"Curtis's family is very Southern."

This what Mylene (ME-lin) said to us as she invited us over to their house for Thanksgiving. Curtis is her husband and his family will be there. Everyone in our ward has been very welcoming, and not in the creepy "new meat" sort of way that often happens in wards.

Despite that, food is still a tricky issue because Meat is King. Green beans are made better with fatback, people snack on pork rinds, and when you hear someone's family is "very Southern*" that means good ol' home cooking [and hopefully not racism, like the man in the hospital who told me he was pleasantly surprised at how nice everyone in the hospital was - even the black people].

Myelene is very friendly and we accepted without reservations but some anxious anticipation at what kind of game plan we will employ to avoid embarassment and ridicule. Jon has planned on not eating meating to show his solidarity, although he did ask to have gravy. We'll see what interesting stories our Southern Thanksgiving yields for posterity.


* I should also say that from my experience "very Southern" also means exteremly hospitable and very considerate drivers, along with many other good traits.

I don't like the phrase, "That's all anyone could ask for."

"Well the bills are paid and that's all anyone can ask for." I thought to myself. And then I realized that was a horribly untrue thought. People can "ask" for anything they want.

Like my brother. When he was 11 he asked Santa for a laptop, a fax machine (?), and a cell phone. He might not have needed them but he certainly asked for them. This was, however, the point where my mother stepped in and explained that since she had none of these items he would likely not be getting them for Christmas. And when that didn't work it was time for the Santa Talk (which I believe was not well received and needed repeating the next year).