Merry Christmas! I hope that those of you who celebrate had a joyous celebration and that those of you who don’t had a joyous day. I think we can all agree a little more joy in the world can’t be a bad thing.

In keeping with that, here is my list of three beautiful things from my past week:

1. Rudi assists me in wrapping the family presents, so I am done far earlier than usual and don’t have to finish after we’ve all headed to bed.

2. It is nice to spend the day seeing and hearing from family, whether those we are joined with by blood, by circumstance, or by choice.

3. No matter how enjoyable Christmas is, the lead-in has been a bit stressful and sleep-deprived for all of us (at least in this house). We mark the day after the holiday by sleeping late, reading, taking naps in front of the fire, eating cookies, and generally resting.

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

Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. I happen to have our best camera with me as I am walking home from the concert on Wednesday and discover there is a full moon. I take picture (too blurry) after picture (obscured) after picture (focused on an object in the foreground). Finally, I capture this one:

2. As the train pulls up, I notice the guy in the business suit sitting next to the door because his shirt is a brilliant teal and his tie includes wide stripes of the same color. After I board, he glances down and starts to laugh, gesturing at my neon green, knee-high socks with reindeer on them. “That’s awesome,” he tells me. “It just totally made my day.”

3. We benefit daily from the kitchens of our loved ones at this time of year — spiced nuts wait for me on my desk at work. Rudi brings home a tin of cookies from his coworker. We eat vegan chocolate pudding pie for dessert. Breakfast is Sarah’s cranberry nut bread. And we polish off Mum’s spritz cookies while writing cards during a viewing of White Christmas.

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

I lost a week there somehow. I swear I just wrote and then I got up and came back to the computer and we were at Thursday still, but it was a different week’s Thursday. I’m not sure how that happened.

Three beautiful things from the past week:

1. Friends gathered to help us decorate our tree and to make merry. Some brought food. Some brought ornaments. Some brought children to entertain us. One brought a handmade treat for the cats. All brightened our day.

2. Having people over always takes it out of us. We were extremely grateful for a snow day, even if the snow/ice never really materialized here. We slept in, watched a Christmas flick, got the last decorations on the tree, found the Christmas cards (who would have thought I would have put the ones I bought in October where they should go???), and didn’t change out of our pajamas.

3. While visiting a farm, we are greeted by a bored sheepdog, whose charges are all safely closed in a paddock in the front yard. Would we like to play ball? We fling the ratty tennis ball, and he chases, filled with glee.

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

Somehow, I think these final weeks of the year are going to fly by.

Here are three beautiful things from my past week:

1. A village fire department uses their ladder truck to string lights on the pine tree out front.

2. Karen’s and my traditional afternoon visit is accompanied by Marshall and Livia. We eat breakfast for lunch and stroll along the river walk. We kick nuts on the path, tickle each other with the long river grasses, draw with sticks, and bang on a new hollow sculpture and the metal benches along the way.

3. Boots I ordered during a really good sale arrive. I feel capable of piloting a dirigible in them if the need arises. (Why, oh why, does the need never arise?)

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

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! I hope you had a nice day filled with loved ones and tasty food.

Here are three beautiful things from my past week:

1. My brother made a surprise (to me, at least) trip home for Thanksgiving.

2. We went to see the Doctor Who 50th anniversary special at the movie theater with a couple dozen fans (the show didn’t start until 10 p.m. on a Monday, so it was less popular than most of the other local shows, which sold out). It was fun to watch the 3-D episode with the company of others.

3. Just as a coworker and I are about to head out in search of food, salad fixings left over from a lunch meeting arrive in the office kitchen. I heap a plate high with greens, beets, and other healthy — and free! — ingredients.

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

Three beautiful things from the past week:

1. 11 p.m. and the landline rings. “Karen?” Rudi guesses. “Nah. Your mom?” I reply. In fact, it’s Rebs, calling from Wisconsin, where she’s learning new software. It’s the first time we’ve talked in over a year and it’s really good to reconnect and to hear how she and her family are doing.

2. I leave the office for the first time during the late afternoon and realize the sun is at such a spot that it’s not hidden behind buildings. I stand with my hot drink on the sidewalk, soaking in the rays.

3. MAVEN, the latest spacecraft headed to Mars, launched on Monday. Watching the pre-flight broadcast, it’s surprisingly exhilarating to hear the rapid-fire “Go!” responses from the various system heads. A couple of minutes into flight, I gasp as various parts of the rocket fall away (on purpose).

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