COLD

Sunday night was the coldest since we've been here in Rome, and it was also the night we returned to our villa to discover that the boiler was not functioning properly -- no heat, no hot water.

We thought we were being clever by having the valves installed on the radiators while we were away on vacation. After all, you do want to be able to control the heat in a big house (especially given gas prices) and therefore a valve is necessary. Our workman insisted that everything was functioning properly when he completed the job earlier in the week. Oh well. We all slept in our warmest clothing under several duvets and we survived. But, it sure was cold getting out of bed in the morning.

We kept our coats on all day until Domenico, the radiator guy, arrived....at 4pm. Thankfully, he was able to get the ancient boiler working again and we were back in business. I guess it could have been worse.

Instead of sitting in the freezing, cold kitchen, Dale, Don, Josh and I walked to our local bar in Piazza Euclide. We exchanged vacation stories over cappuccinos and cornetos (Italian for croissant) and warmed ourselves up at the same time. Once warm and fully caffeinated, I went to the gym and, after working out, really enjoyed the sauna, steam and hot shower. Then there was the business of grocery shopping, unpacking and doing laundry. The usual post-vacation hangover.

But after this trip, Josh and I almost felt we needed a vacation from the vacation...and we are living here in Rome on a kind of vacation...are you still following me? Our trip to Puglia was certainly labor intensive from a vacation point of view. Josh did a lot of driving, I did a lot of packing and unpacking and laundry (because our kids kept getting so dirty), and we were jointly in charge of entertainment for 9 days! Despite my disdain for big and crowded hotels, I'm starting to cave to the notion of vacationing with the kids by checking in to a place where there are other families with kids, so that our kids make friends with other kids and then they entertain themselves. Or, even better, there is a kids' club with paid entertainers that come up with all kinds of fun and interesting activities for the kids' participation. Josh and I have always preferred to take "the road less travelled;" to find the authentic spots away from the masses; not to compete for a lounge chair by the swimming pool, or for dinner reservations. Yet, when our kids "get bored" on vacation, sometimes you have to wonder if you're doing the right thing by taking the more "interesting" but more difficult path -- or wonder if you should be taking the kids at all?

Parenting does not lend itself to instant gratification. So we can only hope that the experiences we are giving our children will be appreciated down the road. Meanwhile, we are attempting to gain small victories -- like table manners.

It was still cold in the villa by the time we went to bed Monday, but the radiators were on and the heat felt promising.