Party hearty

The party we went to last night was so much fun. All age groups were represented, from a tiny toddler who boogied on the dance floor with the best of them all the way to a very old fellow in a wheelchair, who didn't boogy but did seem to have a good time.

It was a wedding reception for a woman who was born and raised here, but now lives about as far away – in every sense of the word – from the Middle of Nowhere as one can get. And it was wonderful to meet her husband, celebrate with her and her family and mingle with people.

I'm pretty much a loner; my interactions with others are limited to Mr. Shrinking Knitter and my prison volunteer duties. Sometimes when I'm in a crowd I get kind of nervous and want to back off, but last night I found myself "working the room," visiting with many acquaintances and promising to "get together soon."

The food – substantial hors d'oeurves – was fabulous. I won't indulge in any food porn, but suffice it to say that I'm still sugar-free – Mr. Shrinking Knitter got two pieces of wedding cake. One of the offerings was a platter of grilled vegetable. Better than cake, if you ask me! Mr. SK asked what the yummy round orange thing was, and couldn't believe it was sweet potato. He hates sweet potatoes! Or so he thought.

The woman who sat beside me was a school chum of the bride's and I'd never met her. When I asked what she did for a living, she said she owned a gym and was a personal trainer. There was a time, not all that long ago, when I would have been very intimidated chatting up a personal trainer in a social situation. But she was friendly and outgoing and guess what? We talked about stuff other than fitness!

The worst part of the evening was my very uncomfortable shoes. I couldn't dance in them – the soles were too slippery and I'd have totally embarrassed my husband, I'm sure, if I'd fallen. But I did a lot of standing and walking around and why, oh, why can't dress-up shoes be as comfortable as my running shoes?

Today's a rest day. Yesterday I walked four miles [with a little bit of running when Thunder on the Mountain and Elvis Presley Blues popped up on the Shuffle] and did my 20 minutes of weight training. My left knee hurts; I need to start wearing the patella strap I used to use or I'm asking for trouble. I'd hate to further aggravate it at this point. There's not enough training time left to get over an injury!

Forty-eight days until race day.