Vacation Wind Up

Oda Momma was on vacation this last week. When Oda Momma is on vacation, so am I a little bit. We get to share the Oda time.

On Thursday, we went to see some friends of ours in East Texas. Oda Mae got to see her friend Ellie Mae. On Friday we all went to a place called Kid Space or Kids Place or Place for Kids to Play or something like that. It was basically an indoor playplace. They had a section just for the little kids as well as the bigger kids. We started in the little kid section. Oda Mae loved jumping into the plastic balls. What she loved even more is picking up all the plastic balls that had gone astray in the other parts of the play area and putting them back where they belong. I suppose I may have spent a little too much time making her put all of her toys away.


Then we got adventurous. We went over to the bigger kids area to go down the BIG slide. Ellie Mae is a few months older than Oda Mae and showed her the ropes a little.



Then Oda Mae went up.

SHE LOVED IT!!!

She loved it so much that she wanted to climb back up. She got pretty frustrated when she couldn't. Then when Oda Momma and I went in to get her out and let her go up the stairs again, she pretty much didn't like it at all.

So we'll keep practicing on the little slides for a while.

Oda Momma goes back to work tomorrow and I suppose that I should go back to work as well. Lord knows that I've got enough projects to do around the house. It's back to watching Oda Mae all day again as well. Maybe some regular blogging also, we'll see.

-OD

A Tribute

Mahly
(1990 - 2006)

Today, my family and I had to say goodbye to Mahly. We finally made the decision that was very difficult to make. She had not been well for a long time. As a little tribute to her, I would like to tell her story.

After living by myself in Cincinnati, Ohio for about two months, I started to get a little lonely. I decided to go to the local animal shelter and pick out a little kitten to become my friend. When I got to the shelter I started looking a kittens. None of them "called" out to me like they wanted to be my friend. Then I just walked around a little bit, looking at all of the cats they had. I was walking past the cages and noticed a cat staying way back in her cage so nobody could see her. I said hi. She meowed at me in what turned out to be her typical little meow. She was a bluepoint Siamese. She was very pretty. I opened her cage to pet her and she started to purr. I then went up to the counter and told them that I found a cat that I wanted to take home. They said to go get her. I did and some other customers at the counter asked me if I had ever had a Siamese cat before. Of course I said no. I had never had any cat before. They responded with "They like to talk." I paid for her ($50.00 + Tax) and took her back to my little two room apartment in a box that said, "I'm Going Home!"



I originally wanted a boy cat so that I could call him Gustav, after the composer Gustav Mahler. But I came home with a girl cat; you can't call a girl cat Gustav. That night I called Oda Momma and she suggested I call her Molly, but spell it M-A-H-L-Y. So that I would still name her after my favorite composer. I said that was silly. The next day I called Oda Momma up and told her that I had named my cat Mahly. Mahly lived under the bed for about two weeks. I never saw her except at promptly 4am every morning when she got brave enough to scope things out. I woke up every morning with her staring at me as she sat on my stomach.

We lived in Cincinnati for a few more months before coming back to Texas. The road trip back to TX wasn't fun for Mahly. She had to go real bad, but wouldn't. She held it all the way to Arkansas. Then we had to stop and clean up.



I left Mahly to live with my fiance and her roommate, Princess Dedra, until we got married. Admittedly, Mahly wasn't a very nice cat. She liked to scratch people. Oda Momma and Princess Dedra took Mahly to be de-clawed. Mahly was the nicest, most loving cat in the world after that. Go figure.

When we got married, Mahly went to go live with my sister while we were on our honeymoon. There, Mahly learned the fine art of hiding from dogs and sleeping on someone's head.



Mahly was our lone pet until Abby and Fergus, our dog's came along. She wasn't going to put up with any of their shenanigans. She let them know that right off the bat. The dogs pretty much left her alone.



Then Oda Mae came along last year. Mahly was very intrigued by this new little person living in our house. After being a very non-sociable cat all her life, Mahly started coming out to see people after Oda Mae was born. This was the first time some of our family had ever seen Mahly. I think maybe she was a little jealous of the baby and wanted some attention of her own.



Mahly was a very good friend to lots of people. She was my best friend in Ohio. We got along very well even though we had a love-hate relationship there towards the end.



