Well…after I go off the bike this morning, I decided to make a run out to Meijers for mega tickets for the 785 million dollar jackpot for tonight and then to Kohl’s to look through the clearance racks like I do every year…..and today I scored a new pair of walking shoes… lightweight Fila memory foam that regularly cost around 60 bucks and I got them for 15…cool looking black ones that feel really good on my feet…so now I have two whole pairs of usable shoes to wear! Need to break them in before the trip….and I need to get on the bike again right now but my back is even worse today so I’m using heat to try to loosen it up…and I’m going to have to take something for it, too…crap…

Well…my back is a little better this morning and it doesn’t need heat yet so I’ll take that as a win…slept on my left side last night and I’m not sure why since I can’t breathe too well when I do that and it keeps me waking up all night…so I feel pretty worn out today but the coffee hasn’t started to work yet and it may be okay after that happens….it looks like another day on the indoor bike with it raining out there right now and that may be a good thing with how much my back hurt after riding outside last week….didn’t get much done yesterday and I’m not sure how I feel about that….with how much my back hurt there really wasn’t anything I could do anyway but I may try to work on the dining room today and just see how bad it will hurt….I do need to cook today and it will be the first time since t-day that I don’t have a turkey or ham….going to make a couple of chicken leg quarters and a baked potato for lunch and I will need to figure out what I’m going to make for the rest of the week….chili has been on my mind but I can’t find my recipe so I’ll have to make it from memory and I’m not sure I can do that…but I’ve made a lot of chili so I think I can wing it and have it come out okay….will have to remember to get some shredded cheese to top it with….not much to do today…whatever I do I have to be done by 3 when Man U plays…I did start to watch Kaleidoscope last night and it reminds me of Leverage…a pretty good show and I’ll do a couple more episodes tonight….and that will keep me amused for a few more nights….more later….

Well…my back is back to as bad as it’s been since it started to hurt and that sucks…I even had to take some ibuprofen since the pain was so breathtaking…literally…it has gotten a bit better after the heat and ibuprofen kicked in but it still hurts to move so I’m kind of done for the day after doing the laundry and putting it away….I do have a problem with my clothes dryer that I noticed a couple of weeks ago in that the thing doesn’t shut off on it’s own anymore…I think the timer is going bad, or has gone bad but I don’t know if I want to spend a hundred bucks to buy a new one with the dryer still usable…but that means I can only do laundry while I’m here…I’ve only done it while I’m here anyway but that takes away the option if I’m going to be gone more than an hour…oh, well…I can live with it…so I guess it’s no big deal…

Well…running a bit late this morning with not getting out of bed til 7:23…I did wake up about two hours before that and tried to go back to sleep but had the weirdest thing happen…I did sleep and dream for these short, couple of minute dreams that went all over the place…..and they all changed as I woke up again and again….just looked outside and there is pretty dense fog out there and I just may try to ride in it today…but it’s only 37 out there and I don’t want to be that cold…so I guess I’ll start the day downstairs and then go outside later in the day to get my two rides in….didn’t do much yesterday and don’t feel like doing anything right now and I don’t know when I will….going to start getting the stuff I need ready to work on the house again but I guess that could wait til tomorrow…I need more coffee to even start to think about that….I did get my bills set up to be paid yesterday so I guess that’s something and I may have to go out and do the grocery run tomorrow since I’m running out of milk….and I’m not buying any protein this week so I don’t have to wait til Wed….I did get the turkey carcass in the freezer yesterday but that took up the last space I have in there so I have to use up some stuff from there….took out some chicken and another container of ham soup so I’ll have food for the next few days….not much to do today….I think it’s going to take a while for me to start the day with how I’m feeling….so I think I’ll read a bit and then get on the bike….darn, my back hurts….more later…

Well…another year starts and I’m not sure how I feel about that…I mean it’s nice that I’m still alive but life seems like a lot of work these days….especially when you wake up at 3, 5, and then out of bed at 6:23….I did drag my butt out to get a paper this morning and I wonder why…not much point to it anymore with how small it has gotten…you know it’s a sinking feeling when you get up and realize that you didn’t set the coffee maker up to start at 6 like normal…had an okay NYE last night and don’t feel too bad right now…and knowing that I don’t have to get on the bike helps that…going to sit here and just read the news for a while and try to get back into my routine….riding outside and then back inside has really set my back off and it hurts to just sit here right now so I guess I’ll have to heat it again and that sucks….didn’t really do anything yesterday but get two rides in and today will be even lazier with no rides and just vegging most of the day…there are soccer matches and the Lions losing to see and I will be on the couch most of the day…need to figure out what to eat today with the turkey finished and just soup in the fridge and I’ll have to plan for food the rest of the week but don’t want to right now…just need more coffee and down time to get the day started….more later…

