on the bike is at 10…it was supposed to rain last night but I don’t see that it did and it is supposed to rain today but there is not much on the radar so I don’t think that is going to happen….we so need rain out here….and I need an excuse to stay off the bike for a day….didn’t get a lot done yesterday but I am going to put the rear wheel of the black bike together to get ready for the rest of the parts to show up….not much to do today…I am going to make lasagna today for lunch and I’ve never done that before…need to go out and pick a green pepper to put in it and I am going to use my homemade tomato sauce to add to the jar sauce…can’t wait to see how it turns out….more later….

Well….just can’t get motivated to read enough to get to a political one today…and I have been feeling pretty crappy for some reason and I think it’s the miles and miles of goldenrod that lines the trails…along with not eating enough…cripes, that’s a broken record but the I made 5 chicken sandwiches from one chicken breast so that means every one of them is only about 250 calories and even with chips and a glass of milk it’s only about 500 cals and the taco casserole only has a quarter pound of meat in each serving and with the beans and cheese that is still only about 700 calories…and I don’t think 1200 is enough with riding twice a day and working around here….so, again…I did it to myself…oh, well….the second package with tools and the rest of the bike parts is on the way so it looks like I can get the old bike up and running early next week… and it’s just on time since the new bike is wearing out, too, and has started to skip when I hit bumps…I will need to get a new rear cassette for the new bike when I rebuild it since I can’t find the new one I never used so that’s another 20 bucks but then I’ll have three running bikes and I’m going to work on the schwinn over the winter, too…it just needs a new shift cable and I should probably order a few of those when I buy the cassette…can always use them and the black bike seems to break them all the time and I can get 10 of them for 10 bucks so that’s a good deal….I may make it back here for a political one if I start to feel better after eating something but who knows?

Well…can I be running late if 7 is the new wake up time? It’s pretty cool in here this morning and that is kind of a relief after all of the heat and humidity over the summer….I am looking forward to fall since that has always been my favorite season and it will be my first one out here….I am going to get at least one more swim in before I give it up for the year….and that may be today….not feeling too motivated to work hard today and that may be a good reason to just wing it….I do have a couple of errands to run this morning…ran out of batteries for my toothbrush and it is getting pretty slow so a run to HF is in order…and I need some flap discs for my grinder to clean up my winter wheels so I can paint them before I buy the new winter tires…didn’t work too hard yesterday either, other than making the tomato sauce and I am fighting the guilt that comes with not working hard on this place…I figured out that the increase in SS of 6.2% is going to give me an additional 131 bucks a month and put me at 27K from the first of January and that is pretty cool…I’m living okay on what I get now so that will grow my bank account even more…and housing prices went up 18% last month so I gained an additional 18K on this place so that means I have almost 60K in equity here so my goal of getting to 100K in assets is getting closer….not much to do today…just the errands and bike rides and it even looks like it may rain later….yeah, that made me laugh, too…it never rains out here…we’re up to 6 weeks with nothing but dry out here and I’ll believe it when I see it….more later….

Well…I was quite worried I was going to be throwing out lots of tomatoes since I just can’t eat them fast enough but I figured that out today with a little internet searching….went out to the garden and picked about 5 pounds of tomatoes, brought them inside and cut them up into pieces and put them in my big roasting pan with some garlic, olive oil, garlic powder, and Italian seasonings and roasted them for an hour and a half….after they were done, I spooned them into my blender and pureed them into a smooth sauce that tastes so darn good I am going to use some of it in the lasagna I’m making Sat…but the 5 pounds of tomatoes only made about 3/4 of a blender so I’ll have to make more…only have two flat quart freezer bags to go in the freezer and need more….so I think I’ll make more next week as the last of the tomatoes get ripe…the sauce has this smoky flavor from the roasting that is going to go really well with cheese and pasta so I’ll use some just for pasta sauce over the winter…hope I can get about 6 bags in the freezer…did some cherry tomatoes earlier and they came out good, too, but I didn’t put them in the blender and I am going to use them in the lasagna, too…can’t wait to make it….maybe I’ll put some green pepper and onion in the next batch….

Well….running a little late today with waking up at 6:11 but not out of bed until after 7…just can’t get started so I think I’ll ease into it today since I don’t have a schedule…I am going to roast some tomatoes to freeze for sauce base…the blender didn’t work too well when I tried it the other day and roasting will get rid of a lot of the water and when I add garlic and some spices, it will be ready for use in sauces…but I need to find a place for them in the freezer…I did get the first parts for fixing the black bike yesterday and that crankset looks pretty cool…changed from the sun tour to a Shimano and I hope it lasts longer than the last one…still waiting on the tools and chain to get shipped and can’t really do much until I get those…should be able to get another 12K miles out of it and will do the same to the gray bike once I get the black one fixed….might have to wear a fleece on the bike this morning since it is only 53 out here right now and I’ll be getting on the bike here in 15 minutes or so….it is nice that a lot of humidity is gone right now and things don’t feel damp…I wonder if I should go out to the beach later for probably the last time this year….I felt like I was in the Don Henley song  “the boys of summer” yesterday when the beach was empty for the first time this summer…”ain’t nobody on the road, ain’t nobody on the beach, I feel it in the air, the summer’s out of reach”…kind of melancholy….not much to do today…just roasting and riding….more later….

Well…dang, it’s been another busy day and I just finished up my work and it is 3 in the afternoon…have been going since 8 this morning with doing the grocery run, then back here to get on the bike for the first ride….out for the second ride then cleaned the bike and the chain and sprockets with dish soap and a scrub brush so I could re-lube them…then putting two coats of paint on the garage door frame and cleaning up after that….just finally got the chance to sit down for the first time today and I am a little worn out…but, it does feel good to have the frame painted…finally…and that has been bugging me since I moved in here….it came out pretty good after how it looked before with all of the peeling paint and crud on it…only 4 more to do….