Venti giorni!

Yesterday marked exactly three weeks and today only 20 days to go! Also, on Sunday I was busy cleaning my room and decided it was time to pull out the big international suitcase so I could start dropping things in bit by bit these next few weeks; it's now cozily situated in its own little corner of the room next to my dresser - and its contents are now free to grow a little each day. Crazy! Oh, speaking of crazy ... the girls and I have had some crazy fun together these past couple weeks!


This is my last week with the girls, and I'm getting quite sad. Yesterday morning I thought, "So this is my last Monday with them," and this morning it was the same rainy thought, except it was Tuesday. Last week was the best yet, and it seems that instead of the natural course of things (which is to gradually get more tired of being around the same people all the time, and more ready to leave), I am growing more and more sad about not having all this time with these precious little girls!


Thankfully, this week I'm getting to watch them longer than usual because Uncle Tim's on a business trip ... and we have all sorts of plans. We're having a "sisters and cousins sleepover" (only girls allowed, as Ashley says), watching The Aristocats for the fiftieth time, going to and from the pool as often as we can, and baking our very own sugar cookies then decorating them with chocolate icing and sprinkles (that's coming tomorrow - I'll have Mary around for back-up in case the chocolate gets out of control!). We also have plans to make a library run because we've read our current stock many times over, and there is talk of a grocery store run later for "supplies" and a potential movie theatre visit to see Ice Age 3 ... in 3D! We'll see how much fun time allows for :)


Now, don't let all these mopey words make you read me wrong: I'm eager to return to Italia and see all of the folks I've been missing on that side of the pond, and I'm also excited about all the little fun happenings between now and then! This weekend we have dear friends coming, the next weekend Sarah returns from Asia, I'm helping throw a party for an engaged friend, another friend is celebrating a birthday, and then my own birthday rolls around that following Monday. Talk about a full few days! And after that it's really time to pack and get in those last minute goodbyes, because my birthday marks a week from departure ...

But look at me! There I was thinking I wouldn't get another post written before the farewell entry, and here I am finishing another :) So in light of this unexpected frequency, I make a toast to similar unexpectedly frequent posting when in Italia - or at the very least, to posts that appear FAR and AWAY more often than they did last fall (blushes)!

Ciao a tutti, ed a presto ...