I'M BACK & GLAD TO BE ABLE TO TALK TO YOU TODAY

By OLIVENE GODFREY
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I'm glad to be able to talk to you today. I'm still not feeling great but hope I will feel better soon.

Since son Barry and I both have arthritis in our hands we're always looking for every day solutions to problems with using our hands. My arthritic hands are worse than Barry's but he has made some changes recently that has helped both of us. For instance, we have iced tea for supper every night and we like large glasses chocked full of ice cubes which makes the glasses very cold and slippery in our hands. Barry found some large acrylic glasses with handles on one side and bought four of them for us and they work like a charm.

Barry also found plastic pitchers used for juice and milk with handles that are less likely to be dropped or spilled than the original containers. Barry has purchased a variety of gadgets that assist us with opening cans, jars and bottles.

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I recently watched a gospel singing group on television who were discussing a question surely all us have asked, "Why do bad things happen to good people?" I liked the observation made by one of the group as follows, "When Mother Teresa was asked what the first words would be when she saw the Lord when she went to heaven, Mother Teresa replied, 'Lord, you have some explaining to do .'" The gist of the discussion was that during bad times, the Lord will walk beside you and hold your hand and won't forsake you.

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I recently received an e-mail from my sister-in-law, Joyce who lives on the shore of a popular lake in Northeast Georgia. She and her late husband, Ray, built a cabin with a sandy beach and boat dock below their beautiful home years ago. Their three daughters and their families still spend time there playing in the sand and water and spending the nights on bunk beds in the cabin. Over the years, the extended families of Ray and Joyce spent time at the cabin, too. I remember when Barry was a little boy he loved to go over there and play in the sand and sleep on a bunk bed. I have many memories of Godfrey reunions held there and a lot of memories have been and continue to be made at the cabin. My late husband, Ralph, also spent time over there when he and Ray would go fishing in Ralph's boat.

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Our wonderful neighbor, Genevelyn, brought us a bag of fresh green beans from her garden. Green beans cooked Southern style is Barry's favorite vegetable and when I cooked the beans last week for supper one night, he ate until he nearly popped.
See you next time.

By Olivene Godfrey

This is a brief entry to explain why I haven't "talked" to you this week. Last weekend, I had a horrendous episode of Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) that lasted several hours and the pain was so intense that in my experience it can only be compared with childbirth labor pains.. It left me feeling as if I had been badly beaten. Fortunately, Barry was here and when I fainted several times was able to keep me from falling. I don't need to be here alone all day so I am going to see about an Alert pendant soon. I am still feeling weak.
My GI doctor prescribed a laxative a day to avoid the constipation that leads to an IBS attack and I have decided to try it.

See you soon, I hope!

WHY SOME ARE INTERESTING

By OLIVENE GODFREY

Do you ever wonder what makes one person dull and the other fascinating? Maybe you think that you won't be very interesting or attractive to another person if you're difficult to understand. According to one study a few years ago, enigma fascinates. They found that the people who were considered the most interesting were those whose personalities presented something of a challenge, who were too complex to be understood and typed as "such and such."

Now we may actually like the person who we can "read like a book" better than we do the more complex person. But, we can be fascinated without liking. I know if I meet a person whose personality is a challenge, I'm fascinated and have a desire to try to find out more about him or her. Then we've heard that "opposites attract". And, for a short period often appears to be true. But,studies have shown that the like-attract-like principle holds true in the majority of cases. We tend to find people interesting, attractive and agreeable who have most in common with us.

Some human behavior experts have told us that the way to become a good conversationalist is to bone up on a wide variety of subjects. And that is good advice. But, it takes more to gain a reputation for being an interesting conversationalist. First, you must be adept at drawing people out. Then, if you really want people to adore you, cultivate the art of being a rapt and attentive listener. It's just about foolproof and works like a charm as you're permitting the other person's ego to expand pleasantly, giving him a feeling of well-being. And it's rewarding for the listener,too. (You can also learn a lot by listening.)

So you think that being beautiful or handsome goes hand in hand with an interesting personality. It does sometime happen. But, some of the world's most fascinating people have been neither exceptionally handsome nor possessed of outstanding beauty.
ON the other hand, there are many men and women whose physical attractiveness is virtually their only social asset as their personalities are dull,boring or lacking in either wit or imagination. Still, studies have shown that most people expect physically attractive people to be interesting, despite the fact that they're often disappointed.

See you next time.

INTERVIEW MAY BE REVERSED

By OLIVENE GODFREY

I remember reading about a reporter who said that once in awhile the pattern of an interview with a subject takes on an unexpected turn. The reporter suddenly realizes he or she is being interviewed-- that the roles have switched. This happened to me often before I retired, and such subjects are usually individuals who have an intense curiosity about everything and everybody.

The interviews are stimulating and fun. But you have to stay on your toes and use self-control and ingenuity to obtain information about your subject before the interview is over.
Talking about oneself can be heavy, especially for a writer.
But, I guess when you are in a profession where your success depends upon public recognition and acceptance, "writers, politicians, actors, etc"...,you have to be something of a ham.

Many people who aren't in such professions find it difficult to understand why anyone would deliberately seek personal publicity. I know some introverts who say such publicity would be embarrassing to them. I don't think these people could ever be politicians, as they'd be too modest to say they were "the best for the job."

There is a difference in conceit and self-confidence. Conceit is an exaggerated estimate of one's ability and importance. On the other hand,self-confidence means to have confidence in one's ability, one's judgment, and so forth. We've all noticed that the person who has let a bit of success go to his head tends to rest on his laurels. He forgets there is standing room only at the top with no room to sit down. And one can't rest very often on the way up the mountain of success. There are always others coming up behind you.

