Guess who's back...

I was going to title this post "Guess who came out of the closet" but that sounded kind of weird. We finally got the repair part for Oda Mae's musical chair. Some of you may recall that a while back there was a recall on this chair that I posted about. (I just used the word "recall" twice in the same sentence with two different meanings....Ha) See February 7, 2006 Oda Mae was very happy to see him again.



On another note....here is a quick dinner for all of you stay-at-home people (or all of you non-stay-at-home people). If you like the old frito pie, you'll really like this little casserole. This is for those days when you forgot to make dinner and your wife is going to be home in 25 minutes.

Sour Cream Chili Bake

1 Pound Ground Beef
1 15 oz can Pinto Beans
1 10 oz can Red Enchilada Sauce (MILD: Oda Momma won't let me use the hot stuff)
1 8 oz can Tomato Sauce
1 1/2 cup Shredded American Cheese (divided) (We like cheddar)
2 Tbs instant minced onion
1 6 oz package Corn Chips (If you can find a 6 oz bag of Fritos, let me know. I can only find 10 oz)
1 cup Sour Cream

In a skillet brown ground beef (thaw it out in the microwave first 'cause you forgot to set it out); drain off fat (or don't; it depends on how much of a hurry you're in and if you're trying to lose some of those calories from that bowl of ice-cream last night).

Stir in drained beans, enchilada sauce, tomato sauce, 1 cup of the shredded cheese, and instant minced onion.

Set aside 1 cup of the corn chips; coarsely crush remaining chips (Your kids will love this part, give'm a rolling pin and let them have at it). Stir crushed chips into meat mixture.

Turn into a 1 ½ quart casserole. Bake, covered, at 375F for 30 minutes (I usually forget to cover it, so I don't think it really matters).

Spoon sour cream atop casserole; sprinkle with the ½ cup cheese. Sprinkle reserved chips around edge of casserole. Bake, uncovered (again), 2 - 3 minutes.

Stick a salad on the side and maybe some corn and you got a pretty good meal. And Oda Momma is happy too!

Give this a try and let me know how you like it. I usually double this recipe so we have plenty of leftovers.

Next time, I'll come up with something a bit more healthy.

-OD

New teeth...

Oda Mae has been cutting some more teeth the last few days. She has been kind of fussy, though I can understand why. Two teeth have broken through on the left and right side of her uppers. I'm pretty sure she's got one on each side of her lowers coming in as well.
Here on the home front, things have been going alright. I was able to repair the washing machine the other day for $20. Tomorrow I'll get a part in for the refrigerator and hopefully I can fix it without any problems. I figure I'll save at least a couple hundred bucks by doing all of this repair work my self. I've turned into quite the handyman. :) Oda Mae of course helps with everything!

Yesterday, I made a cake for one of Oda Momma's coworkers. See....

Mr. Versatile, that's me.

-OD

Planted some trees...

Today Oda Mae helped me plant a Bald Cypress and a Shumardi Red Oak in our front yard.

I think she ate some dirt.

She seemed to be doing okay at the end of the day so I've decided not to worry about it.

-OD

How to Stop a Baby from Crying...

I stole this from Nonchalant Savant

I hope that this technique will keep some SAHD from going completely insane someday.


I'm tempted to go wake Oda Mae up from her nap right now just to see if it works for real. Well....maybe not.

-OD

Field Trip....

After our run this morning, Oda Mae told me that she wanted to go on a field trip. So we went to the Botanic Gardens.

Having a good time.
Smelling the roses. Hut 1, hut 2...

Walking around. Playing with the water.

At this point she was saying "Ni, ni" which translates to "Night, night". And we came home and took a nap.

We had a good morning.

-OD

It's "officially" Spring

We made it to Easter, yea! Oda Mae had a wonderful day. After I played my three Easter services (btw, I'm good on going to church for at least three weeks now.), we went over to Grandpa and Grandma's house for an afternoon of BBQ and egg hunts.

We decided not to color any eggs this year:

1. Oda Mae is only ONE.

2. She doesn't understand why you would want to color eggs.

3. If "we" were to color eggs, Oda Mae would be playing on the ground with her blankets while Oda Momma and I were coloring the eggs.

4. She dropped the plastic eggs a lot. Need I say more.

I'm sure that we will have many years of coloring eggs when Oda Mae will have much more fun.

Oda Mae had a lot of fun finding eggs until she got tired. Then we came home.