Well…as I sit here waiting for the Michigan game to start, I thought I’d noodle a bit on what I think about my year…it wasn’t a bad one other than my dental problems that will continue into next year and that sucks…I did lose 25 pounds so that was cool…and I beat my goal of 6,050 miles on the bikes…and I did manage to put a little more money away so I really don’t have to worry about money anymore and, after having to do that all my life, it takes a load off and that feels good…the house has been pretty reliable and I haven’t really had to put any money into it other than paint and other supplies and I am getting back to working on it Monday with hopes to have the dining room done by the end of January…..and the door for my bedroom, too….I may have to put off buying another car for a year or so since taxes and dental work is going to cost me 4500 bucks by the end of March and that was money I had saved for the car…hmmmm…what else? Oh, two of my kids are still not talking to me and that really sucks but I refuse to let it get to me….Not going to do the whole resolution thing since I’m just going to keep doing what has worked for me…I am going to stop having cocktails for a few months but that is getting to be the new normal for me every new year…so I will hope for no new health problems for me or anyone else I know and then just keep putting one foot in front of the other…happy new year!

Well…sitting here with the heating pad on my back after doing my final two rides of the year and I have been contemplating doing a year in review post this afternoon but I’m not sure if I’ll do one of those yet….that would mean I’d have to think about it and I’m not ready for that yet….I did get over 6,100 miles with the 16 today and I am really looking forward to having a day off tomorrow….I do need to get everything done before 4 when Michigan plays so I’d better get at it right now….more later…

Well…damn, Man U is playing right now so this may be a short one….slept okay last night but I’m not feeling like it right now and the feeling of being worn out continues again today….and it’s probably my fault since I wasn’t good last night….and I won’t be again tonight with it being new years eve but then I’m done for a couple of months…need to take better care of myself so that will be a good start…it was nice to get an outdoor ride in yesterday but I’ll be indoors today with the temp only around freezing and I don’t want to be cold….but I won’t go down until 10 or so unless Man U stinks the place up and I get bored with them…didn’t get much done yesterday and today will be much the same with soccer and Michigan playing at 4….riding outside uses different muscles than inside and my back hurts like crazy this morning so I need to put the heating pad on in a minute….need to figure out what I’m going to cook in the next few days since the turkey is almost gone and I need to clear out some space in the freezer for the carcass but i don’t know what I feel like making….not much to do today…it would be a perfect day to take it off but I won’t….but I am going to have more coffee and watch soccer right now…then down on the torture machine….more later….

Well…when I got up this morning and it was 46 degrees, I decided to try to do an outdoor ride just to scope out the trails and see if they were passable…and they were for the most part…I did have to walk the bike in a few spots but it was okay…the road by the beach is closed with sand drifts over both it and the boardwalk and I had to ride in the road coming down the hill from the beach with snow drifts over the trail at the top of the hill…I left the bike in the garage so I can ride outside for the next week..it’s even supposed to be over 50 one day next week and I hope that clears the entire trail…will still have to ride in the road a bit with all of the sand over the trail out by the beach….I did hurt my back and I will have to heat it here in a few….more later….

Well….damn, I really do need a day off to recharge but I know I won’t do it….my back hurts and I feel run down and that seems to be the new normal and I don’t like it one bit…had an okay day yesterday and got sucked into a Star Wars marathon with the last of the series and it was cool that I didn’t remember them at all…it was 5 years since I’d seen them and I hope that was not from memory loss….I did do two rides yesterday and I am going to try to do that again today but I sure don’t want to….I am hoping that I can get back to the zone where I can just get on the bike, let my mind go off on it’s own, and then it’s over….but that hasn’t been working lately and it’s a chore to just think about going down there…I wonder if I should drag the bike up and do an outside ride today? It’s 47 degrees right now and most of the snow has melted and it could be doable….and I don’t hate riding outside like I do inside…okay, that will be the goal for today….but I still need to wait til it gets light out there…can I just do one ride outside and accept that it is enough? Not much to do today….I am winding down the year and I’m not sure what I’m going to do mark that….I think there is football on later today and maybe even some soccer so I can stay amused for the day…more later…