New writers get a special kind of thrill the first time they see their work in print. They can't help but savor every word printed under that shiny byline. Actually, I don't think any writer ever gets indifferent to by-lines, especially when you feel you've written something well. I read my own printed writings now for self-criticism. Also, while I could never recite verbatim anything I've written, I can spot in an instant a changed word, or any form of editing, in the published piece.
I think everybody needs an editor as no matter how beautiful your prose sounds to you, it can usually be improved by editing.
But, there is danger in too much sell-criticism. The critic that lives in all of us will question at once the seed of an idea. So, it's best to play around with the idea before rejecting it as too stale or dull.

See you next time.

LET IRRITATIONS OFF LIKE STEAM

By OLIVENE GODFREY

Sometimes we are told that we shouldn't let irritations bother us. We should be passive, always smiling, no matter what happens to us. Now, those who go around with chips on their shoulders and who seem to believe that every comment made in their presence is a personal insult aren't my favorite kind of people. But, I became irritated by people who go around, "Ho, Ho, HA HA'ing" constantly never seeming to have a bad day. Maybe I just envy them. But, often I feel as if they aren't for real either.

Normally, I 'm fairly good natured. But, I have days when everything seems to go wrong. And on such days it's no easy matter to be gentle and passive. Surely even the mildest individuals get a bit irritated sometimes. Then some days we start thinking about an injustice and get upset. We know it's trifling to let such things get under our skin. But, surely even the mildest persons get a bit irritated sometimes. There is the worker who wants to punch his boss in the nose. But, he doesn't dare. So, he goes home and snaps at his wife and kids. Or, he may turn his aggressiveness on himself.

If we don't have an outlet for our angry feelings, they can, after awhile, become destructive, bringing on ulcers, high blood pressure, worry and other ailments. Then, they may be turned upon by other people in the form of rudeness, gossip, nagging, or fault finding. So, it's obvious we need a safety valve for our excess of emotional steam. Many people find that physical exerciser is a good way to drain off aggression. Long walks, push-ups, sports where you can smash something like golf, tennis, bowling, or punching the bag, are good ways to relieve tension.

I think women have intuitively recognized the value of heavy muscular exercise when they are upset. Many of us re-arrange the furniture or go on a house-cleaning binge. If I'm upset while cooking,I bang pots and pans and slam cupboard doors like mad. Then, another good device, one which I use most, is to vent your anger in writing. Write a letter to the person who has frustrated or angered you. Don't leave anything to the imagination. Get him or her told off good, everything you've been thinking. But, then burn that letter! (You'll be even more upset if you mail the letter.)

But, for me and I'm certain countless others, work remains one of the best therapies of all, not only for getting rid of aggressive feelings for the periods of sorrow, as work is also the best tranquilizer for a troubled spirit.

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Thanks to Barry, I have discovered the magic of headphones especially when you're hard of hearing as I am. I have trouble understanding dialogue in modern movies and words of song on musical TV programs. Music heard with the headphones sounds like I am at a live concert, especially the instrumentals.

See you next time.

MOUNDS CANDY BAR & "RAT"CHEESE & IT'S HARD FOR ME TO PACE MYSELF

By Olivene Godfrey

Memory is a funny thing. Just a whiff of an aroma, or a taste of food or drink, can send your mind back to another time. That happened to me a few days ago. Son Barry was preparing to leave to buy our weekly groceries and supplies, and he was running a little late. It had been awhile since I had eaten breakfast so he poured me a dark chocolate Ensure drink. He went to the garage and I began to drink the Ensure. Suddenly, it reminded me of the coconut covered with dark chocolate candy bar. I hadn't tasted the candy in years and I dashed to the garage and Barry was in his car and about to leave and I asked him to buy me a bag of the miniature Mounds bars and he said he would.

When I finished drinking the Ensure, I suddenly remembered when I was 12 or 13 years old and lived with my family in Chattanooga. The girl who lived next door was an only child and was pampered by her parents. I can still remember when I would be at my friend's house and she would order over the phone two frozen Mounds and two fountain Cokes from a nearby drugstore's soda fountain. And would you believe the store employed a boy to deliver to your door such things back then? My mother made delicious snacks for my sisters and me to eat and my friend had a standing invitation to share our snacks. Those were the days!

On that same day, Barry called me on his cell phone and asked, "What is rat cheese?" And, I remembered I had that cheese on the list I made for him. Something reminded me of the cheese that I used to eat with saltine crackers. Barry asked if I wanted Cheddar cheese and I told him I didn't know. So, he ended up by buying Gouda cheese which is very good but not what I called the rat cheese. After Barry and I ate lunch, he looked up rat cheese on the Internet. And, sure enough, there is a cheese named rat cheese which is another name for good ole' cheddar cheese. Barry went back to the store the next day, and came home with a mild Cheddar which was what I wanted. The report says that Cheddar cheese in Southwestern England is the original Cheddar. The cheese has been widely imitated by different counties, including the United States.

Since I haven't had pneumonia or bronchitis in several years, I am afraid I tend to forget that I have COPD and am supposed to pace myself. I have days when I have a spurt of energy and do my chores until I have shortness of breath and am exhausted.
It's hard to do my house chores with one hand on a cane and if I go too long without a break I become totally exhausted.
On those days, I also tend to forget my inhaler and Nebulizer treatments. I am going to make an effort to follow the rules and maybe I can live as long as my Aunt Helen who lived to be 103 years. I really doubt that I'll make it to 100 but I am going to be trying my best to do that.

See you next time.