On a somewhat different note...today is TAX DAY! I have to admit, I didn't finish my taxes until Saturday. Being "self employed" makes it kind of a drag to do my taxes, BUT this year I had at least one very good little tax deduction. The US government says that Oda Mae is worth $1000.00 to me and Oda Momma. For the first time since we've been married we actually get a refund!!!! Woo Hoo for Oda Mae!!!!!

-OD

Techie Question

Okay, I need to find out how to "FTP" something. Do I need any kind of special software that isn't on my computer?

-OD

Here is a picture of Oda Mae.

Busy Weekend...

I was very busy this weekend. Didn't hardly see Oda Momma or Oda Mae at all. Very glad to have been able to go to the park today with Oda Mae.

We decided to make a movie! We like to call it "Swing It!"

Today was...

go to work with dad day. Oda Momma had to work very hard all day today for symphony auditions. (She still isn't home.) Oda Daddy had a last minute gig come up, BUT the rehearsal was too early to be able to get a babysitter for Oda Mae. So, being that the gig was at a church, Oda Mae got to spend the evening in the church nursery with about 30 other little kids.

We got to the right room and Oda Mae went in just fine. Daddy, on the other hand, couldn't understand why she wasn't crying and screaming to stay with him. I felt kind of bad letting someone else take care of MY kid. Would her diaper get changed? What if she got hungry? What happens if she starts getting into something that will scar her for life? Alas, when I came to pick her up 2 1/2 hours later she was sitting on one of the nursery workers lap watching the other, bigger, kids blow bubbles. So she didn't get kidnapped, or dismembered in any way...I'm really glad for that. When she saw me she waved. :) The nursery worker brought her to me and I gave her a big hug while the worker went and got our diaper bag. I said thank you very much and Oda Mae and I went on our way.

About half way home I realize (Yay, Oda Momma is home!) that I didn't ask how she did with all the other kids or what she did. I was so happy to see her that I totally forgot to ask about what she did all night. Now the nursery workers think that I'm a total nut job. BUT, on the way home I asked Oda Mae what she did and she told me. She got to run, play with other kids, eat Cheerios, drink juice, get into stuff, sit on the nursery workers lap, and all kinds of stuff. She met a girl named Katlyn, she was a little bossy, but she was fun though. Oda Mae waved bye to her when we left.

So, I think that our first time in a nursery went as well as to be expected. I just hope that she didn't catch something from one of those other little childrens.



-OD

A Haiku

My nose, yes it runs
I blow, but nothing comes out
Doctor will help soon.

Free Weekend...

The Oda Family doesn't have to work this weekend (except for a short rehearsal today and a church service to play tomorrow morning). This is the first weekend in a long, long time that we were able to spend the weekend together as a family. Today we went to the park and then to a big church garage sale and then out to eat at a local diner. At the garage sale we got to fill up a paper grocery sack of books for $1.00. You can't beat that! We also got an Oda Dress and an Oda Shirt for .25 cents. Can't beat that either. Oda Mae was so tired when we got home she had her bath, got to read another chapter in "Charlotte's Web" and went right to sleep. Haven't heard a peep out of her since.

Here she is playing at the park today. She met a friend, we'll call him "Jethro". He was 2 months older than Oda Mae. They had a great time on the swings together. We didn't take any pictures of "Jethro" because we didn't want his mother to think we were really weird or something. Maybe if they meet up again I'll ask if it would be okay.

US Healthcare??????

I'm not sure what some people call healthcare, but I know that I wouldn't exactly call the insurance that I have "CARE".

I'll begin by saying that Oda Mae and I cannot afford to be on Oda Momma's insurance plan because it would cost us nearly $500.00 a month. Oda Momma actually has pretty good insurance, but her employer pays for it. Oda Mae and I are on a plan that I found through some some references.

In order to afford health insurance for myself and Oda Mae we have to have a very high deductible. Now, if something really bad were to happen and one of us ended up with thousands of dollars of medical bills, we'd be able to pay the $1500.00 deductible and the insurance company would pay the rest. That's fine, BUT what about our normal health care? I end up paying for all of Oda Mae's doctor visits which turns out to be at least $100.00 or more per visit. Fine. This week when Oda Mae was diagnosed with eczema, the doctor prescribed two different creams to take care of her. I take care of my kid, so I went to get her prescriptions filled as soon as I had a chance. Now, again, in order to make monthly insurance payments, our prescription deductible is $500.00. Take a guess at what the cost of those two tubes of cream were going to cost me. We're talking about tubes that are about the size of a travel toothpaste tube. Come on guess.....

$50.00


No way....

$100.00


Nope.....

They were going to charge me almost $265.00 for both tubes!!!!!!!!!!

