First off, a little editorial clarification……Last year I believe it was I made the social faux pas (God bless Google spelling!!) by calling ourselves the Tidwell clan (with a “C” you will note) but had second thoughts later that some of our friends and relatives in the north might have envisioned us all standing around in white sheets with fancy monograms warming around a campfire suspiciously shaped like a cross. Sooooooo to allay such perceptions……we will simply call ourselves the Tidwells hence forth……..although we do practice the secret handshake at times…….and some of our sheets do have holes in them….but NO monograms!
Now that that little clarification has been made, let us proceed to bring y'all up to date on the Burnt Mountain goins on.
Currently Susan and I are abiding in a little town by the name of Greenwood, SC while I am starting a First Citizens Bank. Amazingly enough there are still some financial institutions who are confident enough in their business savvy to step up to the plate and spend money, and thankfully hired us to share in their confidence. It’s a nice town about 3-1\2 hours from home and we are enjoying the traveling\camping experience other than the frigid weather. As always we are discovering the universal good people scattered about, even though the media would lead you to believe otherwise, and the always thought provoking history of the areas we are lead to by my work. We have discovered a little town by the name of Ninety Six, one of the first revolutionary war battles, and a test track owned by Michelin Tires that occupies over 3000 acres hidden out in the pine thickets just up the road. (Susan would LOVE to be turned loose on the test tracks, along with Melissa I think, no speed limit!)
Most of this year I was busy building a beautiful bank for some of my most favorite customers/friends, Monty and Gaye Watson. I was privileged to have built a bank for them 12 years ago and now was blessed to share in this new adventure also. I thank them for this experience. Over the years there have been relatively few clients that when the job was done I did not consider a life long friend regardless of weather I ever did any other building for them, a benefit of the position I am put in by W.H.Bass , the company I work for and who I feel also to be a life long group of friends.
Susan is still pecking away at Medical Transcription work, which Melissa also does, and her fingers and eyesight are still holding up, although we do now share glasses for reading and I catch myself doing wrist and finger limbering exercises just by sitting next to her on the couch at night, some sort of sympathy reaction I think! She is still composing her blog on a regular basis and continues to amaze me with her abilities to convey in words and pictures feelings and reflections that put most poets and professional photographers to shame in my opinion.
Melissa continues to work at home and manage to keep all the now teenage kids headed in the right direction and does a phenomenal job at stretching the ever shrinking dollar to the limits by bargain shopping and coupon clipping. She is without doubt the BEST I have ever seen at this process, as Carrie and Susan can attest as they have accompanied her recently on a shopping expedition. The merchants should shake in terror if they come on Melissa’s radar. I once dabbled in this lifestyle while pursuing crafting as a means to make a living (barely a living!) and I was merely an apprentice to her complete mastery of couponing. So, if any of y'all want some tips on how to win at the coupon game……contact her. Keith is still working in Marietta at a company that offers a service to control HVAC systems remotely so all the employees at a business can be mad at THEM instead of the office manager as to why there cubicle is too hot or cold…..a ploy that works rather well so it seems as we have installed this system in some of the projects I have been associated with over the years. A good rule of thumb we use in construction is applied to this business approach, blame whomever is not there with you…..hence blame the company controlling the thermostat 500 miles away and the local management is in the clear, at least for the short term.
Carrie is working over in Jasper (over the mountain from us) at a company affiliated with Windstream and I think testing out their internet connections to some extent each day to make sure the Facebook and My Space connection is still valid, along with Amazon, Kohl’s, etc. Also I think she does some direct work for the company also at times……..but not sure what is involved with that??? She and Daniel (her main squeeze) opened their lives to a wonderful little addition this year….no, no, no…any of you that know Carrie KNOW it’s not one of THOSE kinds of additions!! They now have a DOG by the name of Tasha who has added some real excitement to their lives. We the “grandparents” are allowed to keep her sometimes when the “parents” want to go away for a day or so and we always love having her as her youthful joy of exploring each and every leaf or tree branch is contagious.
As for the grandkids…. As previously mentioned, ALL are teenagers now officially. Kyle has his drivers license, Sarah is holding out before getting hers (smart girl! She knows she will be recruited for pick up and delivery chores!). Madison and Racheal are bringing up the rear age wise, but seem to be sharing in all the older kids lives just like they were that age also. They are all very active in church and school activities too numerous to list and we are very proud of them all. Wish our parents were still around to applaud them and smile at all their accomplishments in life, but I know they are watching.
As most of you know, the years speed up exponentially as we get older and the knowledge that we have a finite time on this earth becomes more of a factor in our choices. I sometime look in magazines I have saved over the years and smile at the adds for the latest VCR or tape player being offered and of course now all these are obsolete in a relatively short time, but then it comes to my mind of the solid never expiring friendships we share with you and the ones from my parents time. The real Christmas joy and spirit does live on year round in these relationships and we The Tidwells wish to thank you this year for letting us share a little of our life’s story each year with you, to sustain what truly is the most precious gift you could ever give to us, your friendship over the years!
So Merry Christmas to all of you and as always come by, call, e-mail or just stop and think of us, Your Friends…………Buddy and Susan
