Three beautiful things from the past week:

1. The rain that woke me from a dead sleep in Detroit on Thursday night and that has been soaking us here in D.C. yesterday and today. This is the most rain we’ve had since April they said on the news this morning. It is a real blessing to hear it pit-pattering against our windows and on the leaves overhead.

2. While in Detroit last week, I spent a night in Greektown, where I purchased four pastries to bring home as souvenirs. (Don’t you love edible souvenirs?) Rudi and I split all four and got to sample godly baklava, a custard roll, a chocolate-dipped coconut bar, and a nut and honey filled delectable I can’t remember the name of. The young woman who helped me wrapped each pastry in wax paper, placed it in a white box, and tied it with red string. I was delighted and so was Rudi.

3. Since the weather has cooled off, it’s been a week of wearing fun hats for me. I have two newsboy caps (one in green corduroy and one in brown tweed) that I wore earlier in the week. Today’s was a cute felted fedora-ish number I bought (at a Gap) in London. If it stays cool, I may break out one of my handknits later this week or maybe a witch’s hat for tomorrow night’s Halloween party.

It’s not remotely beautiful to lose a furry friend, but the amount of joy and love they add to one’s life can’t begin to be quantified. Please stop by Debby‘s blog and let her know you’ll be thinking of Chris and her.

I’m home from Detroit and will have more to say about my trip tomorrow or Monday. In the meantime, I offer you three beautiful things about being back home:

1. Cuddling with Rudi and the cats on our couch.

2. Hot tea at whatever time I want it.

3. Being the loving person I am, I brought home the pastries I bought in Greektown last night. Rudi and I ate half for dessert tonight and are saving the other half for tomorrow. They really were just as good as the reviews made them out to be!

I’m queuing this a bit early, so it does not reflect the most recent events. Therefore, three beautiful things from earlier in the week:

1. Suzanne is getting married. I’m so excited for her.

2. We pass a small girl who is bubbling over with laughter. I look at Rudi who smilingly asks me if “laughing girl” will be in this week’s list of beauty. Indeed.

3. At our company picnic, they have organized a volleyball tournament. We have several players on our team who have played before and we occasionally succeed in getting three controlled hits on our side before sending it over the net. As a front row player, I admit that I’d never understood the joy of a well-handled bump before, but it really is beautiful when the rest of the action is dictated by such an understated play.

PS: Posey is sitting on my lap as I type this and staring at something intently on the desk. Since I can’t see any bugs and since she often relies on her good looks to get by, I try to figure out what she’s watching. She shifts away from my hand as I block her line of sight and eventually I realize that she’s watching the upside-down reflection of us (and my hand) in the mirror in the center of my computer speaker. Tee hee.

If it’s Thursday, it’s time to look back on some beautiful things from the past week. Here are three from my weekend:

1. It is 95 degrees on Saturday and Shelley’s children are in their bathing suits playing with the hose and with water balloons. We spend the latter part of the evening around a campfire in their backyard, and Irisa, still in her bikini, curls up in my lap.

2. Mum makes apple crisp for Dad’s birthday. Usually pie is Gramma’s domain, but for Dad, Mum demands sole baking rights. The pie is chock-full of tasty apples and the crumbly topping is sweet and cinnamon-y.

3. I sleep in over the weekend, which means I miss the normal morning chats Dad and I have over breakfast preparations. So when Mum heads up to bed at midnight on Sunday, Dad stays downstairs to chat over cups of tea.

Anything beautiful going on in your life this week?

I bet you were starting to think I’d forgotten…

But, no. Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. A couple is cuddling on the stairs to nowhere by the Hinckley Hilton tennis court in broad daylight.

2. Posey lies on the floor, her body and head hidden under the drape of a dress that needs to be hung up in the closet. Her front legs stretch in front of her, crossed at the paws.

3. Yesterday was my friend Amani’s birthday and she opted for a more low-key celebratory lunch in rather than out. Sarah baked peach cobbler and I bought ice cream, but Amani outdid herself as the birthday girl, offering up homemade brownies and cupcakes.

Oh yes! Remember a couple weeks ago when I mentioned a new resident of our garden plot? Well, he’s continued growing and Rudi captured a few shots of him this week.

I’m just in sad shape here: Clearly my brain is no longer attached to my body. In my head, I make up a list of beautiful things as the week goes on. Sure, things periodically get forgotten or fall off the list, but not usually the important ones. Yet this week, I’ve missed two.

The last was the previous item. The other was that my friend Shelley got an interview request for med school! Shelley has been talking about becoming a doctor since before I moved down to D.C. and has actively taking classes for the last several years. She took the MCAT at the beginning of the summer, struggled through essay writing for months, and two weeks ago hit the submit button on the last of her applications. Getting an interview for med school is kind of like getting a job interview; it doesn’t guarantee you’ll get the job, but it signals that you’re in the running. I’m really excited about this new beautiful part of Shelley’s life.