Yep, so far so good. After working away for at least part of the weekend, it looks as though my trouble has proven worthwhile. Tomorrow I shall be suggesting a date for the course I have been designing. I still have a fair bit of road to travel, but my destination is now much clearer. The acid test, though, is yet to come.
I shall say no more until after the event. But I'm cautiously optimistic.

Stop reading, start speaking
Stop translating in your head and start speaking Italian for real with the only audio course that prompt you to speak.
When things start to come together after lots of hard work, you feel good. It makes the loss of free time worth it in some respects, but then, one loses something now in the hope that one will gain more in the future. That, at least, is the theory.
Enough blathering.