Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. Rudi finally came home.

2. Our vacuum cleaner died, but I’d never gotten rid of the 30-year-old hand-me-down from my grandmother (who’d never gotten rid of it after, I’m guessing, my mother gave her a newer, lighter model as a gift) after Rudi and I moved in together. It’s been sitting in my parents’ basement for 13 years, but now it’s sitting in our basement, sucking up cat fur and kitty litter.

3. Sarah and I went to see the Indigo Girls last week. I noticed that Emily, whose voice is normally beautifully high and clear and one of my favorites, was not sounding dissimilar from Johnny Cash’s waver on his final album. “Oh, no!” I thought. “She blew out her voice.” But she and Amy shared they’ve been sick and that Emily was currently on steroids. “I’m so sorry about my voice,” she bemoaned. I wanted to shout down to her that I was delighted she was sick, because that was so much better than the alternative, but that just seemed extremely rude and insensitive (and a way to guarantee that Sarah would never ask me to go with her to a show again).

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

Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. Sarah suggested not baking over the weekend and instead meeting up for dinner at our local pie restaurant on Monday. We got to ride the new streetcar to get there, and even though we had to wait in line for a while, a table opened up just before we ordered. It was a lovely way to celebrate Pi Day.

2. My single finished sock was sufficient to earn me a spot on the Sock Madness cheerleader team, which gets to knit the patterns at our own pace, applaud other competitor’s success, and generally enjoy the event without any of the stress of a deadline. It’s really a nice way to reward those who’ve lost, but made an effort.

3. For the first time in the history of D.C.’s metro subway system, they shut down the whole thing for an emergency inspection. After two electrical fires in the course of a year, the new GM decided it was in everyone’s best interest to do this. It turns out that he was right, with a horrifying number of serious fire hazards found and repaired on their down day. Many people were inconvenienced by the shut down (particularly low-income, hourly workers without their own mode of transportation or the ability to work offsite), but Capital Bikeshare offered free one-day memberships as an alternative, ran corrals in busy areas so riders didn’t have to find an empty dock to return a bike to, and asked members who own a bike (like me) to leave the communal bikes for those without. Their generosity allowed people to make more than 13,500 bike trips, many made by single-day users.

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

Three beautiful things from this first week of March:

1. Eight pounds of tea, nearly a year’s supply, arrives to replenish my canisters. I’m so excited to drink Assam and Irish Breakfast again. I’ve been out of them for months!

2. An old friend texted to say that he and his husband would be on the East Coast for events on back-to-back weekends, but had no plans between the two. Would we mind if they came to D.C. to hang out? Why, no, no we wouldn’t.

3. Despite forgetting the sugar originally, my cranberry bread is very tasty. Plus, other than taking a slice to my coworker who regularly shares the fruits of her baking with me, I get to eat the whole thing myself for a week’s worth (or so) of breakfasts.

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

Three beautiful things from the past week:

1. Rudi was asked to be the coach to accompany a team of regional athletes, including one of his, to Vermont next week to one of the Northeast championships. He’s worked hard, and his teenage skiers have, too, paying off with a good season for the group. I’m really proud of them, and it’s nice to see other people recognize and reward their success.

2. John & Nicole invited us to come meet their daughter, and while Rudi couldn’t join us because of work, I was delighted to head up and wander their neighborhood in the sunshine with our friends and their very cute baby, who has an awful lot of big opinions for one so small.

3. The sky is filled with gigantic snowflakes that are drifting down into our window well, but that, at least from this angle, don’t seem to be sticking to anything.

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

Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. The first daffodil blooms of the season.

2. I was working late on Wednesday, which meant that I was indoors during the huge storm that moved through the area during rush hour yesterday and therefore missed getting soaked or hailed upon.

3. The aforementioned storm dumped so much water on the region that there was no question that water was going to seep into our apartment. As I was hanging up a bag that I’d left on the floor that had gotten damp, I discovered in an inside pocket I don’t use a set of gift cards that I’d clearly tucked in there for safe keeping.

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

Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. A new little girl, Juliet, enters our world, courtesy of our friends John and Nicole.

2. Sunday was my birthday, and while it will not go down in history as among my favorites, it did have some highlights: At the farmers market, I mentioned to my favorite baker that it was my birthday and she responded by giving me a box of treats — heart-shaped cookies, rice crispie treats, and a chocolate cakelet, which alleviated the need for me to bake on my birthday.

I got to sleep in, read, and play volleyball, three of my favorite things to do.

Greetings from friends around the country filled my text messages as the day went on. Calls from a few special people and presents from my family and Grey Kitten helped chase away the blues, as did a birthday dinner at my favorite pizzeria with Rudi, who made it home from ski coaching in time to share it with me. And my day ended with new things to read and wear and eat and listen to.

3. Since I was heading to Bethesda tonight for an author event anyway, I decided to check out a doughnut shop there that an article had included on their best-of roundup for the region last week. (For what it’s worth, this list pretty much just included every yuppie doughnut shop in the area, so I’m not sure how useful it was other than alerting me to this Maryland baker I wasn’t aware of.) I brought home three varieties from 202 Donuts for us to try, including a yeasted apple cider doughnut that was surprisingly good.

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