A little after five, the house a mess, on the couch. I should clean soon. Sometimes 5:00PM arrives and, much to my surprise, the evening seems to stretch out well ahead of me.

This morning I was up by 4:30AM but I decided against hitting the Y too early. N was up, too, and I didn’t want to stick M with waking early as I wasn’t sure who woke in the middle of the night. I hung out for a while until everyone rose, got ready, and hit the coffee shop to work on the schedule from 7 to about 8:15. I got a lot done in a quick hour. After the house cleared out I returned home and refined the schedule through the morning. The work took less time than I thought. Later I hit the Y, ran three miles, lifted, and ran another mile. I could have pushed further but decided against killing myself on the treadmill. I can’t find the right elliptical at the Y. They all seem to make me scrunch up and throw off my back. Oh well. I’ll figure it out. Later I took T to drums. Tonight I might read from Waiting for the Barbarians and work on some poetry. The poetry book is calling me again.

Thursday will be the coldest day, the weatherman just told me, since 1996. Maybe the kids will be off school. Tomorrow I’m leaving work early to pick them up. I don’t want to entrust them to babysitters on a subzero day.

Good night…stay warm. Mid-January is almost upon us. Winter won’t last forever.