Yesterday a blog reader with Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma left a comment on my Ashwagandha page (see: http://goo.gl/UAsns). Amazing story. And there is more…Check out this New Zealand article detailing his experience: http://goo.gl/48Lm9 Verrrrry interesting, eh? 

Completely off topic, now: I organized a surprise party for Stefano last night. He changed jobs last summer, thank gooooooodness!, and I wanted to celebrate the fact that his six-month trial period was over and he’d been hired on a permanent basis, yaaaay, which is this economy is no small feat… (Of course, I had no doubt that he’d be hired forever, since he’s so incredibly brilliant! 🙂 )

Knowing that I’d be preparing, and filling the fridge with, copious amounts of food in the days preceding the party (food that we wouldn’t be eating, of course!), I’d told the brilliant guy a half-truth so that he wouldn’t suspect anything–that I’d invited my card-playing buddies over for dinner and a card game. Totally plausible. I simply omitted to mention that I’d invited a bunch of our dearest friends as well… 🙂

The timing was purrfect. Stefano got home from work early, before everyone showed up with more food (and wine), and went straight up to his super computer room. His stereo was on, and he was so engrossed in his work that he didn’t hear or pay attention to how many times the doorbell rang. Luckily.

Once everyone had arrived, I yelled up to tell him that dinner was ready. He came down, expecting to find only the four of us, the mad card players, but there we all were, shouting “SORPRESAAAAA!!!!” He was totally shocked. He stood in the middle of the living room, surrounded by our laughing friends, unable to move, absolutely speechless. They all went over and hugged him, and he finally came out of his reverie…

Well, the party ended up being a huuuuuge success. We talked and laughed and ate and drank and made merry until the early hours of the morning…(In this photo you can see my made-from-scratch cream of pumpkin soup, which was a big hit…and yes, I added some turmeric and Nigella sativa to it, too…) 

But I have to admit that today…today I’m so tired that I barely know my own name… 😉 Tired, but happy, too…