more numbers

9 months and 2 days since we left Italy.

5 months and 15 days, or 165 days until Alexander and I go back to Italy for the longest stay yet.

7 ½ months since I began planning our upcoming trip. This morning I made the final reservation at the Beehive, which means that there are exactly

6 months and 14 hours until we leave Italy again.

I have worked my way through the longest, darkest and wettest fall and winter I can remember. It seems as though we haven’t seen the sun for more than 3 days in the last 3 months, and for someone like me who is so dependent on the sun and its light and warmth, this is a very serious situation. I go for an hour-long walk around noon at least three days a week, to get fresh air, daylight and some well needed exercise, and I try to work out on my crosstrainer at least twice a week because I’ve been told that exercising helps raise the serotonin levels and thus should help me feel happier.

When that doesn’t work anymore, I watch the Travel Channel, browse travel websites and possibly even sip on the liquid sun we brought back from Amalfi nine months ago. Really, there’s nothing like sweet yellow limoncello to bring a taste of Italian summer sun to a dreary Swedish winter day.