Well…damn, I am so tired of waking up before 5 and having to fight to get back to sleep…and I hurt all up my left side after taking a spill on the bike and landing on my left side…not a bad spill but I am bruised from my shoulder to my Achilles and I’m limping around here today…I think part of it is that I went pretty hard on the 10 mile round trip…finally…but that is good pain that means I’m working hard enough to start getting back into shape….and I’m going to do another at least 10 mile ride today…want to go out and explore the two beaches I can get to on the south side of the channel that goes into Muskegon lake….when they get the trail repaired, I think is will only be about 4 miles each way to the beach and I can do that in my sleep….I did get a few things done yesterday and I need to fill my trash container today since they pick up tomorrow and that means I need to cut down the carton from the washing machine and get rid of some of the Amazon cartons, too, along with any trash I have….it’s a huge container so I’m sure it will take everything I have to go….not much to do today….need to get rid of the comcast equipment they sent me by mistake and get the bike ride in…then I need to check the air in the summer tires since they look a little soft and I can feel that when I drive the car….more later….

Well….Damn, that was good…I think the only way to cook corned beef and cabbage is in the instant pot…the beef came out so darn tender I didn’t need a knife to cut it and the same with the cabbage, carrots, and potatoes…the only problem is I ate too much and am uncomfortable right now as I watch Man U play…and they are ahead of City by 2-0 in the 63rd minute….but, it’s a little hard to watch since City is in first place and they have been unbeatable all year…when this is over, it’s back on the bike for a ride out toward the lake today and take a look around out there to see if the ice is off the trail yet….it should be this week with it it getting into the 50′s for a couple of days….okay, back to the match….

Well….have been having this weird feeling this past week….one of contentment with my stress levels dropping to the lowest they’ve been since I can remember…and I’ve been smiling for no reason…after a week in my new house I wonder if this could be happiness? Over the past 18 months or so there has always been the nagging thoughts in the back of my mind that I had work to do on my son’s house along with the daunting task of finding a house for me…and while I still have mountains of work to do here, the urgency is just not there…it’s like I can finally just putter around and do things or not do things and it is finally my choice…I have realized that I can live with the house just as it is…with the over painted cupboards in the kitchen and the cracks in the plaster….and the projects to be done will be done on my timetable and no one else’s…I’m sitting here now with my last cup of coffee with soccer on in the background and reveling in the fact that Sunday morning is my favorite of the week…and I have corned beef and cabbage to cook in the instant pot for lunch and then a bike ride after the Manchester derby at 11:30….and I have the rest of the city to explore to go with the nice surprise that I live near a pretty nice part of it and I still have the Lake Michigan parks to see in the next months….the thought hit me the other day that I am finally home…to the last place I will call home since I’m pretty frickin old….but, while that could be depressing for some people, for me it’s strangely comforting…and it is the best outcome I could have imagined…I think this IS happiness…and I like it…

Well…running about on time this morning with not getting up until almost 6 but lying back down until almost 7…and I’m having a hard time getting moving today but need to with having to do a grocery run this morning to be able to make my corned beef and cabbage today…going to get some dark rye and Russian dressing so I can make some reuben sandwiches later in the week…I did get out for a nice bike ride yesterday but it’s still pretty cold out there and I cut it short…but I did do some more recon riding to check out the area and found the post office, a bakery, and a cheese shop in the nice little area just over the hill….can’t wait til it gets warmer and I can explore more….oh, and the Muskegon city hall is in that same area…I do need to get out to Lake Michigan in the next few days just to say I’ve done it and scope out the parks out there….and get longer rides in since I’m not going to get to any goal if I don’t get moving….not much to do today…just going to do laundry since my new washer got here yesterday afternoon…ran a load and it worked great along with the dryer so I need to do bedding today and my jeans since they are really scuzzy…more later….

Well…damn…another 5:41 morning but I was able to get back to sleep for an hour or so and I think that is all I can expect….I think my hands are starting to heal a bit after the damage from moving since they are just a little stiff today and my thumb doesn’t hurt so I’ll take it….feel pretty worn out today but that is my fault and I’m not sure how long I’ll keep it up…I did have a reason to celebrate with figuring out how to get my 600 dollar covid relief payment and ensure that I get the 1400 bucks if the congress passes it…and it was pretty easy….I did finally get started putting stuff away yesterday and almost have my dining room cleared and will try to get both bedrooms cleared today…just moving stuff downstairs and will put the stuff away that I am going to keep and get some piles of donations sorted out….my new washer is coming today and not a day too soon since I am running out of clean clothes and my jeans are really rank from moving and work around here….still only have one load of washing to do since I planned and did all of it before I moved….not much to do today…going to just watch some soccer and sit here for a while and wait for the delivery guys….more later…

