Sorry this is so late, but Rudi and I were having blog problems earlier in the day. The problem has been rectified, allowing me to post again. Yay!

That fix has allowed me to post Three Beautiful Things from the past week. Admit it; you’ve been waiting all day for them…

1. At our holiday party on Sunday, several guests brought delicious food. Amani arrived with a vegetarian quiche and brownies, relieving me of the need of cooking the lasagna I hadn’t even started. Sarah brought delicious pretzel treats — pretzels with Hershey Kisses melted into the middle, with an M&M pressed into it. And Sweetpea brought her famous cranberry salsa, brie, and crackers.

2. Sweetpea, John, Rudi, and I went to the National Theatre tonight to see Avenue Q, which is a musical parody of (and tribute to) Sesame Street for adults. I admit that I was a little leery about such an irreverent show but, while some of it was over the top, much of it was not and I had a really good time. Everyone else seemed to have a blast, too. My favorite song? “I Wish I Could Go Back to College.”

3. A package arrived for me last night. I couldn’t remember ordering any yarn on ebay, but sometimes I get a little carried away. Rudi told me the only way to find out what it contained was to open the box. When I pried it open and saw a glittery hoof, I immediately knew where the box had come from — Grey Kitten! The box contained a sparkly unicorn just the same color as yesterday’s first snow, whom I have named Snowflake to commemorate her arrival.

Three beautiful things from the past week:

1. In addition to a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner and a second turkey dinner on Friday, Mum packed a container filled with leftovers for us to have for supper on Monday. Thanksgiving is one of the only times of the year when the leftovers are just as good as the original meal.

2. Karen and I still exploring meeting spots between her new home and my folks’ place. Last Saturday we chose Sturbridge, where we did much of what we would have done if we were still meeting up in Middletown — eat lunch, buy apples, and drink hot beverages.

3. Friday, Mum and I baked a batch of spritz cookies. She made the dough and shot the dough onto the trays and I decorated them. There was some confusion because she seems to be missing a few of the shape discs, but we eventually settled on poinsettas, ornaments, a few hearts, and a tray of humanoids that could have been angels, elves, or snowmen, depending on your interpretation.

Three Beautiful Thanksgiving Things from today:

1. Mum tried new squash and turnip recipes this year. They were delicious! (In fact, we might need to get the recipes…)

2. Dad lit a fire this morning just before the Macy’s Day Parade and it stayed alit pretty much all day long. It really made things seem quite cozy.

3. After Dad and I got the doughnuts this morning, I changed back into my pjs. I didn’t get dressed again until just before dinnertime.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

I came back to work today after two days out sick. Walking to the Metro, I realized fall finally arrived while I was tucked in my Burrow sickbed. I offer you three beautiful things from my walk:

1. The rain and the wind brought down many leaves, which I shuffle through crunchily on the sidewalk. They are beginning to moulder, and the scent takes me back to my childhood.

2. I love how even leaves do not want to die. They lose their chlorophyll from their outer edges first, crinkling delicately around the edges, but tenaciously clinging to branches and to life.

3. As I bounce from the escalator into the station, I see an elderly couple heading up and out. The woman is losing her scarf, and her husband turns to grab it for her. He lovingly wraps it around her neck and gently ties it so it will stay put.

My heart just about broke with joy.

Anything beautiful and autumnal where you live?

Thursday is almost over, but Friday isn’t allowed to come before I post my Three Beautiful Things from the past week:

1. I knew fewer Springsteen songs than I expected to (although I could identify which albums a number of unrecognizable tunes must have come from), so I was terribly grateful when they finished their set, left the stage, and returned to play songs I knew the words to.

2. Being sick makes me want to watch tv. I entertained myself with Britcoms for an hour or two yesterday and today and then switched to the computer where I caught up on Heroes and Ugly Betty.

3. Thanks to Suzanne, I was able to determine that the reason I was going to run out of yarn for my Every Day Cardigan is because I was knitting with worsted weight yarn and not sport weight. (I knit a swatch and got gauge on the smaller needles, I swear!) I’ve placed an order with Peace Fleece for two more skeins of yarn and am past the elbow on sleeve #1. If the yarn arrives by the weekend (hmmm… that’s tomorrow, isn’t it?), I might be done with the sweater by Thanksgiving!

Three beautiful things from my trip to Denver:

1. My coworker Julie and I went to dinner the middle night we were in town. We wandered around a little bit before ending up at the place she’d eaten the night before — renowned for its fish. (I know! In a land-locked state!) We chattered away through quite a bit of delicious food (she had prime rib and I had nut-crusted sole) before we eventually toddled back to our respective hotels to crash. Actually conversing with someone during a meal made a pleasant change from the rest of the trip when I read my book as I ate.

2. Frontier Airlines offers satellite tv for a nominal cost. Since I am cheap, own an iPod, and wasn’t going to be on a plane for too, too long, I hadn’t planned on spending the money. Yet when my neighbors’ screens all went dark, mine continued broadcasting and I will fully admit to having watched all sorts of retro shows (like Gunsmoke and Speed Buggy) without pointing out to a stewardess that I was ripping the airline off. I just hope the passenger who had sat in my seat earlier in the day doesn’t get charged twice.

3. My hotel was only a couple of blocks from the touristy pedestrian mall in downtown Denver. Yet it was nice to know that it was a safe place to walk at night, and I enjoyed watching them prepare for the upcoming holiday season by stringing lights on the trees and hanging dangling snowflakes from buildings. I found the local independent bookstore (the Tattered Cover), several restaurants serving tasty morsels (from crepes to tacos to a pear-date salad), and enough Starbucks to keep you caffeinated for weeks. I wandered the street several times each day.

I spent far too much time sleeping (I’m blaming the altitude), but from what I saw, Denver was a lovely city. They seem to have a rampant youth homeless population, but the city was clean, there were lots of bicycles and clean-energy buses, and the food was delicious. I’d like to go back to visit when I don’t have to work and when I have the ability to get out of city boundaries to the scenic mountains.