Three beautiful things from the past week Christmas day:

1. We spent the day surrounded by family (in person and remotely).

2. We ate delicious food — turkey, stuffing, trifle, chocolate.

3. Everyone seemed to like the gifts we gave them — and we got awesome gifts ourselves.

How about you? What’s been beautiful in your week (or holiday) this week?

Merry Christmas to those who celebrate, and merry Thursday to all the rest!

Three beautiful things from my week past:

1. Neighbors up the street have put hot pink flower lights on their ornamental tree outside. It’s very pretty looking.

2. A friend is in from out of town, and we get to have dinner with her and catch up on how she and her husband are doing.

3. A coworker who’s been out of the office a lot on travel recently notices my haircut. It’s cute, she says, and makes you look taller and thinner.

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

Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. I stop at Trader Joe’s in the evening and there is no line.

2. Twice this week, I have found Jeremiah and Corey in close quarters together. The first time, Jer was under a blanket and Corey on top of it, so I thought it might be an anomaly. This morning, though, I turned around to find Corey had joined Jeremiah stretched out on the sofa cushion.

3. We (more than) fill the Burrow with 35 guests for our tree-trimming. We appreciate that so many of our friends are willing to spend some of their precious holiday time with us.

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

I admit to being stressed about the fact that Rudi and I have done no housecleaning thus far this week, which means the next two days before our holiday party are going to involve a lot of drudgery. But it’s when you’re most down that it’s important to focus on how good things really are, so here are three beautiful things from my past week:

1. The dairy farmers at my market have eggnog.

2. Every Thanksgiving weekend, Mum and I make Christmas cookies, most of which she kindly lets me take back for my party. While I averred that it was not necessary this year, she wouldn’t heed my assurances that I could make a batch at home to serve my guests. While my dad and I were bringing in the Christmas trees, she made and decorated enough cookies for me to bring home a generous tin’s worth.

3. I unplugged the lights that surround the living room a couple days before we left for Connecticut so that it wouldn’t be so obvious when we weren’t here and I worked late Monday night, so forgot to turn them back on. Trudging home in a chilly rain Tuesday night, I kept thinking how that would be my first task in the door. As I walked past the window, I noticed a rosy glow from our apartment, where Rudi had already plugged them back in as a beacon to draw me home.

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

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. Gramma came home from the nursing home, where’s she’s still recuperating from her fall, for the afternoon to join us for Thanksgiving dinner.

2. Krispy Kreme doughnuts fresh off the conveyor belt.

3. A bagful of holds from the library.

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

Three beautiful things from the past week:

1. Thyme lemonade with cider, served warm.

2. There are girl scouts at the alpaca festival selling cookies.

3. Mere hours after I chastise Rudi for placing a glass bottle where I thought it could easily be knocked over and move it to a place obviously more safe, Corey jumps up on my new spot in pursuit of a giant cricket, scattering things in his wake. A saucer is lost, but the bottle survives. (Cat and insect also escape harm.)

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