Well…my sleep patterns have gone wonky again after having some relatively normal nights…up at 2:34 today and then out of bed at 6:35 and I really never got back to deep sleep after the first wake up and that sucks…going to be worn out all day…didn’t get much done but the bike rides and cooking the big ham yesterday and I do want to make potato soup today to use up the veggies and some of the ham…but I still have leftover chicken that needs to be used for one meal….and I need to keep my calorie intake under 1K to continue to lose weight so that’s a conundrum….man, I’ve been cold for the past few days and I can’t figure that out…have had the heating pad on me just to get warm and I wonder if it’s related to restricting calories…looks like the rides will be indoors today since it’s not going to get out of the 30’s and that will continue until later in the week….not much to do today…just making the potato soup and the rides but I should clean the bathroom and I just might…who knows? more later…

Well…woke up at 5;30 again today but was able to lie back down until almost 7 so that is a win in my book…I am really thinking about taking the day off the bike since it is 37 and raining outside and I just don’t want to get on the indoor bike…and I’ve been making progress on losing the weight I’ve gained so maybe I can relax for once…had an okay day yesterday but didn’t get anything done but today I need to cook a big meal so I’ll probably feel guilty later and go downstairs for at least one ride before the Lions play the Bears at one….it looks like we have high winds again today after the 20-30 mph and gusts yesterday…it was howling out here but not much is going on right now…not too sore this morning and I’m going to enjoy that while it lasts with all the pain I’ve had lately…my gout has even come back and my right big toe hurt lots yesterday and I know it’s from not drinking enough water so I’ll try to fix that today….when I was lying in bed, I thought of how cool it is that this house just keeps on running with not a lot of problems with the heat or water…i would like a new stove and I think I’ll save for that and get one in the spring…but that will take a lot of research that I don’t want to think about right now….more later…

Well…after I dragged myself out of bed at 5:30 this morning and with Man U playing at 10, I had to get moving to get on the bike by 8 so I could get two rides in before then…so I busted butt to get done and probably didn’t need to with Man U stinking up the place so I didn’t even watch…after that, the only thing I’ve done is heat up some food for lunch and watched the latest Doctor Who episode on BBC1 and it was pretty good so I now need to try to find the other two shows in this 3 show set…and remember that there is a christmas special on BBC that I will be able to see…so it looks like it’s another day of one meal and all I had today was a small chicken thigh, small baked potato, and some corn with a glass of milk for 500 calories today…but tomorrow I’m make the big ham so I’ll go way over a thousand tomorrow…now I’m going to read…oh, forgot to talk about the tree guy coming to take out my stump yesterday…he just showed up and I didn’t know he was here until he started the stump grinder…so that’s gone and now I need to think about what I’m going to put in there since I do want a tree there…thinking about an apple tree or a red maple…not sure which yet…

Well…up at 5:30 again today and the sound of the rain hitting the house didn’t let me go back to sleep since I like it…and it always makes me think of “The ashes the Rain and I” by Joe Walsh….Slept okay last night but I’m worn out…again…and I know it’s from not eating enough…I mean a chicken thigh, small baked potato and some corn on a day where I did two rides outside? 500 calories is just not enough but I am losing weight so that’s a good thing….going to start with an indoor ride this morning as soon as I get some coffee in me but I guess I have 45 minutes to spare until then…I did get the bike lubed up last night and I might try to get outside for a ride to see if I’ve gotten the vibration out of the bike…I did discover that one of the pedals is noisy so that could be the problem…whatever, I have a nice clean bike….didn’t get a lot done yesterday but I think I’m going to make the big ham today but it will have to be outside on the grill in my big roasting pan….want to make mashed potatoes and gravy to go with it…but I still have two chicken thighs and eggs to use so maybe I’ll wait til tomorrow….not much to do today…need to get everything done before Man U plays at 10 but if I get on the bike by 7, that should be doable….more later….

