I lost a week there somehow. I swear I just wrote and then I got up and came back to the computer and we were at Thursday still, but it was a different week’s Thursday. I’m not sure how that happened.

Three beautiful things from the past week:

1. Friends gathered to help us decorate our tree and to make merry. Some brought food. Some brought ornaments. Some brought children to entertain us. One brought a handmade treat for the cats. All brightened our day.

2. Having people over always takes it out of us. We were extremely grateful for a snow day, even if the snow/ice never really materialized here. We slept in, watched a Christmas flick, got the last decorations on the tree, found the Christmas cards (who would have thought I would have put the ones I bought in October where they should go???), and didn’t change out of our pajamas.

3. While visiting a farm, we are greeted by a bored sheepdog, whose charges are all safely closed in a paddock in the front yard. Would we like to play ball? We fling the ratty tennis ball, and he chases, filled with glee.

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

Somehow, I think these final weeks of the year are going to fly by.

Here are three beautiful things from my past week:

1. A village fire department uses their ladder truck to string lights on the pine tree out front.

2. Karen’s and my traditional afternoon visit is accompanied by Marshall and Livia. We eat breakfast for lunch and stroll along the river walk. We kick nuts on the path, tickle each other with the long river grasses, draw with sticks, and bang on a new hollow sculpture and the metal benches along the way.

3. Boots I ordered during a really good sale arrive. I feel capable of piloting a dirigible in them if the need arises. (Why, oh why, does the need never arise?)

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

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! I hope you had a nice day filled with loved ones and tasty food.

Here are three beautiful things from my past week:

1. My brother made a surprise (to me, at least) trip home for Thanksgiving.

2. We went to see the Doctor Who 50th anniversary special at the movie theater with a couple dozen fans (the show didn’t start until 10 p.m. on a Monday, so it was less popular than most of the other local shows, which sold out). It was fun to watch the 3-D episode with the company of others.

3. Just as a coworker and I are about to head out in search of food, salad fixings left over from a lunch meeting arrive in the office kitchen. I heap a plate high with greens, beets, and other healthy — and free! — ingredients.

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

Three beautiful things from the past week:

1. 11 p.m. and the landline rings. “Karen?” Rudi guesses. “Nah. Your mom?” I reply. In fact, it’s Rebs, calling from Wisconsin, where she’s learning new software. It’s the first time we’ve talked in over a year and it’s really good to reconnect and to hear how she and her family are doing.

2. I leave the office for the first time during the late afternoon and realize the sun is at such a spot that it’s not hidden behind buildings. I stand with my hot drink on the sidewalk, soaking in the rays.

3. MAVEN, the latest spacecraft headed to Mars, launched on Monday. Watching the pre-flight broadcast, it’s surprisingly exhilarating to hear the rapid-fire “Go!” responses from the various system heads. A couple of minutes into flight, I gasp as various parts of the rocket fall away (on purpose).

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

Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. To get my clothes sorted and put away — summer things into the storage bin, winter things into the bureau and closet, unflattering things into a pile for donation, and all of it off the couch.

2. Walking down the hallway just before sunset, I witness a magnificent view over eastern downtown D.C. I can tell there must be a glorious sunset in the opposite direction because every upper-story window in sight is fiery.

3. Rudi is nursing an injury, which means he’s unable to head out on his typical long-distance weekend ride. Instead, on Saturday morning he sleeps in with me and then we head out for a leisurely pedal to a bike shop (so I can buy a cute new bike purse at deep discount) and then to try a new-to-us eatery, Big Bear Café, for a late lunch. It’s wonderful to have him around for the whole day.

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

Sorry if you’ve been looking for the blog the last few days. Our server host sent an email at the beginning of the week to say they had to perform emergency upgrades and that they needed to take us offline, hopefully only for a limited time. That continued off and on for the last several days, culminating with Rudi needing to do maintenance work to get the blogs reestablished in the public domain. Irksome, but hopefully now behind us.

Here are three beautiful things from the past week:

1. With the return to standard time, buildings are now lit up at the end of the day. As I’m about to head out, I glance across the street and notice, four stories below, a fellow practicing the violin alone by his office window, fingers flying and bow flourishing.

2. The leaves are finally dropping here in greater quantities. I crunch through yellowed gingko leaves atop the brick sidewalk down the block and, closer to the metro station, kick planetree leaves the size of plates down the street like a rock.

3. A late game start means only five players on our volleyball team show up. After we beat our opponent, we opt to remain in the gym to scrimmage among ourselves, three against two. The final serve of the night is called, the group opposite us sets up their biggest hitter, and I time my jump perfectly to block his spike back down onto their side. It is a remarkably satisfying way to end the workout.

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