Short days

Shift work is one of those things that takes some getting used to. Most people have a certain need for routine, and I'm definitely one of those. So when I know I'm switching from working days to nights, my routine tends to be, I stay up late after my day, and sleep in the next day, in preparation for being up all night. (Since I tend not to make time for a nap in the afternoon, the sleep-in bit is quite important to me.) Anyways... I worked a day yesterday, and today is my night. But what should I wake to this morning? A phonecall from my manager, offering me overtime. I'm sorry, but if you WAKE me up to offer me overtime, there is a very, very high chance that I will say no, couching it in the excuse that, uh, I have plans. (Plans to sleep. Those are very important plans) I crawl back into bed, and two minutes later, there's a knock at my door. Knowing that knock already, and the reason behind it, I go to the door in my pj's, and sleep hair, and sure enough, there's the neighbor girl, who I'm orientating with this month. She got the same call, except she let the answering machine get it. She wants to know if I'm going in to work, and what the boss told me. We agreed on sleeping in. She didn't want to do a solo orientation day, knowing the boss called cause it was a busy day. Now, I must admit, it would have been a good experience, but we already elected to stay an hour and a half late last night for the extra experience.
Actually, last night was an EXCELLENT experience. We're orientating to maternity, and it's kind of hit-and-miss in maternity, so we'd missed a few busy days, which resulted in a full ward of mom's and babies yesterday. I had one come in during the day in labour, that I was with all day, and was finally ready to push when it was shift change. So I decided I really wanted to stay to see this thing to it's finale. Everyone was fine with that, and Gill decided to stay as well. I may have a bit too much empathy or something, though. Every birth I've been in on here so far, I just want to push FOR them! hehehe. Sigh. So, learning a lot. I'd say more, but, not on a public thing like this.
So today, once I was done sleeping, I really wanted to get to the post office and grocery store. I got all geared up and went outside, and realized... it's cold out. For some reason I hadn't grabbed my scarf or neckwarmer. I hesitated for a second, deciding whether to go back up 3 flights of stairs to get them, or just get going to the store. Now, either I've started to acclimate, I'm just plain lazy, or I've lost some brain cells along the way... but I decided I was downstairs already, may as well get walking, it's only about a ten minute walk! Problem was, it was 2:30 and the sun had just set, so I had no sunshine to warm me, the temp was -21, -30 with windchill (which means exposed skin freezes in 10 to 30 minutes). So about 5 minutes into the walk, I was strongly regretting my decision. Having had a mild case of frostbite as a kid, I know that beginning feeling of freezing on your cheeks. And whenever I feel that, I either cover my face with whatever's handy (usually my mitts), or I start moving the muscles around there to try and keep warm blood to the area. I try to do this only when people can't see me, I can only imagine the faces I make while trying to keep my cheeks moving.
So I set out with the sun just set, the sky still light. By the time I got home (by cab) an hour later, the sky had hit that twilight coloring that's dark but beautiful. And now, a scant half hour after I got home, it may as well be midnight. I can only imagine how short the days will be in December!