Well…have been having a weird vibration in the pedals of the bike that is super annoying so after the second ride today, I dragged the bike downstairs, put my biggest pan under the back wheel and got to work for an hour just cleaning the sprockets, chain, and idlers with my stainless steel detailing brushes and dish soap and now I have to let it dry before I can re-lube everything and hope that it was just sand that was making it glitch…there was so much gunk that I took out of everything that was full of sand so I have my fingers crossed…at least I have a really clean bike now and that feels good…wasn’t going to ride it tomorrow anyway with forecast winds of 20-40 and rain all day…

Well…it was a pretty sucky day yesterday and I am so damn worn out from it…I remember the days when I could take the stress from work days like that every day but now I’m used to a less stressful routine…and I like that…so today will be a recovery day where I just do my normal thing of riding the bike and cleaning a bit…tomorrow will be the day I cook the big ham with mashed potatoes and gravy…or maybe I’ll wait til Sunday since I do have leftovers to use up…I know I’ve said that little things make me happy and I do mean it…Wed when I was at aldis, I went down the condiment aisle as I always do to see if there is anything new…and they had a Burman’s stone ground mustard that is probably the best mustard I’ve ever had…the only ingredients are mustard seed, water, vinegar, and turmeric but it tastes like it has horseradish…might pick up a few bottles to put in the pantry since they only have specialty stuff for a short time….I do need to get out and work on the bike as soon as it gets light to clean the shifter on the bike….the idler wheels seem to be gunked up and they are sending vibrations through the pedals that I can feel and I don’t like it…not much to do today…going to have more coffee and ease into it…it’s warm enough to get out on the bike right now but I’m not motivated to do anything right now…more later…

Well…damn what a pain in the butt trying to figure out why I never got any paperwork for the renewal of my medicare advantage plan…so aft 4 hours on hold an never getting through to customer service and a 60 mile round trip to Holland to find a closed walk in office…I finally figured out to go through sales and got right through…but I still have a fear that they have cancelled my plan and they won’t let the new registration go through…so I could still be screwed for a year or have to back to regular medicare for a year…I guess we’ll see…just a huge pain….

Well…damn, up at 5:24 this morning and it’s one of those days when I know there was no point of even trying to get back to sleep so I gave up and got up…even started the coffee a half hour earlier than the timer so I could get going…and it’s warm enough to get out on the bike as soon as it gets light…the wind was howling last night but it’s come down to about 10 from the SW so that’s doable….don’t hurt as much as yesterday but getting back on the outdoor bike this morning is going to hurt again and I wonder if it’s connected to my surgery and how sitting on the bike is different now? I do need to contact Priority Health this morning since I think they have dropped me after having to pay 77,000 dollars for my surgery…haven’t heard from them and they normally send me renewal paperwork…crap….didn’t get much done yesterday but i do need to cook and clean today but not until after I get the rides in….not much to do today…got everything done yesterday so I can just hang out today…got the car washed and bought new riding sunglasses since I broke my last pair…making chicken today that will get me to Sat when I make the big ham…more later…

Well…that’s 5 days now with the same pattern…up at 4 and then out of bed by 6:35…tossed the flat sheet and comforter off the bed so I may have to put the wool blanket on the bed tonight to add some weight…feel pretty worn out today but I think eating two meals was the right thing to do yesterday…going to make some chicken thighs  today and I’m buying a ham to cook later in the week….that will have go in the roasting pan and out on the grill…going to start thinking about buying a new stove to make my life a little easier….just need to get moving on a lot of stuff instead of just idling around here…I did look for painting supplies and found I have two packs of sanding paper for my small sander so I can get started whenever I want….not sure if it will be today or not….darn, it’s 7:30 already and I need to get moving in 45 minutes so I can do the grocery runs and get on the bike when I get back here….not much to do today…I do need to call Priority Health to make sure I’m signed up for my medicare plan before the 7th….they did pay for all of my surgery so I’m happy with them….77 thousand dollars would have put a dent in me….more later…

Well…when my new gloves came early in the afternoon, it was only 37 degrees but I thought it would make a good test to see how they work…they sure can’t keep hands warm down to -12 but they are better than the ones I was using so I can live with it…and my hands were just a little cold and not white like they used to get…so I got 31 miles in today and I’m going to try to get two outdoor rides in tomorrow or maybe do one indoor and two outdoor…we’ll see…didn’t get a lot done today and tomorrow will probably be the same since I don’t have a lot to do really…going to start prepping to paint the dining room starting with the trim and windows but I’ll need to get a drop cloth or two to try to control the dust and I’ll use my vacuum attached to my sander to help that…will probably have to go to HF to get sanding discs but I’ll figure that out tomorrow….