Day 73 (wow, when did that happen?!)

I guess I should get around to actually writing a blog post shouldn't I? Well, I have 20 minutes free now, so I'll see what I can do! Remember I mentioned a while ago that I had a cold? It only really went away last week, and then this weekend I came down with something else (who knows what) and now I have something of a cold, something of an upset stomach, but I've decided to ignore it today because I'm not spending another day eating plain porridge and rice. Nope, not happening! 
It was F's 6th birthday last week, and schools were closed all over Rome because of "extreme weather conditions" (ie, heavy rain all day; seriously, it's like the UK when faced with a dusting of snow!) so Susanna (the previous au pair) came over and me and her baked a cake while F had a play date. It was a very yummy German cinnamon apple cake, that tasted just as nice in the process of being made as it did when finished! His party was on Saturday, and that was a very busy affair, the scale of which I have never seen before - there were at least 100 people at the holiday house, and we were very glad to have such a beautiful day so everyone could mill around in the garden. And as if one Italian birthday party on Saturday wasn't enough, when I got back to the apartment in Rome (at around 5/6ish; the party had started at 10:30) I walked up to Clare's for her twins' 6th birthday party! I must have been mad, and it definitely showed, because at one point I was singing along to Frozen with their 3 year old sister, and her host mum asked me (jokingly of course) what I'd taken to have so much energy!! When everyone had gone home from that party, Clare and I went on a gelato run. Whenever we go to her gelato place (it's called Latte and it's by far the best) I choose two flavours and then get the person serving to choose the third, mostly because I can never decide, but also because they suggest things I wouldn't normally consider. So with my usual combination of marscapone e gentilini and something chocolatey, I had pineapple and basil sorbet which was very surprising, and very delicious! (Also, for all those who live in Neath, the Latte gelato from there is very nearly the same as Cresci's ice cream, but not quite). 
It's Maddie's last week here in Rome this week, so the three of us are going out for dinner tomorrow evening, and I'm really looking forward to it; mostly because it's an excuse to dress up nice, but also because we haven't all been out together in so long! 
I'd like to thank everyone who's sent me a card or letter in the past weeks, it means so much to me that people take the time out to write to me, and it's always exciting receiving something unexpectedly! Also, to all those asking after me because I haven't been blogging - thank you for caring too, it's just sometimes life gets in the way or feels to boring, or I simply cannot be bothered doing it..but now that I have today, I've been reminded how much I actually enjoy writing, so maybe that'll be enough to keep me updating more regularly!
Ciao!!