Each Thursday brings three new beautiful things from my life:

1. A few years back, I asked Gramma to write out some of her recipes for me as a Christmas present. She obliged, and I find that now that I don’t see her several times a week, I turn to it for inspiration on a regular basis. On Sunday, we went to dinner at Phillip’s house and I was asked to bring dessert. So I thumbed through Gramma’s cookbook once again, looking for a recipe that didn’t call for fruit (Susan doesn’t like fruit), and decided on cream puffs. Now, whenever Gramma made them, I was under the impression that she’d performed culinary magic. But the truth is that they’re very easy to make. She laughed when I called to tell her of my success and said they’re actually the easiest dessert to make. If you don’t believe me, check out the Washington Post‘s cream puff article, which, incidentally, appeared in yesterday’s paper. (Visit BugMeNot if you need a login.)

2. Rudi and I went out for a walk around sunset on Monday and as we surfaced from The Burrow, we noticed a bat flying around the neighborhood. He pursued his dinner for a while and then settled back near the neighbor’s fire escape. I don’t know if he was actually hanging from the fire escape or if there was a hole in the house where he was hanging, but he just disappeared. It was very cool in a Dracula kind of way…

3. When we lived in Middletown, our house was right across the street from the local pizza joint. We were regulars, calling up every Friday night (or any time we couldn’t resist the smell) to order dinner. And on nights when we were making pasta, it was simpler (and at $1.50 almost cheaper) to order garlic bread from them than it was to go to the store in pursuit of bread to make our own. (Plus, who can argue with garlic bread made by actual Italians?) Just after we moved away, the restaurant closed briefly and switched ownership. Apparently they couldn’t survive without us. (Or maybe they just chose not to…) But on Saturday, when I’d made some hummus and didn’t feel like making my own pitas, it was a nostalgic feeling to walk the two blocks over to Zorba’s and order some of their homemade pitta bread. $1.19 bought me three hot pitas. Yum!

Thursdays means it’s time to think back on the beauty of the last week:

1. Sam and Alexis got married six months ago, but if you spend any time with them you really pick up on the fact that they still totally get a kick out of saying “my wife” or “my husband” when speaking of each other. It’s cute to see two people who are so in love.

2. Growing up, my brother’s favorite meal was chicken, rice, and broccoli (also known as Chicken Divan). He wasn’t at my folks’ this weekend when Mum made a batch, but we thoroughly enjoyed it in his honor.

3. Today the National Park Service announced their best guess as to when the cherry blossoms along the Tidal Basin will be in peak bloom. A number of friends have suggested they might come visit during that time, so it’s exciting to be able to provide them with info. (It’s March 27-April 1, the first week of the Cherry Blossom Festival, by the way.)

Three beautiful things from the last week:

1. Last night was Meetup and I texted Susan to ask, “r u going 2 mtg?” She was and asked if I wanted to walk over together. And then John and I walked home together after it was all over. Eight blocks is not an onerous distance when there are people about, but it’s definitely better when you have someone to talk to.

2. On Tuesday morning as I was racing around practically before the sun was up in order to get to jury duty on time, the kittens were showing undue interest in something under the laundry basket. I whined loudly, “I don’t want to deal with cockroaches and the judicial system on the same day,” (or something to that effect) and Rudi arose from our nice warm bed to rescue me from the big, nasty . . . red pen.

3. When the judge tells you, “See you Monday morning at 9:30,” and not “See you tomorrow,” thereby allowing you to go to Boston to see a concert as planned.

Three beautiful things from the last week:

1. After a bunch of coworkers joined my friend (and former student employee) Jason and me for dinner Saturday night, one of them said that seeing us interact made her want to get in touch with some of her former students.

2. Today, some of my coworkers took me out to lunch to belatedly celebrate my birthday. It’s nice having coworkers who care enough to want to take me out, and it’s nice that I get to make my birthday last more than just a day.

3. At the party we went to at the City Museum Sunday night, they had an ’80s cover band. Suzanne, Chickona, and I are all in our 30s, so we knew the words to far too many songs — and sang them loudly while dancing along.

A pre-St. Louis, post-birthday Three Beautiful Things:

1. Last Sunday when I went to the farmers’ market, many of the usual vendors I buy from hadn’t made it in from their farms because of the previous night’s storm. But the flower vendor was there, and I came home with a huge bouquet of flowers — stock, tulips, paperwhites, anemones, rununculus, and snapdragon. They’re now in vases and empty glass bottles on top of the fridge and make the kitchen fragrant and colorful.

2. As I was walking home from Georgetown on Tuesday, I passed a house where the flowers had been confused by the recent warm weather — forcythia was in full bloom. The yellow sprays just look so cheery, even if out-of-place in February.

3. I was looking at the folk section of the iTunes Music Store on Tuesday and was surprised that three of the artists in the top ten downloads section were unfamiliar to me. I downloaded two of the songs before Rudi told me he’d recently bought the third artist’s cd on a whim after listening to it in the store.

If it’s Thursday, it must be time for Three Beautiful Things:

1. Twice in the last week, I’ve fired up the old oven. The first time, I made cranberry bread (with fresh cranberries I bought before Thanksgiving!) because I didn’t have all-purpose flour. The second time, I made chocolate chip cookies — half for us and half for the supportive coworkers who put up with my whining last week.

2. When I left work last Friday, I took my book to Lafayette Park and read in the sun. A nearby charter school was also using the park, and it was such fun to watch the kids jumping rope, playing football, and running around. It was hard to believe it was February!

3. Neighbors of ours must have been celebrating the Lunar New Year last weekend, because their apartment was bedecked with red streamers, and festooned with red carp, and otherwise cheerily decorated.