My mom's the bomb.

About a week ago my mom called to say that we would be having beans for Thanksgiving. Now I know times are tight... but, beans?

Beans.

Don't get me wrong. My mom makes a mean pot of beans. They cook all day with garlic and ham hock, then we eat them with fresh onion (well, my dad and me anyway) and cornbread with so much sugar it's more like corncake. But still. It's Thanksgiving, and Carolyn wants turkey and dressing. And leftovers.

Well I give thanks today because Momma Nelson came to her senses and cooked a FEAST for the four of us. Turkey, dressing, gravy, broccoli with hollandaise sauce, marbled eggs (more on that later), candied yams, and two pies: pumpkin (of course) and pecan (southern staple). Plus, my father searched far-and-wide for fresh cranberries (Sam's) and made his famous relish... it's good enough to eat alone and sends that canned jelly crap running. It was a good day.

See, my grandparents are no longer living, and most of our extended family is out of state. The few who are still in the area are, unfortunately, not available to us for one reason or another. My immediate family is rarely all together, and when we are, we rarely get along. But we did yesterday. Props to you mom.

And to prove that things never change: