THANK GOD & GEORGIA POWER

February 27, 2015

By Olivene Godfrey

As I write this, my mind is chock full of things to tell you.  The major news was the big snowfall last night, here in Georgia's high country.  The scene's from our windows look like postcards.  Barry's shop closed early yesterday (Wednesday) and is closed today (Thursday).  Thank God and Georgia Power Co., we haven't been without power all week.  Tam left early to drive home before the snow began to fall yesterday.

Tam and I had a busy week before the snowfall.  On Monday, Tam drove me to my dentist office and I had my teeth cleaned and checked.  The pretty hygienist and dentist gave me a good report.

Then, on Wednesday, Tam drove me to the hearing center and the audiologist inserted the hearing aid that had been repaired in my right ear.  It's good to hear so well again.  All the noise and sounds in the right ear are so loud it's taking a while to get used to.

See you next time.  Comments welcome.  (As told to Tam)

REAL LIFE ADVENTURE

February 23, 2015

By Olivene Godfrey

When I tell friends and relatives about my dreams and hallucinations, they comment, "that's because I'm creative".  I think what they really think is that I'm as crazy as a loon.

My latest "real life adventure" happened a couple of nights ago.  I was looking at my night gowns in my closet and came across a pretty night gown that I hadn't worn in a long time.  The fabric is a flannel type, but the label read 100% polyester, so I removed it from the hanger and wore it to bed.  I went to sleep but woke up a couple of hours later as my body was itching awful.  I got up and went to my bathroom and removed the gown and applied some gold bond aloe lotion to my body.

Then, I started to the closet for another gown.  Alas, after I had gone to bed Barry had brought my portable toilet and placed it in front of the closet door.  It was too heavy for me to remove.  What was I going to do?  I did the only thing I could do.  I got back in my bed stark naked!  Needless to say, I went into a restless sleep.

The next morning I stayed in my bathroom until I heard Barry's movements in the house.  I called him on the intercom and asked him to bring me a gown and robe, which he did.  He didn't ask any questions. I guess he's used to having an "eccentric ma".

See you next time.  Comments welcome.  (As told to Tam)

TIRED OF WINTER

February 17, 2015

By Olivene Godfrey

As I write this, winter storm Octavia, which moved across the Southeast, and the Mid Atlantic states, is having a major impact on our area.  At first, the forecast was for snow, now on Monday, warmer weather and more freezing rain and sleet is in the forecast.

Tam wasn't able to come to stay with me today because of the weather condition.  Barry prepared a snack lunch for me this morning before going to work.  He placed it in the small refrigerator in my sitting room.  It was delicious but awkward to eat in my recliner.  I should have asked Barry to bring me a TV table.

I don't feel comfortable when my daily schedule is upset, especially when Tam is unable to be here on week days.  She has a long drive to get here and I do understand why she doesn't like driving in icy weather conditions.

Tuesday.  Tam came this morning, to my surprise and delight!  The sun is shining brightly even though it's very cold.  More severe cold weather and possible snow is in the forecast for this week.  I'm so tired of it.

I don't know when I'll post a blog again, it may be a few days, due to all this bad weather.  See you next time.  Comments welcome.  (As told to Tam)