Well…got on the bike today with the express purpose of doing some exploring around here just to see what is in the near neighborhood and couldn’t have been happier with what I found…just down the hill and to the left is a brand new area of re-constructed old buildings that includes the Frueanthal theater where they put on plays and lots of bars and restaurants along with a huge farmers market that has room for at least 100 stalls that is new and only a quarter of a mile away….and a huge old brick building that Amazon turned into a warehouse/office along with an art museum, and the new arena that is across from the theater…and that is just on the three streets I have explored…so, I think I got lucky finding this house in this area and I am going to have some fun after the covid restrictions are lifted in summer…I can see this place gaining 10 to 20K in the next two years and that will mean I can leave some inheritance for my kids….I feel pretty lucky to have found this place….and with the extra 2 grand I’m going to get, I can do all of the things I want to the yard when it gets warmer…lots of flowers and a big garden and taking the dead tree down…and my brother has a guy for that, too…pretty cool…

Well…that was easy…as you know, I’ve been trying to get the covid payment for a couple of months starting with talking to my rep, my senator, and the IRS with no luck…but, this morning, I decided to try to file a free tax return to try to get the 600 dollars that I missed from the December payment……the IRS had sent me a postcard giving me some options on how to do it and I selected Turbotax…and, after about a half hour of filling in the form online….the good news came and I am going to get the 600 bucks refunded to me and that will qualify me for the 1400 dollar payment that is to come in the next relief bill that is in the senate right now….so, this buys my new washer that is coming tomorrow and all the other tools I need to get this place cleaned up outside…and it is quite a relief that this is finally resolved and it was much easier than I expected….and filled the time while I wait for the temp to come up so I can change the tires on the car…cripes, this could even buy the new snowies I need for next winter…and I may even just call a drain cleaning company to do my kitchen drain instead of working on it myself…this is pretty cool….

Well…that wasn’t too bad for a night of being good…I did wake up at 4:04 but was able to get back to sleep until almost 6 so I’ll take it…and I don’t feel too bad today even with just the first few sips of coffee….the bike riding soreness has finally hit and it is a welcome development that I am starting the long road back to fitness…but it’s still going to be cold over the next two weeks with just a couple of days of 50′s but then back to the 30′s and I am hoping for a break so I can get out in light thermasuit or shorts….but, as I settle in here, I only have one thing to do and that is work on the kitchen drains…I would call a plumber but I need to conserve cash with a couple of thousand going out this month with my house insurance, the new washer, and the cost of the move…but, I am getting a couple of thousand in two weeks so it’s just that I won’t be able to save anything in March but that was planned….I did figure out the loud combustion blower on the furnace yesterday and fixed it by hitting it with a little wd so it’s much quieter today….just the little things that come with owning a house….I am going to put the summer tires on the car this morning since the snow has been taken out of the forecast for the 13th and there is only one day that there may be some light stuff in the next two weeks but I can stay home on those days if I have to…there seems to be lots of ice fog out here but they stay on top of it with salt so that is good and bad…good that it’s not slippery but bad for the rust on the Miata…oh, well….not much to do today…after putting the tires on the car, I am going to start to just move everything downstairs and will work on putting it away at my leisure…I do have to spend some cash for the rolling cart for the kitchen in the next couple of weeks since I really need the prep space but that will wait…I now have time to do things at my pace and that feels good….more later…

Well…there is nothing like a bike ride to explore my new surroundings…just today, I decided to go east along Muskegon lake where the trails are clear and discovered a few things….the Muskegon minor league hockey team plays at an arena that is within walking distance from here so when the covid restrictions are lifted later this year, I’ll be able to walk up and over the hill to see some hockey…and just to the east of that, there is a huge, modern business area that is being built a few blocks from there….and there is a street at the bottom of the hill that is full of old buildings with new businesses in them…it would be great if one of them would be my neighborhood bar…oh, and I have a bike shop just 3 blocks from here…going to go exploring over in that area tomorrow…there is a huge stainless steel sculpture at the end of the gentrified street in some sort of a park that looks interesting…I think my house is on the edge of the part of the town that is revitalizing and that is pretty cool and will give me something to do…and when they get the trail repaired, it will make for an easy ride out to the lake…I am pretty happy with how things have worked out with the house so far….now I just need to figure out the slow drain in the kitchen and get everything put away and I can just live for a while….

Well…man, my eyes are really itchy and filled with crap this morning and that leaves my vision pretty blurry…I really hope it’s not allergies this early in the year…but, it probably is since my nose is running and my head is plugged up to go along with the eyes….darn….slept okay but was up a little after 5 and tried to go back to sleep with little success…I should be sore after getting the first ride in yesterday…and my legs are a little stiff but not sore at all…we’ll see how they are after heading back into town today to pick up more stuff for the next to last time….and it will be the last run with the snowies on the car…was going to put the summer tires on yesterday but wanted to get a ride in instead…so I think it will be tomorrow….I did find all of the stores I frequent and 4 of them are within a mile of each other and the other two are only about 3 miles from here…so I am finding my way around here a bit…have never been good at finding my way around but Muskegon is small enough and everything is based on about 5 main roads so I’ll get it soon…it appears that Lake Michigan is a little farther away than I thought but 6 miles is still doable on the bike…only a 12 mile round trip and I do that all the time….not much to do today…just the run into town and then more putting stuff away…going to try to get back on the bike but it is going to be in the 30′s and that makes it less pleasant…still in exploration mode on the bike so I think I’m going to go north east today around Muskegon lake to see if the trails are clear…there was still a lot of ice on the trail to the west I rode yesterday and I had to turn around near the sub….more later….