Thanks for all the great bed-related tips. Rudi and I have read all of them and will definitely use the wisdom you’ve shared.

But since we won’t be buying a bed tonight, instead I’ll share three beautiful things from the past week:

1. Sarah remembered I was very excited about the Library at Alexandria during her trip planning. Over the weekend, a postcard arrives from there. Thanks, Sarah!

2. A nearly full moon lights up an inky sky.

3. As we wander the West Village looking for a lunch spot, I glance across the street and spy a garden behind a wall. We cross the avenue and enter into the park at St. Luke in the Field.

And just because this was too amazing to leave off the list:

4. I fail my car inspection on Tuesday. After some repairs yesterday, I plan to head back today, but am running too late to go before work. And then I miscalculate the closing time of the DMV station (but catch the mistake in the nick of time when it occurs to me to double-check). When I pull up to the building twenty minutes before they lock the gates, I’m able to drive right up to the bay. My car goes through practically faster than I can walk the length of the building’s corridor, the attendant gives me the thumbs up and a smile, and I find myself back at the office within my lunch hour with a pass sticker on my car’s windshield.

What’s been beautiful in your life this week?

Three beautiful things from my week past:

1. Posey is particularly fond of when I leave my Mary Janes lying out. She likes to put her front paws in one and push it around the Burrow like she’s driving a bumper car.

2. In college, the weekend party scene would kick off with what were called TNE’s — Thursday Night Events. Tonight, we reprised that tradition by heading out to watch The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus with Michael and Julia. The movie was a clever fairy tale of a story (a street performer tries to figure out a way of a deal he made with the devil many years earlier with the help of his troupe of outcasts) with memorable performances by Heath Ledger (in his final role), Christopher Plummer (Captain Von Trapp from The Sound of Music), and Tom Waits (who didn’t sing once). I’d recommend seeing it if it’s in a theater nearby.

3. I am knitting with soft green yarn. My yarn and the pattern’s were different, which meant that it took three tries before I was happy with how my project was progressing.

What’s been beautiful in your world this week?

We’re coming up on a three-day weekend and I am ready for it. Here are three beautiful things from the past seven days:

1. A girl in a cloche gets a piggyback ride from a man in a loosely looped scarf.

2. A belated Christmas note elicits a chatty card from an elderly former neighbor.

3. A mom about my age helps her small daughter with mittens. From across the street a large, fuzzy Irish Wolfhound (or a similar dog) stands on his hind legs, drapes his front ones over the front gate, and watches with a smile on his face. I imagine if I hadn’t happened by, he would have asked the woman how her week had been.

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

How’s your first week of 2010 been? Mine has been pretty good, even if I did have to go back to work for a whole five days in a row. Seriously, though, it’s been a generally positive, laid-back start to the year. If that’s the tone for the next 51 weeks, I will have no complaints.

Here are three beautiful things from the last seven days:

1. The series premiere of Chuck is a lot of fun and gives us a little insight into a show we hope to add to our repertoire when it opens its third season on Sunday.

2. One of my Christmas presents from Rudi was a new mouse for my computer. It’s small and doesn’t require finger gymnastics to use. Oh, and it’s a lovely dark teal color. (Actually, it nicely matches my current sock-in-progress.)

3. We are in the upswing for daylight hours. I headed down the hallway this afternoon at 4:15 and could still see sunlight on the building across the street.

So, how about you? What’s been beautiful in your life thus far in 2010?

Tonight will be a red-letter, blue-moon evening, so make sure you celebrate the switch from 2009 to 2010 with your favorite people.

I offer you here three beautiful things from the past week of holidays, visits, and vacation. Trust me when I say they’re only a sample:

1. Heading home after a lovely lunch date with my friend B.W., I opt to take a new route back from Pomfret. It leads me through the forestland of Connecticut’s Quiet Corner, where blue skies have replaced the slate grey ones of my morning drive. The roads are clear, and sun glints down on pines and oaks that look like someone has sifted powdered sugar on green boughs and brown branches. I feel like I’ve driven right into a snow globe, or maybe a movie set from the 1940s.

2. Mum cajoles Gramma into coming out to join us for elevenses yesterday morning — a brunch of blueberry pancakes, bacon, and hot beverages. We had some wonderful meals while home visiting, but this relaxed, final one was probably my favorite.

3. I awaken this morning in a cocoon of soft sheets, warm bodies, and purring cats. It’s a great way to finish out the year.

How about you? What’s beautiful in your world?

I’m lying in bed at my folks, Rudi asleep at my side. All our presents are wrapped and under the tree, and I have Christmas Eve on Sesame Street playing on the VCR. But my eyes keep closing, so it will be a challenge to get to the end.

Here are three beautiful things from the past week:

1. Driving north, so late at night that it’s nearing morning, Rudi and I see a meteor fall through the sky.

2. Two feet of snow blanket the District. Rudi, John, and I spend the afternoon out playing in it. We throw snowballs, make snow angels (okay, that might just have been me), and laugh until we’re exhausted. It’s a rare treat for the mid-Atlantic.

3. On the way home from church tonight, Dad and I see fireworks light up the horrizon. I like to think of it as someone expressing their joy to the world.

What beautiful things have you noticed lately?

Wishing you a very merry Christmas!