This week has been a long one and I am particularly glad to reach Thursday because it means the weekend — both work-free days of it — has nearly arrived. I am planning to sleep and clean and sleep and see friends and sleep and bake a pie and sleep and …

Anyway, before I do all that, I wanted to highlight three beautiful things from the week past:

1. My project went public this week. While its launch does not actually mean we’re done with the work, it does mean my coworkers and I can stop working such ridiculous hours. I celebrated Wednesday by leaving the office while the sun was still in the sky.

2. Sarah, Rudi, and I took Saturday as an apple quest day. We picked some granny smiths and a handful of enterprises (as well as beets, broccoli, and spinach), returned to our local cider doughnut purveyor, and found some delicious cider at a farm stand where they also had an apple launch. It was a lovely day out — with the surprise addition of seeing a hot air balloon aloft as we were driving down the highway. [N.B. to Mum: I told Sarah and Rudi about that time where we saw the balloon from the backyard, and you got us into the car and we chased the balloon down until it landed. That was really cool.]

3. John, Sarah, Rudi, and I headed to the movies after work tonight to kick off the Halloween season with a viewing of Ghostbusters (the entirety of which I don’t think I’ve seen since watching it at the drive-in at the Cape when I was a kid). I ain’t afraid of no ghosts.

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