A Change of Plans?

I woke up this morning at 8:09, precisely nine minutes after the race I wanted to run in Central Park had already started. I was sad to miss it, but I was too sick to run today. And it was cold, the final hours before what was supposed to be a major snowstorm.

To console myself, I spent several hours studying Italian, plus contemplated my upcoming language schedule. I am thinking I really want to spend three months on Italian rather than two. It would be a big relief to me to keep going with it through January 31 rather than stopping at the end of December. I have been in advance mourning for a while now. If I continued into the new year, we could enjoy this extra month we have together, and then break up at the end of January instead.

I am having trouble remembering that contraffare means “imitate.” That is counterintuitive to me. It sounds like the opposite of “imitate.”