MY FIRST NOVEL

February 10, 2015

By Olivene Godfrey

In the early 1960's, I decided I was going to write a novel.  For years, I had written countless letters to friends and relatives, and also many short stories.  I was an avid reader and decided I would start working on a novel.  I had an idea of what I would write.  I was a teenager during World War II and that era was unlike any other I had lived.  I felt I could call on my war memories to depict the World War II home front in the United States.
The novel would center on Nickie, a young romantic girl and Chris, an older Navy man who fall in love during World War II.
Before I could write my novel, I needed an office.  My late husband, Ralph and our young son, Barry and I were living in a small house in Chatsworth, Georgia, located in northwest Georgia, at the foot of Fort Mountain.
First, I needed a desk.  I got out our card table and set it up at one end of the largest room in the house, the living room.  Then, I borrowed an old Royal manual typewriter from a neighbor.  I used a large cardboard box for a filing cabinet.  I bought typing paper and was ready to "create".
Barry was in school and I did some writing during those hours.  At that time, I was active in church and community offices.  I had to ration my time.  Then, I started writing after Ralph and Barry had retired for the night.  I kept this schedule for months and finally finished the book.  The problem was that I had over a 1,000 page typed manuscript.
I had studied books on the writing of various novels and knew I had to cut the novel to a more acceptable length.  But, I was tired.  So, I decided to take a break.  I chose to write a feature article about Barry's first grade teacher.  I submitted it to the Daily Citizen News in Dalton.  To my surprise, the editor bought the article and it was published, with my by-line.  Needless to say, I was thrilled.  For a dozen years, I worked for newspapers.  Fiction has always been my love.  I had no formal writing training, writing seemed to come naturally for me.
We moved in 1978 to our large, spacious country home.  I have a nice, large office with all the equipment that I need.  So, after a period of rest, I slashed my novel to a shorter length.  I had to cut one of my favorite characters out.  Years later, I used him in another novel that I published under an assumed name.
My revised first novel, Catch The Brass Ring, may be purchased through Amazon, Kindle.  On one level, the novel is a story of love and marriage.  On another it symbolizes the struggle of Americans, mostly Southerners, during World War II and the post war years as they break out of roles that had been assigned to them by time, places and social class.
For the last 12 years I have written a weekly blog .  See you next time.  Comments welcome.  (As told to Tam)

LOOKING FORWARD TO SPRING

February  , 2015

By Olivene Godfrey

In the month of February, I take extra precautions to stay well.  In recent memory, I have been very ill in February.  I've read that more elderly people die this month than any other.  (My dear daddy passed away too soon at the age of sixty-five in February.)

I love spring time in Georgia's high country, with all the greenery and flowers "busting out all over".  It makes me feel poetic and want to kick up my heels and dance a jig!  Can't you just picture an eighty-seven year old woman doing that?  Ha! Ha! Ha!

Barry tells me our jonquils are two or three inches high.  A harbinger that spring will come again.  My late husband, Ralph, planted the jonquils in 1978 and lived to enjoy their yellow and white beauty when in full bloom several times.  Then, a few years ago they stopped blooming.  The plants were green and large, but no blooms.  So, last fall Barry placed dry fertilizer around them and we hope they will bloom this year.

I also look forward to seeing our large forsythia bushes burst in their yellow beauty.  Sometime this month Barry has to prune our large crepe myrtle bush.  When my mother died in 2000, my sister-in-law, Joyce, gave me the plant to be planted in memory of mother.  Joyce has since passed away and the plant is very special to me.

I know the odds are that we'll have more cold winter weather this year, but, thoughts of the glory of spring can help us survive until then.

See you next time.  Comments welcome.  (As told to Tam)

BUSY WEEK

February 2, 2015

By Olivene Godfrey

I have been very busy this past week.  First, I had an appointment with my blood doctor in Calhoun, Georgia.  Barry drove us to the doctor's beautiful new office.  We didn't have to wait long before being taken to the lab where I was given a blood test.  Then, we were taken to a patient room where shortly, the doctor and his new assistant entered the room.  He told me my blood test was great and I would only need a blood test every three months and a visit with him or his assistant in six months.  That was a relief as I always worry about the blood test.  He asked if I was still taking vitamin B12 and exercising.  I told him I was taking the vitamin daily and walking a lot now.  He told me to continue with what I was doing.  Sometimes I don't really feel like walking, but I kept walking.  So, it's rewarding to know that it is paying off.

Another day this past week, Tam drove me to the Dalton hearing center where I had an appointment with my audiologist, regarding my hearing aides.  She took me through an in depth ear examination which was uncomfortable.  She told me my right hearing aide has stopped working and wasn't amplifying at all, which explains my recent hearing problems.  Fortunately, the hearing aides are still under warranty so she was able to return it to the manufacturer to be repaired.  I am using the left hearing aide which works fine.  I am able to hear at least as well as I did while wearing the right hearing aide, since it wasn't working.  The hearing aide should be returned in about two weeks.  At that time, she will regulate both hearing aides and I should hear better which will be great.

See you next time.  Comments welcome.  (As told to Tam)