Mahly, thanks for being my first bachelor pet. Thanks for being there when I needed company in Ohio. Thanks for being a member of our family. We'll miss you.

-OD

P.S. To see Mahly with the Oda Family go to Oda Momma's Blog.

Just for GG...

Thanks for trying to play my game! I'll do better next time.
-OD

Okay, so nobody wants to play...

even after I put up a clue. I'll tell you who it is.

My Great-Great-Grandmother, Luticia Ballard was married to a man before she married my Gr-Gr-Grandfather. The first man she was married to was Ollie Partridge Roberts AKA, "Brushy" Bill Roberts AKA, "Billy the Kid".

Here's the story.

and now The rest of the story.

-OD

It's a little genealogy game.

I recently discovered that I am related (sort of) to this man. History buff bragging rights to the person who can identify who this is...



-OD

Emergency Room Visit #1

So Oda Mae and I had to make a little trip to the emergency room this morning...

Don't worry, everything is okay...now.

After our morning run, we wanted to play on the slide. So we did. A really big bee started to buzz around us so we moved away until the bee flew away. When we went back to the slide Oda Mae was climbing up and I did what I know not to do, and that I almost never do...I held her hands and picked her up onto the slide. Then I heard "POP"...what was that? Oda Mae started to cry.

Talk about feeling like a "BAD" daddy. I felt terrible. I tried to comfort her, but it must have really hurt. We went in to see Oda Momma and nothing seemed to help. It just hurt. Oda Mae wasn't moving her arm, but at the same time she wasn't screaming in pain either. We decided to go ahead and take her to the ER.

After some paperwork the nurses took a look at her and said that it looked like she may have pulled something out of where it was supposed to be. The Dr. came in and said that she had full extension, but he wanted to see some pictures just in case.

The x-ray ladies came in and took 2 pictures of each elbow so there would be a comparison. Oda Mae likes to have her picture made, so she was the perfect little model for them. Then the Dr. came in to tell us that everything looked okay. No broken bones or anything. Its possible that she dislocated her elbow, but that it had gone back into place. Now it's just sprained a little.

Then we came home and went "nite, nite".

So, the moral of this story....Don't pick Oda Mae up by her hands.

I'm sure I'll remember that from now on.

-OD

Happy Married Day, Oda Momma!

Eight years ago today I got to marry my best friend. She married me, even though!

Can you say "Hat"? I knew you could.

This morning as I was getting Oda Mae ready for our run. She said "hat". Just as plain as day. This is a new one for her.



It's starting to get difficult to remember all of the cool tricks she can do. Oda Momma and I were talking about that last night. She knows lots of words, body parts, and dances (more videos to come). Soon she'll know more than we do. She'll tell us that too.

-OD

"Planearium"

Oda Momma and I wanted to go to the "Planearium" today for our little vacation, but Oda Mae decided that she wanted to go to the Aquarium in stead. We got to see lots of cool fish...

What did Oda Mae think of the Aquarium?

I think she liked it.

-OD

Happy Birthday Oda Momma!

Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday Oda Mommaaaaaaaaaaaaa
Happy Birthday to you!

We Love you.

Oda Mae and Oda Daddy

Mentos and Diet Coke Extravaganza

Most of you will remember THIS POST...

As it turns out, my nephew Chris' car needs some work. He was willing to do just about anything for a few bucks to get his car going again. Being the supportive uncle that I am, I offered to help him out a little. THIS VIDEO pretty much explains everything.

Oda Mae had a good time as well.

-OD

Independence Day 2006

We had a very nice visit today with Gran, Maw and Aunt Macky. Had some 4th of July turkey and dressing and homemade chocolate pie and cake with strawberries and blueberries. Oda Mae had a very good time. We went out on Sunday to see fireworks at CITG so we came home tonight and went to sleep early after a long weekend.

I must say that Oda Mae is the prettiest little Independence Day girl I've ever seen. She is just so cute. See......




I am so glad to live in a country where I (a SAHD) can raise my kid how I want to raise her and teach her the things I want her to learn. You know, in some countries the government decides what your child will study and learn. We are so blessed to live in America!

Also, only in America can you get your 18-year-old nephew to swallow a bunch of Mentos and chug a Diet Coke and then post the video on the internet for the world to see. More on that tomorrow. :)

-OD