What time is it?...4:30

"It's not late, naw, naw, it's just early, early, early."

Okay...so actually the alarm clock indicated it was 4:00 am when I awoke this morning. Now, I'm sure all 2 or 3 of you readers are wondering why in the name of god would I be up at a time (depending on your time zone) when you might just be going to bed. Well, I actually do have a good reason. After many months of agony, my mom finally was scheduled for a total replacement of her left shoulder. So, I accompanied her for this event. So, why so early? Well, 1) the hospital capable of performing aforementioned procedure is approximately 40 miles away from my frozen wasteland (in a different, yet still frozen wasteland); 2) the surgeon performing this procedure prefers to complete all surgeries before noon. So, she had to arrive there around 5:45am for check-in and pre-op prep, etc.
I have to commend the hospital for having an excellent waiting area, even equipped with reclining chairs & televisions...very comfortable...and a great place to plow through about 1/2 of A Salty Piece of Land, which is shaping up to be a great read (pure mind candy, but still worth the time). The surgery took about 1.5 hours and went perfectly, so all is well.

Needless to say, 4am is really freakin' early, and I'm just now at work to finally start my day! Oh yeah, and I forgot to mention that it's been snowing for the past 12 hours, but I think the weather will wait for another post.