Thought I'd send a letter out again this year at Christmas to let all of our friends and associates know where the Tidwell clan has been and what we've been doing for the past year. Since I didn't receive any letter bombs or threatening phone calls from last year's letter which may have been a little heavy on our Northern counterparts, I figured 'what the heck!' I'd do it again.
At my last writing we were stationed in the Southern part of the hemisphere by the name of Ft. Lauderdale and Hardin Construction with its infinite wisdom decided I'd had enough sun and it was time to put me back in my place. So I was brought back to Atlanta where I have been since last January, working on the Georgian Terrace Hotel renovation, turning it into apartments and a 9-story parking deck. This project has just concluded and at this point I am just waiting to see what will develop as far as my next assignment.
Susan is now working at Fannin Regional Hospital as a transcriptionist. Some of the great benefits of that job are now we know everything about everybody's diseases in the North Georgia area. So if you can't get an appointment with the Doctor to find out what's wrong with you, just call our house after 9. it's a 1-900 number and we will be more than happy to talk to you about anything you'd like to know about diseases.
Carrie, for her part, is now a Clogger. That's the Southern version of Square Dancing in the West, or Break Dancing in the North and she has become quite proficient at it, almost to the point of annoyance. You know she has got it on the brain when we're standing in line at a restaurant waiting to be seated and she's just a-high steppin' away clogging up a storm tapping her feet and doesn't even know she's doin' it. I presume this is what you call "havin' it bad".
As for Melissa, her current occupation is Southern Bell operator designate as our home has now become Phone Central. Due to the overwhelming demand of our creditors we now have Call Waiting (yes, we're really up-town now) so that our creditors can now place their requests for financial assistance with everyone else.
Early last year the camping bug bit us again as it has in the past, and after one rainy weekend of sitting in a tent in the Smoky Mountains watching all the campers roll in and out in their nice dry motor homes, with TVs going and stoves cooking breakfast, we decided it was time to go a little farther in debt. We purchased a 23' motor home from a local family who assured us it had never been run except on leap years and then only on short trips, hence the 80,000 miles on the speedometer and we began our excursion into motor home camping. It's amazing how expensive it is to get back to nature. As a matter of fact, I could fly around the world with the whole family for what it cost us to get back to nature only 75 - 100 miles to the North in the Smokies. But all in all it has been a good experience for the family and we've all shared some fun times this past summer. The best times of course are when it is pouring down rain and you can look out the window of your nice, dry camper at the other poor tenters and empathize with them of their plight. Or the morning after a heavy rain when you see everybody lined up at the local laundry with their sleeping bags trying to dry them out. Ahh… fond memories.
And then, of course, we've added some new members to our family this past year. You've heard the saying 'there's a sucker born every minute'? Well, a friend of mine named Bobby from work has proved that true once more. He brought a small puppy to work and began telling me how it had been sitting on the side of the road and was sure to be run over on a busy 4-lane highway if he hadn't rescued it. But since he already had a dog, he would probably just have to take it to the Humane Society where, for sure, they would put it to sleep. As he cut his eyes upward and looked at me and said 'Unless, of course, you wanted to take him up to the mountains where he could run free.' Just as a used car salesman knows when the deal is done, when he's hit upon just the right approach to seal the deal, so Bobby knew that the deal was done. Hence, we gained one short German Shepherd/Heinz 57 dog by the name given him of Buster. Buster is close, but 'Chewer' or 'Terminator 3' would probably be a closer description of this animal.
And then, one more addition which has just recently become part of the Tidwell family. Here we have 'Scraps' who was found on our excursion down to the field down the road to acquire a Christmas tree (Charlie Brown would be proud of us) a small black and white fur ball lay in the middle of the gravel road on the far side of the creek and as soon as it popped up from the ground to try and run and fell over several times due to its weakness, the words came from both my daughters' mouths 'Can we keep it?' - words to be inscribed upon some monument somewhere. Maybe Christopher Columbus's statue would be appropriate. Hence we now share our abode with a part Border Collie little female puppy. Our two male dogs, Alex and Buster were overjoyed to have her become part of our family. I now only have to find the appropriate Georgia law to explain to them that their joy over having a sister is to be short-lived.
This past year in sports here in Georgia has been almost outstanding. The Braves almost pulled off the Big One, the Gilmer High School team won the football championship, and Georgia Tech only lost one important game, which we won't speak of, but the phrase I've used for years 'there's always next year' is beginning to come back to me.
I'm not saying our time in Florida amongst the "relocated Northerners" (was that a nice way of putting it?) has affected me, but I have gotten up some mornings and had a craving for a stale plain doughnut sliced in half with cream cheese on it … hmm… interesting. And now at K-mart when I see a sale table set in the middle of the aisle and someone starts to move their buggy toward it, I throw my body upon the table and scream at the top of my lungs "It's mine, it's all mine, put it on Visa!" But the doctor says this will all pass in time, now that I'm back home.
I was given a Gary Larson desk calendar last year and I've religiously turned the calendar every day to see what point of view Gary Larson has on life from his rather unique perspective. Sometimes this mere cartoon has preserved my sanity in the chaos that goes on around me at work and has given me the outlook on the "big picture" to keep from losing it.
So, to all our friends I wish you a very Merry Christmas, a profitable New Year, and the ability to stand back and see the "big picture" and remember when the bad times are upon you, this, too shall pass. Much love from the Tidwell family to yours,
Buddy, Susan, Melissa, Carrie, Buster, Alex, Scraps, Skippy and Baby (parakeets), Blackie and Tigger (cats)
