Winners and Losers.

Life is all about winning and learning to lose, they say. How often did your mom tell you, “You win some, you lose some?” as you were growing up and learning how to cope with an oft scary, sometimes fair world. Life hands you lemons, or bureaucracy issues, or disappointments, or traffic jams, and you just have to deal. Winning doesn’t come easy or often (unless you’re me).

Well, Christine Drucker née Bacci, today YOU are the winner.

Welcome to Spain, Jason and Christine. Toma, a ham leg at Sol y Sombra for you. And fish meatballs. Enjoy that lote, eh!

I know, I know. I said I would wait until the 18th to choose a winner for my subscription drive, but I didn’t expect to quadruple the amount of people who read my little old blog dedicated to the musings of everyday life for an American girl abroad. But, as my sorority sister, we have the sisterhood IN OUR BLOOD and you knew you had to know all of the intimate details of my life. No, but really, I decided to award the prize to the 18th person to sign up for my email updates, as 18 is my favorite number, so Christi takes the cake, er, jamón.

Call if serendipity, or call it dumb luck, but this mujercita is more than deserving: we lived with the same host family in Valladolid, shared Monday evenings at the Pi house watching 24 with our  little host mom. I went to her bachelorette party, and she and her husband Jason came to visit me last year in Spain. And, just days ago, Christi became a new mom for the first time. If life had hashtags, Christi’s could certainly be WINNING (#pantherblood would just be too much!).

The baby was obviously named for someone, as there are no Jacks on either side!

Since you missed the crazy face I put on when your email from Valencia announcing your pregnancy while still in Spain, please be sure to take a picture of Jack next to your gift basket from Latienda and send it to me. That’s all I ask.

Thanks to everyone who demonstrated an interest (and to the gluttons, too). To those who came out of the woodwork, to those who only wanted the free food. You may be losers today, but I appreciate all of the blog love!