The frost is on the daffodils

Actually, I don't have any daffodils, but we did see frost on some roadside daffodils yesterday morning. And if I did have daffodils, there'd be frost on them today.

My cold is gone, but due to scheduled weekend events I've continued to rest instead of exercise. The weird thing about it is I don't feel bad about this at all. As OCD as I've been about following my training schedule pre-CISE-ly, I'm astonished at how nonchalant I feel about neglecting it for the past four days.

I plan to begin anew tomorrow, when the temperature will be more tolerable [mid 50s instead of low 40s].

On Friday Mr. Shrinking Knitter and I drove to Abingdon, VA, for a fundraiser for New Beginnings, a drug and alcohol treatment facility in Dryden, VA. We are fortunate to know the team of dedicated and creative people who helped bring this particular house of hope to life, and we heartily support their work.

The evening's speaker, author Adriana Trigiani, was stuck in New York due to the bad weather, but she did a lively Q&A by speakerphone and much money was raised. [Her mother admonished her from the audience: "You should have come a day earlier!"]

I confessed to one of our friends that I'd never read any of her books and, in fact, had never even heard of her. She donated copies of her first book, Big Stone Gap, to each of us in attendance, so I will have the opportunity. But I would have passed it by had I seen it in a bookstore. Just not my kind of cover; it looks like a romance novel in the worst sense of the expression.

However. She seems to have a huge audience, has sold tons o' books and I'm open-minded. Mr. Shrinking Knitter has already read the first 30 or so pages and says she's quite a good writer.

The big news for those who actually live in Big Stone Gap, VA, is that pre-production for the film begins this summer, and they'll be filming on location. I've been to Big Stone Gap – it will surely be the most exciting thing that's happened there in decades. Maybe ever.

I've been catching up on your latest blog adventures and have been struck by some who are learning that mindfulness about eating and exercise doesn't necessarily have to come with a ball and chain. That's kind of how I've felt this week. I knew it wasn't good to continue to stress my body by running when I had a cold. So I rested. I'm not happy running in frigid temperatures. So I rested. I'm also not happy running on the treadmill. So I rested. All this rest has been as good for my mind as it has been for my body.

I've eaten well and not too much. The fancy dinner included cheesecake for dessert and I even had some of that. I went three months without sugar, so it's time to climb back on the wagon, but I didn't think I was "bad" or even "naughty" for eating it. And I didn't eat it all – just a few bites, to satisfy my curiosity, and then I put the fork down. I left food on my dinner plate, not because I "should," but because I'd eaten what I wanted.

Quite a strange little earthquake going on in my head these days.

Forty-one days until race day.