You talk about a racket! Now, my Oda Mae is worth it, believe me, but $265.00 for a couple tubes of cream that will keep her from itching too bad? Come on. I ended up getting a portion of the prescription filled for a considerably less amount of money.

I'll get to my point now. The average "self-employed" person can't get any kind of health insurance that is worth a flying flip. My premiums are going up 18% in May in order "to reflect the rising cost of medical treatment". What medical treatment!!!!!! I can't get medical treatment because I can't afford my deductibles. I can't afford to lower my deductibles because then I couldn't afford the monthly premiums. So what do I do. I take care of my kid as best I can and hope that I don't fall off the roof in October when I'm putting up my Christmas lights!

All I'm saying is that maybe the system here in the US isn't as good as it could be.

"I need better healthcare!!!!"

"and insurance!!!!"

-OD

The One that Should've Got Away...

I recently went on a short tour with a group that I play with to a small town a couple hours west of where I live. We went last year to the same place and I didn't bring my camera last time. This year I knew better than to forget. I got some very interesting photographs. Take a look...


Just outside the "Motel" where we stayed last year.

This year we stayed at the home of a very hospitable couple who made us an unbelievable Tye dinner.


The diner where we ate lunch. Despite the name the food wasn't too bad.



A couple of "Good 'Ol Boys" moving the timpany to our concert site.



I'm a little disappointed that we didn't get "First Billing" on the town marquee



I actually had a good time. You just never know what you're going to see in a small town.

-OD

Doctor visit...

Today Oda Mae and I went to see the Oda Doctor. She is doing very well; 22.5 pounds. She got vaccinated today for polio and chicken pox. She only cried a little bit on the second shot. She has a skin disease called eczema. I asked the doctor about it and he says that it is genetic. I seem to have the same thing, but didn't know what it was. Now Oda Mae has to use cream on her little rough skin patches. Maybe I'll try it as well. Oda Mae did so well at the doctor today that she got a sticker, which seems to have been misplaced.

You all remember THIS picture from a few days ago right?

I know what every single one of you thought when you saw it! I know because I thought the same thing, "That child has quite the tongue! Kind of reminds me of...oh, wait, this is little Oda Mae....I can't say that...."


You know you thought the same thing!


You also thought..."Wouldn't it be just a little bit funny if somebody photoshopped...oh, no...you just can't do that to little Oda Mae"


But you thought about it, didn't you?


A daddy friend of mine over at Mr. Mom in Florida decided to go ahead and do it, with the Oda Daddy's permission of course.


Are you ready?





Mr. Mom in Florida said, "the eyes and tongue are hers... the eyes almost scared me off my seat."







Here it is...





Oh, first, turn on your speakers...






Got 'em turned on?








After some careful analysis. Oda Momma and I have come to the conclusion that Oda Mae has my tongue. I'm so proud!

-OD

One Year and One Day

Well, we made it. We all survived the birthday bash, and most importantly, we managed to keep Oda Mae around for a whole year without messing her up too bad. Oda Momma and I have learned a great deal this year. So much that it would be completely insane to try and make a list of everything. We are so lucky to have a beautiful little girl with such a wonderful disposition and a willingness to learn about the world around her. Moreover, Oda Momma and I have learned more about each other, what we really want out of life, and what we need to do to achieve our goals. It hasn't been easy, but it HAS been worth the effort.

If there is one thing that I can say that I have learned during the last year it would be this: There is NOTHING more important than the people around you who you care about. Your family has to take priority over all things. It doesn't matter what you do for a living. All the accomplishments in the world, no matter how great can never take the place of the ones you love.

I don't know what life has in store for me in regards to my career, my finances, or my social status, but I know that I will be just fine with Oda Mae and Oda Momma by my side. I'm just happy for the privilege to be married to the most wonderful woman in the world, and to have the responsibility of raising my daughter to be just like her.

A BIG ODA THANK YOU goes out to all of our family and friends who celebrated with us this weekend. Oda Mae got plenty of clothes and toys to last her for a good while. A very special thank you to those of you who contributed to her college fund. Tomorrow I'll mail a check for a total amount of $350.00 to the college fund people. That will pay for at least a couple of law or medical books in a few years!

A very special thanks goes to our very dear friends D & L who came and gave a CPR class to those of us who were able to stick around right after the party. Oda Mae is now in safer hands!

All of the manikins above were saved from an untimely death.

-OD

Happy Birthday Oda Mae!

Today is my Oda Mae's 1st Birthday. Turn up your sound and enjoy some pictures from the last year.

-OD

Guess what today is?

It's ODA-EVE!!!!!!!