Monday, November 29, 2010

Delighting in the days after Thanksgiving

de·light
[dih-lahyt]
–noun
1. a high degree of pleasure or enjoyment; joy; rapture: She takes great delight in her job.
2. something that gives great pleasure: The dance was a delight to see.
–verb (used with object)
3. to give great pleasure, satisfaction, or enjoyment to; please highly: The show delighted everyone.
–verb (used without object)
4. to have great pleasure; take pleasure: She delights in going for long walks in the country.

One thing I love about the Thanksgiving holiday is that all of the hustle bustle, fuss and, yes, stress is over after just the first day, leaving a long weekend afterward to enjoy.

While my family and I had a lovely Thanksgiving, I found myself delighting in a number of things during the days following Thanksgiving, as well...

I delighted in my barn water unfreezing:

I delighted in needing to take my big farm coat off because I was too hot:

I delighted in a really, really big egg from one of my girls:

I delighted in my youngest nephew, Gabriel, coming for a visit. Full of energy and enthusiasm, this boy is really good at telling me what he'd like to do next. After a good night's sleep, he was thinking about breakfast:

I delighted in hearing him tell me a (really long) story about his truck and car convoy/parade.

I delighted in watching him concentrate very hard on painting a small holiday ornament:

I delighted in photographing him eating an apple. (Though I think he merely tolerated this particular activity for my sake):

I delighted in playing a rousing game of dinosaurs:

and...I delighted in a bit of extra help in the barn:

All holiday weekends should be full of delights like these, don't you think?

22 comments:

  1. I would delight in warm weather and unfrozen water as well.

    How wonderful to see a child playing with actual toys! A truck, crafts, and plastic characters - a nice break from video games and TV.

    I am jealous of all that hay. Is this the first post ever with no pictures of animals?

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  2. Chai Chai - I can't tell you how HAPPY the sound of that running water made me! lol
    Gabey *loves* the cars and dinosaurs...he played with them for hours - so sweet.
    And no, there's a critter in this post. Take a look at picture #2. :-) (jeez, you scared me there for a second - ha ha)

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  3. Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays for that and a number of other reasons: if you are not having it at your house, then it is relatively stress free, the long weekend afterwards, family gathering, everyone celebrates and there is no political correctness around it. I love a time just to be together and enjoy time together.....

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  4. I just brought my grandson home with me on Thanksgiving night. He was here for the weekend and WOW! I forgot about all that energy. We had so much fun and I'm so thankful for the time he was here. Tired but thankful....
    I too, am thankful for unfrozen water buckets and the sun on a cold day.
    Lovely post and cute nephew.

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  5. Hi Jane ♥ - I hope you had a holiday weekend just like the one you described. :-)

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  6. Farmlady - your grandson looks like he had a wonderful time during his stay with you! "Our" boys are the same age, you know. Five is a wonderful age.
    :-)

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  7. It's the small delights that mean the most. Glad you had many delights over the long holiday weekend.

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  8. cute kid! Glad you all finally thawed out over there! That is a very cool large egg! And your nephew is a cute kid! Looks like he was a delight to have for company. I can tell you enjoyed the weekend with him!

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  9. Awwwww aren't little boys wonderful?

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  10. Nephews can be such glorious creatures. I'm glad you had fun with him.
    If that's a Carhart jacket, we have the exact same jackets. I wouldn't give mine up for anything. The lining is riped, but it still keeps me toasty on cold/windy days.

    PS....How much did the egg weigh?

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  11. Hey Jen - Yes, it was a most amazing weekend all around. Hope yours was a relaxing, peaceful time, too.

    Hi Sarah - thank you! I was very pleased with my egg AND my nephew. lol :-)

    Thank you, Pricilla - you pretty thing, you. ;-)

    Goatgirl - they sure are. Even the bigger little ones are awfully cute, too. lol :-)

    Hi CeeCee - Well, you know how I feel about my little boys...they have a direct and permanent path to my heart. Yup, that's my Carhartt's. It has a design flaw, though - it has some kind of sticky, fleecy lining that catches hay and straw if I just walk by it, let alone touch it. Come to think of it, maybe it's just an added insulation "feature" for those especially cold days. lol

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  12. Man. Water up at the barn you say? Mine has been frozen for many days now....I did have one day in there where it ran a nice little stream for me, but that was very short lived and now it is frozen once again.
    I was just gonna say that..in regards to your Carhartt. The straw is just added insulation :-) Mine has a slick lining....so I dont seem to have that trouble, but then I also havent gotten to the point of not having mine zipped up in the front...:-)
    Sounds like you had a great holiday. This makes me happy.

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  13. I am delighted every time I see there is a new post from Critter Farm. Having a youngster around is certainly a delight and they sure keep us young (and entertained), don't they? What a cutie pie he is.

    And I'm so glad it warmed up a bit that you had to take off your jacket!

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  14. It's a super feeling when little things mean so much, isn't it? I believe that's the true meaning of being thankful. I've been experiencing those moments a lot in the past year and many of them happen when I am with you on Critter Farm.
    Watching Gabriel at play or listening to his long stories is also a delight. I can see you had a great time with the youngest 'critter' in our family.

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  15. Oh, I didn't see her in the shadows - your jacket distracted me. I should have noticed the "floating" mouthful of hay.

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  16. I'm so glad you're water isn't frozen anymore. There's nothing like a child to make us really appreciate the simple things and joys in life. Your nephew is adorable!

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  17. Wow, I had no idea you guys were so busy! No wonder he wants to have "two" sleepovers at Aunt Dannis's house next time :)

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  18. Sounds like an absolutely perfect weekend.

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  19. What a sweet post. And what a large egg!
    Staci

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  20. Don't you just love nephews and neices? I certainly do! It sounds like he had a great time at Critter Farm! Congrats on the big thaw! You even took off the coat - pretty nice! We are getting the Oregon rain today and last night here in MD. It's a pouring, drenching rain. 3 inches in just a couple hours. But of course, they threw in some terrible wind and a tornado watch/warning, just to keep us on our toes. Great...

    Thought of you the other day in the kitchen store, Danni - I bought another 1M tip (I used to have 2, but somehow misplaced one of them, so I replaced it). I saw some big couplers for the 1M tip and laughed and thought of your frustrations!

    Happy Post-Thanksgiving!
    ~Lynn

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  21. You have such a fun and beautiful blog! Happy Holidays!

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