Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. Rudi and I went for a hike on Tuesday at Seneca Creek State Park in Maryland. It was a lovely 4’ish mile walk around a pond and the color, while muted, was pretty.

2. Two of my dearest college friends came down to visit from New York for the weekend. I hadn’t seen Eri since the fall before the pandemic, which is probably the longest that we’ve ever gone between visits, so I was particularly glad to finally connect with her. We had lots of good conversations, ate many tasty things, and just really got to enjoy each other’s company.

3. I didn’t mean to get all my Christmas holds in mid-October, but apparently no one else was thinking that far ahead.

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

This week, That Artsy Reader Girl invites us to share a Halloween-themed Top Ten Tuesday topic. I don’t like scary reads, but periodically I do enjoy a book that includes a ghost or spirit as one of the characters. Here are ten of those:

1. Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds
2. The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
3. Under the Whispering Door by T.J. Klune
4. Tuesday Mooney Talks to Ghosts by Kate Racculia
5. Carry On by Rainbow Rowell
6. The Greenglass House by Kate Milford
7. Me by Amber McBride
8. Sal and Gabi Break the Universe by Carlos Hernandez
9. Two Boys Kissing by David Levithan
10. The Ex Hex by Erin Sterling

How about you? Do you have any books that include ghosts or spirits you’d recommend?

Looking ahead, this week I need to get some solid cover letters written. I’d also like to swap out the summer and winter clothes (D.C. is probably done with 80s finally, which will make that possible.) and get the fairy lights up again now that the darkness is coming so much earlier.

I also have my usual coaching and volleyball schedules. (I believe this Saturday may be the final week for grass volleyball. Sand volleyball will continue for a few more weeks before we move indoors for the winter.)

I have lunch with a friend on Thursday. And Saturday night, friends are throwing a Halloween party, so costume planning will be part of the week’s off-hours.

I have a couple books out right now that won’t be able to be renewed, so I need to make some time to spend curled up with them.

And tomorrow, Rudi and I are going to drive out to the mountains of Virginia to see some fall color. I’ve heard it’s muted up and down the Eastern countryside, but some color is better than none.

Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. Mondays, I coach in a kids’ afterschool volleyball program. Usually, I end up with the littlest kids, but this week, there were only two adults. The other woman doesn’t have much volleyball experience, so she asked if I’d take the preteens. I thought we ended up having a pretty good practice, and while I got a little attitude at the beginning, I thought I dissipated it pretty quickly.

2. I knit a bulky-weight hat this week, so I could wear it while playing tonight if it felt cold enough to need it. (It didn’t.) I didn’t check stitch gauge and it’s a little bigger than I’d like, so I’m going to reknit it on slightly smaller needles. But it felt so good to actually finish something enough that it could be worn.

3. I had a meeting this week with the president of the company that organized the scavenger hunt my friends and I did earlier this month. He was looking for feedback on how our experience with the game and I was happy to tell him how much we’d enjoyed it. But he also offered to make any connections he could with local nonprofits in his network as I’m continuing my job search, which was such a surprising kindness.

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

This week’s Top Ten Tuesday from That Artsy Reader Girl invites us to share some of our favorite words.

I love wordy topics like this. One year, Karen gave me the protection of the word “woah” for Christmas, because I was adamant that it was different from “whoa” or “wow.”

Anyway, here are ten of my favorites at the moment:

1. zephyr
2. quixotic
3. hitherto
4. rickety
5. effervescent
6. aplomb
7. quirky
8. antepenultimate
9. dazzle
10. susurrous

What are some of your favorite words? Share them in the comments!

Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. My dad’s 80th birthday was Saturday, and our immediate family and his best friends went to Cape Cod to celebrate. My brother made all the arrangements and did a fantastic job with all of it.

2. My friend’s baby was clearly eager to help open his gifts from the volleyball team, because he arrived on Friday to much fanfare.

3. Two dear college friends texted to say they’re coming to visit next weekend.

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