Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. Sarah turned 50 last week, and we opted to celebrate in person.

2. I got the first dose of a COVID vaccine, which means I will be able to start seeing more people in real life again soon. It was super easy, and except that virtual strangers now feel entitled to inquire about what brand of medicine I’m taking, I’m glad it’s done.

3. Tuesdays, I often get a longer break between meetings in the mid-afternoon, so Rudi and I scooted over to the bagel shop to grab lunch and eat outside in the sun.

How about you? What’s been beautiful in your world lately?

Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. So many things you wanted as a kid turn out to be a let down. But you know what wasn’t disappointing? Cinnamon rolls in a can from Trader Joe’s for Easter breakfast, supplemented with holiday sprinkles from the cabinet. The can opened with a satisfying “pop!” and five rolls meant Rudi and I got two nights of desserts out of it, in addition to my breakfast.

2. Trader Joe’s has had my favorite Sumo oranges and work sent me a box of navel oranges, so we’ve been pleasantly awash in citrus.

3. Rudi got his first shot this week, and there’s hope I’ll be able to get mine later this month.

How about you? What’s been beautiful in your world lately?

Today was an especially not-great workday in what had already been a pretty crappy workweek. But thanks to a prescient past-me, I have Easter Monday off, and I am shutting my laptop at 3 tomorrow afternoon no matter what remains undone at that time.

The first key to not letting the mess sweep me under is breathing. Slow breath in. Hold it. Slow breath out. Breathe into the tight spaces in between the tensions. Sink deeper into that infinitesimal stretch. Pull your shoulders a fraction further away from your ears. Breathe out.

And the second is to recognizing amidst the storm clouds there are moments of calm. Finding those good pieces and holding onto them. Knowing there are more beyond the horizon even if they’re not in sight right now.

Three such beautiful things from my past week:

1. UConn squeaked out an amazing victory over Baylor in the Elite 8 round of basketball, winning by two as a dramatic, Hail Mary throw was intercepted by our freshman phenom. This was finals-level hoops by two great teams, and I can only hope that the next two rounds include slightly fewer hearts-in-our-mouths moments.

2. Rudi took me down to see the cherry blossoms after he picked me and my stuff up from the office today just before sunset. (Still have a job. Work is just looking for new digs, and we needed to clear out of our old space.) Brisk winds had brought in late afternoon flurries as an April Fool’s prank, so the crowds had cleared out, allowing the park police to reopen Hains Point to traffic.

3. There was a bluebird afternoon earlier this year week, and I told Rudi we should take advantage of my window between meetings to go grab bagel sandwiches and tea from some local shops. And then it was too nice to quickly return home, so we sat in a triangle park and ate in the sun for a few extra minutes.

How about you? Please, for the love of everything bloggish, share what’s been beautiful in your world lately.

Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. A bag of day-old bagels gives us a couple days’ breakfast.

2. Being able to stream women’s basketball the majority of nights this week.

3. Two of Rudi’s mom’s friends have called to say they’ve had good chats with her this week. She’s currently in a nursing home (where visitors aren’t allowed), recuperating from a hairline fracture after a fall, so it’s been a tough few weeks for her.

How about you? What’s been beautiful in your world lately?

Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. The times you most appreciate renting, rather than owning, property is when there is a dead, bloated ROUS outside your window and someone has to remove it so it stops stinking up your living space.

2. Sunday was March 14 (aka Pi Day in the U.S.; places who write their dates with the month second observe it on July 22). We were feeling down after our friend’s death, so we pushed our celebration off by 24 hours, and I capped a day off by baking broccoli-cheese quiche and apple crisp. They were both quite tasty.

3. The extra hour of daylight every evening is absolutely worth misplacing an hour of sleep until fall.

How about you? What’s been beautiful in your world lately?

Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. Our window has been open since Monday. (Sure, we’ll probably want to close it this weekend, but still!)

2. A back-and-forth with a colleague and then a follow-up by my boss may lead to a healthier work-life balance for all three of us. (Fingers crossed.)

3. My volleyball team is registered to play grass court games across town starting next month. After not seeing most of them for a year, I can’t wait.

How about you? What’s been beautiful in your world lately?