I am so lucky

Hi readers

Just before we start, I absolutely MUST share this quote, from one of my favourite TV cooks, Nigella Lawson.  Sput and I were watching her make Indian food the other night and, as she wickedly dolloped creamy yoghurt into a bowl and saucily squeezed pomegranate seeds into it, she described, in her husky tones, the crimson seeds as "desecrating the pale beauty of the yoghurt".  Do you not agree that this photo of her just about sums up THAT Indian feast?

Indian food at MY house has never been so sexy.  Maybe I need to lift my game?  Rather than Indian food, I am going to attempt macaroons, my very, very, very favourite wicked morsel.  I've come unstuck and bought this cookbook, which I hope will make the entire process quick, easy and painless.  I watched Poh making these last week on her show, and while it looked a bit fiddly, it did not look un-doable.  Maybe the reality is that I cannot make anything unless I find myself with cleavage like Nigella?

 And on the subject of cleavage, and breasts in general (how did we get to that by the way?), today I had an enlightening, marvellous experience.  I met a truly inspiring woman named Suzy Connor.  She is about 42, has a family, loves to ride bikes and has metastatic breast cancer.  

However, rather than concentrate on herself, she and some amazing friends have spent their spare time putting together a fund raising event  called the Suzy Connor Challenge, which I attended this morning.  It was the second year of the event and was really a whole lot of fun and raised a pile of money for the Make-a-Wish Foundation and the Breast Cancer Institute - and there wasn't a spot of pink anywhere!  I did the 5km walk with some friends, but there was also a 50km and 100km bike ride and there must have been about 500 people all together.  It was a resounding success and I hope Suzy and the event will be around next year.  Today made me really see the positive side of life, despite Suzy's diagnosis.  It made me see hope and goodness and positive action.  I can't really explain how I feel but I was really moved by the positive energy of the event.  I need to spend more time looking for and finding the good things and less time reading the newspaper or watching the news.  Real people hold the key to happiness I think.  If only we spent a bit more time getting to know each other rather than being swept up by work, bills, world events, superannuation etc.  I guess what I am trying to say is that today's event kind of made me put my feet back on the ground.  A touch of reality perhaps...  No sexy yoghurt here!