We have a winner!

I've entered everyone's name who entered the drawing into an online randomizer, which did its magic, and I've notified the person whose name landed at the top of the heap that she's the winner of my extra copy of Gary Taubes' Good Calories, Bad Calories. Thanks for participating, and I wish I could send the book to each of you.

When I let the dogs out this morning I was surprised and slightly irritated at the sound and sight of sleet accumulating on the porch and driveway. All the preparation I did for the impending ice storm last weekend did some good – Mr. Shrinking Knitter believes that if you worry about something enough, it won't happen. This stuff that's coming down this morning, though? I didn't hear a peep out of any forecaster that this was coming through.

In fact, according to my little weather widget, today is supposed to be partly cloudy, but the Weather Channel has us under a winter weather advisory. I'd semi-planned to get out of the house today; guess I'll stay in and knit clean.

My 40-minute run yesterday was supposed to be easy, but it felt hard to me and I was greatly disappointed in how slow and sluggish I felt. It crossed my mind while I was slogging along that maybe I wasn't meant to run. It was cold, so I wore long pants, a technical t-shirt and a fleece cover-up. I was sweating after the first half-mile and was quite literally dripping by the time I finished three. Yes, you read it right. I only did three miles in 40 minutes. I didn't feel like I was slacking; I just couldn't get going. Today is a cross training day, which is probably going to be limited to mopping, vaccuuming and dusting, since my shoulder still hurts.

Have I mentioned how much I'd like to be able to lift weights? Why yes, I think I have. Remind me of that the next time I start whining, okay?

Laura asked if I was planning to run the half or the full Country Music race. I've registered for the half, but am keeping my options open. These race directors don't mind at all if you pay them more money and change your mind about which distance you want to go. There's a time limit, of course, so I'll have to decide at some point.

Other than that, not much else is going on. My sweater should be dry today and I'll try to get a photo taken. Next in the queue is one of those cute little newsboy caps. I found this pattern that looks pretty quick to do and is the style I'm going for. There are cabled ones and lace ones and ribbed ones and felted ones, but I just want a simple one. I think I'll do it in red.

Then, of course, I'll need red mittens to match. One good thing about snow … it's great weather for knitting.