It's Friday and I got home early for a change (5:30 pm). I should be thrilled, but I'm on call tomorrow, so I'll be working for 24 hours. Saturdays are notoriously busy at our hospital so I'll probably be slaving away for much of those 24 hours. And Monday is a national holiday but I have to work then too.

I'll probably fall asleep tonight in a dead heap, early as usual. These days I'm so exhausted that my sleep is equivalent to a coma-- I don't even notice when Chris and the dogs come to bed a few hours later.

In the mornings now I find ice on my car and temperature in the upper 20's. I've unwrapped my black winter coat from last year's dry-cleaning bag, and turned on the heat in my apartment for the first time.

Time marches relentlessly on.