Three beautiful things from the past week:

1. My friend Laura is a semi-finalist for teacher of the year in Connecticut. She is a no-nonsense, take-no-prisoners type of teacher (the kind who never would have put up with my B.S. in high school) and I’m glad to see that rigor is sometimes rewarded.

2. Our friend Brian and his wife are expecting an early spring baby. And they’ve bought a house.

3. The final weekend of summer was glorious. Rudi and I spent Saturday together outside eating brunch, gardening, and sitting at a cafe. On Sunday, while Rudi did his usual long ride, I hit the farmers’ market, hung out at the park, and went on a shorter ride that ended at Baked and Wired for a cupcake and cocoa. All in all, you couldn’t have imagined a nicer end to the season.

What beautiful things have cropped up in your life recently?

Oh.my.god.so.tired.

My eyes are closing, but here are three beautiful things from the past week:

1. Our photo service at work has been down for the last few days and I’m up against a deadline that requires some pictures. The National Park Service comes to the rescue with public domain shots (and buggy code, but stuff that was easily fixable once I realized what they’d done). My new graphic for our work page looks very pretty.

2. We lost PBS and CBS entirely during the digital conversion. Recently, we realized PBS puts Mystery! online for two weeks after airing, so we’re caught up with Inspector Lewis.

3. I haven’t talked to Jason in ages but have a vague recollection of Rudi sharing a Facebook update on him while I was half asleep. I call to offer congratulations, and he picks up the phone with the happiest sounding “Soe!” I’ve heard in a long time. It’s good to catch up with him and Essia and to hear all about the excitement in their world these days. Online updates are fine, but there’s just something about hearing a voice on the line that can really brighten up your whole day.

What beautiful things have you noticed this week?

Thursday already — time for three beautiful things from my past week:

1. At Sunday afternoon’s Nationals game, we trail into the bottom of the eighth, when Mike Morse ties the game before a stupid baserunning error derails the inning. The Marlins come back to take a two-run lead in the top of the ninth, at which point half the stadium gets up to leave. But the Nats aren’t done yet. Willie Harris hits a solo homer into center field, and Cristian Guzman singles to put the tying run aboard. And then Ryan Zimmerman, the franchise’s star third baseman, strides to the plate and swats a ball into the seats in left center. The stadium erupts with cheers from teammates and fans alike as the Nats rush the field to celebrate our victory.

2. A shiny pated man and a woman with a halo of hair that reaches to her waist stand together to snap a self-portrait.

3. Three teen boys ride past us. Two are on unicycles, one of whom has been riding on the wooden guardrail along the sidewalk. When he gets to a break in the rail, he effortlessly and without stopping hops his unicycle to the street and keeps riding.

What beautiful things have you noticed this week?

Soooo tired! Must type Three Beautiful Things and then fall into deep sleep:

1. Tonight, Rudi, Julia, and I joined 150 or so other bike riders for the monthly full moon ride sponsored by the local bicycling association. September has the Corn Moon, and it starred in a beautifully clear night sky — perfect for riding along the Potomac and up to Chevy Chase, Maryland, where we stopped for a barbecue before retracing our steps. Julia and I saw a buck just off the path on our way up, and Rudi pointed out a small herd of does as we chatted and pedaled toward home. It was a really nice way to spend an evening, even if we were among the slowest riders there.

2. The office roof deck gets morning and early afternoon sun. At this time of the year, one corner stays sunny until almost 3, giving me just enough time for a few chapters of my novel and a sandwich during my late lunches.

3. As I was heading to the Metro yesterday evening, I passed Helen Thomas. I just refrained from stopping to thank her for her terrier-like qualities in the White House Press Room (particularly during the recent Bush years). Sometimes life just reminds you that you live in a pretty cool place.

What’s been worth noting in your world recently?

We’ve got company coming over tonight, which means we’re up early to run around, chicken-like, before work. But I don’t want to forget about TBT in the exhaustion that will inevitably spread over us after our friends head home; really, we’ll need all that memory to recall that Rudi’s mom needs a birthday phone call. So I’ll post now to free up some brain space.

Three beautiful things from last week:

1. There’s a new puppy in the neighborhood. The day I meet her, Rocky is learning “Come,” and there are treats involved. (She’s either a golden retriever or a yellow lab, is 10 weeks old, and has a person, whose name may or may not be Jim.)

2. Torrential rains delay Friday night’s baseball game, but let up after a bit so the game can finish. Fireworks set to painfully transitioned Beach Boys tunes are the highlight of the night, but the puddles on the way out are nearly as good. Apologies to the man in the pink shirt whom I splashed… I didn’t realize the water would go that far…

3. Karen sends me a photo and a video of Marshall (who is growing so fast!), and Jessica emails photos of her newly arrived daughter, Hazel. I love when friends share pictures of their children.

It’s Thursday. Really? I mean, I know the calendar says it’s Thursday… But that isn’t right… is it?

Oh, all right, fine.

But if it’s Thursday, that means it’s time for Three Beautiful Things from the past week:

1. Monday evening after work, I’m tired and grumpy and have decided to pass on a planned trip to the pool. But when I call Rudi to tell him so, he raves about how nice it is. I head down for a quick dip. The water is cool and refreshing — and exactly what I needed.

2. I borrow Bride and Prejudice, the Bollywood adaptation of Jane Austen’s famed novel, from the library. It’s amazing how well an 18th-century author’s work holds up to the addition of saris and song-and-dance numbers. Plus, it’s a lot of fun to identify each character as they appear on screen.

3. Peaches are at the height of their season right now. I eat them in the mid-afternoon. The juice draws lines around my fingers and drips onto my desk.

What’s been beautiful in your world?