Well…after doing the grocery/Menards run this morning and picking up a big ham for 85 cents a pound, and then getting more books at the library, I came back here hoping to take it easy but the day turned into trip work and now we have our flights booked, travel insurance purchased, and all the paperwork to get us to Italy and back…and now I can take it easy tonight…it looks like the trip is going to cost more than I expected with the run up of jet fuel prices that made our flights cost about 25% more than planned…ick…oh,well…I did pick up the lawn food to put on the lawn tomorrow before the rains come Thursday and a new outdoor faucet shut off valve since the old one wore out and was leaking…I did get my new Chinese cleaver today and it looks pretty nice with a rosewood handle and etchings on the blade…since I only had one meal today, I am going to use it to cut up some ham for a snack later…and I got the quart of special paint that should stick to the spalling blocks downstairs and now I have to wire brush it to get the loose paint off before I try it…didn’t want to spend 50 bucks on a gallon of it if it doesn’t work…okay, time to start tonight’s tv watching…

Well…the normal pattern held again today and I was out of bed at wanted5:33 and the thought of sleeping in gets farther and farther away…my legs still hurt so I’ll take another ibuprofen for it in a minute but I want to get coffee down first…going to be a busy morning with the grocery run, a stop at menards and then to the library for more books on the way back here so I can get going around 8 or so…it’s only 23 degrees out there right now so I’ll have to let the car warm up a bit before I go…I did order some paint and a Chinese cleaver yesterday that will be here today…only got a quart of the paint since I’m not getting a gallon until I see if it works or not…and I’ve always wanted a new kind of knife to try…only 10 bucks so no big loss if I don’t like it…I did get started on some work around here and that will continue later…no outdoor bike ride today with the legs still healing but I’ll be out there tomorrow…more later…

Well…man, after how stiff and painful my legs were yesterday, any improvement is welcome and I got a little of that today…still taking ibuprofen but I was able to go out and clean the yard up a bit and cut up the big branch that fell and put it out for pick up tomorrow…I sure love my recip saw I got from my brother…only took about 5 minutes to cut up a 12 foot long branch into pieces small enough to fit in the trash bin…then I put the rest of the trash out in the bin and will put that to the curb later…so the rest of the day will be finishing up the last book and maybe even starting on the cobwebs downstairs if I get done early enough…still darn cold here at 34 for a high but it starts to warm up a bit tomorrow…back to reading…

Well…up at 2:33 this morning but I was able to get back to sleep until 5:30 or so and it sucks that it looks like a win…my legs are a little better today and I still can’t figure out how I hurt them so badly just riding the bike…it’s going to be in the 30’s for a high today so I won’t even be attempting and outdoor ride today…not going to be cold anymore…I completely missed the first day of spring last Friday so I’ll say it now…happy spring! Sure doesn’t feel like spring or smell like it…I do need to get on cleaning up the yard soon but I think that will wait til Wed when it will be in the 50’s…but I should start cutting the branches up and pt them in the bin so I can put them out to the trash…have to figure out meals for the day today and it will probably be a burger or a chicken sandwich since I need to get stuff out of the freezer so I can put the ham bones in that I’m getting this week…not much to do today…need to finish up the last book so I can hit the library tomorrow after the grocery run but I know I need to stop reading so much and get on with other things around here…more later…

Well…I didn’t realize how hard I went on the outdoor bike yesterday until I got out of bed this morning and my legs hurt so much I could barely move…my hamstrings are so tight today that I can’t bend over at all…just tried to put something in my trash can and I was just howling in pain…so, for two days in a row, I’ve taken an ibuprofen to deal with it and I hope that fixes the pain in my left elbow and right thumb too…so today I’m taking it easy with just the weights and an indoor ride…I could have gone out for a ride but I don’t want to be cold and I know that wouldn’t help my legs any…I did start to plan meals after I use up the leftovers today but Meijers has spiral sliced hams on sale for 89 cents a pound so I’ll go out Tuesday to pick one up and then do the library trip…and I’ll be eating from that ham for 10 days or so and will probably pick up another one next week…can’t beat that price for protein…

Well…damn, I feel like crap this morning and my allergies have flared up and my head feels like it’s filled with concrete…the temp falls all day today so I’m not sure if I’ll get an outdoor ride in today…might just do the indoor ride and call it good…didn’t sleep at all last night with getting up at three and then out of bed at 5:07…just would love to sleep in til 6 or so but that is never going to happen again…the bike worked well after all of the work on it yesterday and I hope it stays that way…won’t be back on it til tomorrow and that may be a good thing…I hurt so much last night that I had to take an ibuprofen and that never happens…still sore and stiff this morning and I could use a rest day and I may take it easy and just read but I need to figure out how much of a help the coffee will be when it works…not much to do today…need to figure out meals after today when the leftovers run out…and I need to clean but I don’t want to think about that right now…more later…

Well…thought I had the rear wheel fixed but it wasn’t so I had to rebuild the wheel from the black bike that I have been stealing parts from for the past few years…and that meant swapping a spoke out that took when one broke on the grey bike so that meant swapping out the sprocket cassette and the bearing carrier and putting the tire on the other wheel…then putting the bike back together…going to look to see what a new rear wheel will cost so I’ll be able to ride when this one breaks…worked on that for two hours and I still need to get an outdoor ride in after the Michigan game is over…okay, back tot he game…

Well…up at a little after 4 again but didn’t get out of bed til after 5:30 and I’m not sure if that’s a win or not…still don’t feel like I slept at all but I’m not going to whine about that…going to try to get an outdoor ride in today but I’m not sure when that will be…Michigan plays at noon and that’s when it will be warm enough to go out…oh, well…I’ll get an indoor ride in and the weight work done and then I can build on that later….still don’t have to cook today and it looks like tomorrow but then I need to get some meal planning done…probably a pizza since I have green pepper that needs to be used and I do need to clear the freezer out…down to the last two books and I am pondering stopping reading for a while so I can get other things done…need to clean the basement and get rid of the cobwebs and start working on getting rid of everything…not much to do today…just the normal stuff and basketball along with a race later…the 12 hours of Sebring is on starting at 10am so I’ll run that in the background…more later…

Well…after I got the weight work and indoor ride in today, it was raining so I didn’t think I was going to be able to get out for a ride but it cleared off about 10 or so and I jumped on the bike to get a ride in…it was a pain in the butt with the little ratchet mechanism in the rear wheel that allows you to free wheel not engaging so every time I stopped pedaling, the pedals just went around with no movement of the rear wheel…so I crippled it back here and then took some WD and soaked the sprocket carrier and it appears to be fixed…I’ll give it a try when I go out tomorrow…the trails were almost clear but cluttered with leaves, branches and other crud from the heavy rains we had last week…and part of the trail was still flooded but it was easy to ride through it…but it was so dirty on the trail that I had to wash the bike when I got back here…okay…time to read…

Well…up way too early today at 4:55 and I really hate getting up this early…I may try to do two outdoor rides today since it’s already over 40 gut that will need a change in my schedule that I’m not sure I’m ready for…but I’ll do anything to stay off the indoor bike…just getting damn tired of riding indoors…and if I do that, I can sit here and have coffee until it gets light and that has some attraction…didn’t get anything done yesterday and I can live with just two outdoor rides and then some basketball and reading…I do have to plan some meals in a couple of days but still have leftovers that will last the weekend and I’ll be eating out of the freezer for the next week…need to clean the fridge at some point since it’s getting a little grungy and piling up some old food that needs to go…not much to do today…just going to ease into it with getting up so damn early and the coffee not working yet….more later…