AUSTIN, Texas, May 2, 2005 — It's hard to do all the details right and efficiently when you are this sleepy. But I do all right.

I wake with a start around seven. I've had a sleepless night. I maybe got four hours. Maybe five.

I get up and get myself ready for tennis. I get together Dad's pull-on pants I cleaned for him and his other clothes I brought from his house and find a new toothbrush and a travel toothpaste since I forgot to bring him those. I get everything together, get the front seat cleaned out, get mucho coffee and get to the hospital by 7:45.

He is eating breakfast. He hasn't had the tests yet. I can't see how they can get him ready to dismiss before I finish this match I promised to play a month ago that starts at 9:30. But they do show up with the machine. Echo and Doppler or something. Get his weather report. I stay through the carotid part. I don't know what I'm looking at but something on the left side looks a little weird, I think. I leave before she starts the heart.

I go to Westwood, warm up a bit and get on court with my partner and the opponents. I try to rush things along as much as possible. When it seems we are winning, I try to close without choking. When we finish up (6-2, 6-1), I say "Excuse me, but I have to run. My dad's in the hospital and I'm afraid they will dismiss him and no one will be there." Sure enough he has just called my phone that he is ready.

I go to the hospital, park in the valet parking and go up. He isn't dressed but he says he had a nice conversation with a UT nursing student named Molly. I help him get dressed. They order a wheelchair. We escape.

When we get to his house the handy people are there, finishing up the window cleaning, planning some more power washing and painting and some roof fix up. Dad walks in with his walker. I get him some leftover lunch, clean things up, call the pharmacy to renew a prescription automatically. I go to the pharmacy and leave off his new prescription (for a cholesterol-reducing drug) and then go to Academy and buy him some more pull-on pants since they hospital never found the clothes he went to emergency in. Then I go to the grocery store for fresh fruit and a coule of other things and, while I'm at it, I vote in the City Council and city referendum election. I go back to the pharmacy and get the prescriptions. I pick up the baby aspirin that they said he should take every day, too.

I take everything home, get it out, organize it, go over the instructions on the new drug.. I tidy up some more. I try to call for the results of the tests they ran this morning but they seem to have lost the results and they promise to call back but they never do. I talk to the GP. I call my dad's sister to get his status on 'sister-net' which is done with cell phones.

Dad's mail is finally delivered. I get it and we go through it. There are a couple of insurance notices from all the medical care he's received lately. He asserts that someone had sent him a notice that he owed money and he wanted me to 'get a detailed bill' and he hadn't 'had the energy to look into it.' I tell him I didn't see anything where he owed money. He gets in his wheelchair and goes into the office. For fifteen minutes (OK, probably not that long) he goes through stuff until he finds a bill from Seton. But it says he owes nothing. They accepted the payments they received, adjudicated by Medicare.

I go home. I am so tired. So sleepy. Tomorrow will be better.

It is our friends' anniversary. They got married in out backyard and they want to have dinner. Our anniversary is later in the month. So it is kind of a mutual thing we do every year.

I get a shower, try to read, watch TV. So sleepy. I drink some coffee.

We go to Mirabelle. My mood picks up as soon as I see my friends. They have brought a 2000 Silver Oak along. Michael Vilim, the owner, comes over and gives us a bottle of NV champagne from a little producer. It's delicious. He talks about champagne, aging rules, etc. We order some great apps. (Lobster crisps! Wow.) We finish off the champagne and have our entrees (fantastic lamb for me) with the Silver Oak. Wow. We talk about our history together, families, their wedding. I feel great. Who needs sleep?

We get coffees and dessert. I share a bread pudding with my friend Sam.

We don't last long at home before I sleep. Ah, sleep, gotta have it eventually.