Well…with my son coming out tomorrow, I had lots of cleaning to do today after getting three rides in this morning and it has been a lot of work…started on the kitchen first since the stovetop and microwave needed work along with the sinks and countertops next to them and then cleaned the trash can ad re vacuumed the floor…then on to the bathroom and did a full cleaning of everything in there including the floor…then on to the living room where I tore the couch apart, washed the couch cover, vacuumed the cushion covers and put it back together rotating the cushions…then vacuumed the rug…then I took some me time to read and finished up the third book a day earlier than last time so I will be able to hit the library for three more Monday after I pay the bills at the city offices…and I just took the new vacuum down and did the basement stairs so I don’t have to do them in the morning…it is so nice to have a vacuum that works and is light enough for me to carry so I can reach the cobwebs over the back stairs…so now I have the weight work to do before I settle in for the night…

Well…already running late today…damn, I say that every day but it is true…it’s 6:35 and I need to get on the bike by 7am and I just had my first sip of coffee…so it will be a struggle to get going…I still have so much cleaning to do that I’m going to be busy all day…have the couch, bathroom, and kitchen to clean so I need to get going as soon as I have three rides in…don’t have to cook today with all of the pork shoulder I made yesterday that will last me until the end of next week and I’ll probably have to freeze some before it spoils…I did get 160 pages into the last book yesterday and that leaves about 300 pages left to read and I need to make time for that today, too…man, I’m tired of being so busy…damn, I need to vacuum the back stairs, too…maybe I’ll just do two rides today…at least it’s not snowing and it looks like we’re not getting any big storms for the next 10 days and that gets us 10 days closer to spring…but it’s going to be cold with highs in the 20’s…oh, well…need more coffee and to get on the bike….more later…

Well…my new shop vac was just delivered and I really like it…took it for a test run on my wood floors and it has such strong suction that it pulled the dirt from between the boards and you could feel it almost sticking to the floor…and it came with a  huge paper bag that you can put in it and then just throw it away when it fills…pretty cool…oh, and it pretty darn quiet…way quieter than the little 2 gallon one that just failed…the cord is a little short but that’s what extension cords are for the on/off button is huge and the entire unit is pretty light so I can use it to do the back stairs with no problem…all in all, a nice perfect sized unit…will probably go over all of the wood floors and the kitchen with it tomorrow…it was a good day today and I’m down to 124 miles to 1,000 so I’ll make that in Feb easy…and I made the 6 pound pork shoulder today and it came out great…I’ll be eating off that for a good week even having two meals from it every day…I did finish up the second book today and started the third but I don’t think I’ll get that one done by Monday…we’ll see…back to reading…

Well…darn, another day of being up at 4am and then struggling to get back to sleep and I am worn out…again…the wind was blowing so hard last night that the power blinked about a dozen times and I had everything plugged in and charged…but it stayed on since all of the appliances still have the correct time on them and that was a relief…it’s going to be a busy one today with doing the 6 pound pork shoulder in the instant pot for lunch and that needs to go in by around 10 and it will take two hours with a natural pressure relief which means you let the pot slowly release the pressure that normally takes about a half hour…and I’ll do the third ride while all that is going on..going to brown the roast in my cast iron dutch oven and then deglase  it to get the flavor bits into the instant pot…I wonder if I should just brown it in the instant pot? I think it may be too big to do that….I guess we’ll see…it looks like we’re getting a little snow tomorrow and it’s going to stay cold all week never getting above freezing but no big snow storms and I’ll take it…one week closer to spring…not much to do today…just cooking and cleaning but most of the cleaning will be done tomorrow…need to do the kitchen today scrubbing my small counters and microwave….will finish the second book today and just might be able to do the third one before Monday….more later….

Well…the cleaning continued today with working on dust here in the living room and getting the tv and stereo stand cleaned along with the bookcase so all I have to do Sat is clean the couch and rotate the cushions along with vacuuming the rug…my new shop vac is going to be here tomorrow and I can’t wait to have one that works all the time…it was not supposed to arrive until Monday so I’m pleasantly surprised and can use it to do the final touch ups around here before the visitors Sunday…I did get the three rides in today then went out and shoveled the little snow we got overnight before I cleaned…only have about 140 miles to go to 1,000 so that will be the week after next and that is the only goal I have for the year…so far…I do have to go out Monday to pay the water bill and my house taxes along with mailing my house insurance check and I would like to hit the library, too, since I’ll have two of the three books done by then so I may just as well pick up a couple more since I can see the library from the city offices…okay, it’s time to read some more…I did make some pour over coffee this morning and it the only coffee I can drink black…will probably order some more beans to have in stock here but I still have three pounds and I guess I can wait a while….

Well…that was not as good as has been usual for me lately and I was  up around 4 and then didn’t really get back to sleep…so I’m feeling pretty worn out and having a hard time getting going…we are under a winter weather advisory and I’m glad I did the grocery run yesterday and don’t have to go anywhere until Monday when I need to pay all the bills…have 1,700 bucks going out and that stings a little but it’s all part of owning a house…taxes and insurance every year…I did get some cleaning done yesterday and I think I’ll do the living room today since I still don’t need to cook…tomorrow will be the big pork shoulder in the instant pot and I think I may go down to just two rides so I can get it going for lunch…have about 160 miles to go to get to 1,000 in Feb for the year and that will be a record for me…still have the kitchen counters and sink to do but that may wait til Sat when I do the bathroom, too….oh, and the stovetop but that will wait til after I use it tomorrow to brown the roast and make gravy…and I may steam some cauliflower to go with the pork…not much to do today…just need to get on the bike by 7am and get three rides in and then I can start the rest of the day…I still have to figure out what to do with the chicken thighs I bought and I think they will end up in the freezer later today…more later…