It was a bad week, but with bad there is always some good to be found and I found something awesome this week! I found a new friend. A wild, crazy, totally me kind-of-friend. Even when I was near tears this week she pulled me right up and had me laughing in minutes. This is exactly the kind of friend I need. I have to admit, I’m a little in love with my new friend.

Introducing Tina! My new wild & crazy friend from Italy. Like me, she’s married to a soldier. It’s how we met, through our husbands, and it was instant love. I can’t help but love anyone who cooks as much as me. Right now we are battling over who cooks what at Thanksgiving. Neither of us is giving up the turkey, so we’re both looking for extra’s to invite over & be the judge in the Great Turkey Cook-Off of 2012. This is how instant it was. It is so rare to get a friendship like this, and here I’m blessed with a third (Katie in CA; and Emma in Chicago).

Saturday night, the night we met, we were at her house for dinner. Her husband Sean, mine, and me were putting the final touches on our 2nd semi-annual Amazing Race for the soldiers (more on that on Saturday). Tina had cooked up a huge. Naple-style, Italian spread. I think I’m still stuffed. The girl can cook. After we played pool, I so suck, and after that we played pictionary. We’ve played so few board games since getting to Germany that this was absolute Heaven for me. I’m a total game nut.

It was boys against girls all night, which was fine with pool. Tina cheats like a pro and we won hands down, despite my total lack of skills. Pictionary however, that was another story. Yes, Tina totally cheats here too, but you must know the words to cheat properly. Round three she drew a torso, with a nice round bottom, wearing a thong. So I guessed “Thong”. YES! Shouted Tina. NO! Shouted Sean. We both looked at him like he was crazy. And Tina, in her lovely Italian-accented English yells out:

“Whatchou talking about Sean?! That’s a Tong!” Sigh. Yep. The word was indeed Tong. Not Thong. Next time I play with Sean.