Last night I returned to the "Day 1" exercise and it was remarkably easier than the day before.  It's as if the exercise itself got into my head on Sunday night, and stayed in there practicing on its own for 24 hours, so when I tried it again it wasn't difficult.

Granted, I'm not up to the recommended tempo in the book just yet, but compared to my initial attempt last night's improvement was staggering.  This is encouraging and makes me even more excited to practice tonight.

I'm still unsure of what I'll do over the Thanksgiving holiday, since I'll be short on time and won't necessarily have access to a drum set every day.  I'll bring the practice pad and continue doing hand exercises, for sure, but I may have to substitute something else (reading, research, etc.) for the kit exercises.