CPI

Man, talk about inflation. 8.1% increase for the Christmas Price Index...


Speaking of the Christmas Price Index, I am fondly reminded of my favorite holiday joke...Once again, a letter from Agnes...





Dearest John:
I went to the door today and the postman delivered a partridge in a pear tree. What a delightful gift. I couldn't have been more surprised.
With dearest love and affection, Agnes

***
December 15th
Dearest John:
Today the postman brought your very sweet gift. Just imagine, two turtle doves.... I'm just delighted at your very thoughtful gift. They are just adorable.
All my love, Agnes

***
December 16th
Dear John:
Oh, aren't you the extravagant one! Now I must protest. I don't deserve such generosity. Three french hens. They are just darling but I must insist.... you're just too kind.
Love Agnes

***
December 17th
Today the postman delivered four calling birds. Now really! They are beautiful, but don't you think enough is enough? You're being too romantic.
Affectionately, Agnes

***
December 18th
Dearest John:
What a surprise! Today the postman delivered five golden rings. One for each finger. You're just impossible, but I love it. Frankly, John, all those squawking birds were beginning to get on my nerves.
All my love, Agnes

***
December 19th
Dear John:
When I opened the door there were actually six geese-a-laying on my front steps. So you're back to the birds again, huh? Those geese are huge. Where will I ever keep them? The neighbors are complaining and I can't sleep through the racket. PLEASE STOP!
Cordially, Agnes

***
December 20th
John:
What's with you and those birds???? Seven swans-a-swimming. What kind of joke is this? There's bird do-do all over the house and they never stop the racket. I'm a nervous wreck and I can't sleep all night. IT'S NOT FUNNY.......So stop with those birds.
Sincerely, Agnes

***
December 21st
OK Buster:
I think I prefer the birds. What am I going to do with eight maids-a-milking? It's not enough with all those birds and eight maids-a-milking, but they had to bring their own cows. There is poop all over the lawn and I can't move into my own house. Just lay off me. .
Ag

***
December 22nd
Hey:
What are you? Some kind of sadist? Now there's nine pipers playing. And do they play! They never stopped chasing those maids since they got here yesterday morning. The cows are upset and are stepping all over those screeching birds. No wonder they screech. What am I going to do? The neighbors have started a petition to evict me. You'll get yours.
From Ag

***
December 23rd
You Creep!
Now there's ten ladies dancing - I don't know why I call them ladies. Now the cows can't sleep and they've got diarrhea. My living room is a river of poop. The commissioner of buildings has subpoenaed me to give cause why the building shouldn't be condemned. I'm sicking the police on you.
One who means it, Ag

***
December 24th
Listen Idiot:
What's with the eleven lords a-leaping? All 234 of the birds are dead. I hope you're satisfied, you rotten swine.
Your sworn enemy, Miss Agnes McCallister

***
December 25th (From the law offices Taeker, Spedar, and Baegar)
Dear Sir:
This is to acknowledge your latest gift of twelve fiddlers fiddling, which you have seen fit to inflict on our client, Miss Agnes McCallister. The destruction, of course, was total. All correspondence should come to our attention. If you should attempt to reach Miss McCallister at Happy Dale Sanitarium, the attendants have instructions to shoot you on sight. With this letter, please find attached a warrant for your arrest.
-Merry Christmas

"Little" House on the Prairie

Oda Mae and I had some time on our hands today and decided to make another Little People television intro...



Here's the old one we did with Green Acres. Geegee asked for an easy link...

Baby, it's cold outside...

so we decided to make a sugar cube igloo. Want to see?

Cookies and the Space Shuttle

Well, the title pretty much says it all.

Oda Mae and I started out our day by making some gingerbread cookies. We got the dough made this morning and put it in the fridge to chill while we went to the store to grab a couple of things. On our way to the store we happened to see a couple of helicopters; then we noticed another one just hovering over us. When we came out of the store we noticed two more. That's 5 helicopters just kind of floating about for several minutes. I just figured they were looking for somebody who got away from somebody else. We started driving to Jo-Ann's for some cookie making equipment and noticed that there were several people out of their places of business looking up in the sky. Once again I just figured they were wondering what all the helicopters were for. As we get closer to Jo-Ann's there are people parked in parking lots, along side the road and all over just looking around. That's when I noticed some of them had cameras and binoculars. I called Oda Momma and told her our story and she looked on the internet to see what was going on.....

It turns out that the Space Shuttle Endeavor was taking off (piggy back) today from the Joint Reserve Base. It just so happens that we live less than 5 minutes from the Joint Reserve Base here in Ft. Worth which is literally across the street from Jo-Ann's. Oda Mae and I thought we needed to join the crowds and start looking, so we did. We got to see it fly off to the southeast. It was COOL!

Then we came home and finished our cookies.

See...




Yeah, we had a pretty good day.

Dominus Vobiscum,

Oda Daddy

Lighted the house...

Yep, folks. I've got the lights on the house now. I'll make a video soon like I usually do so you can all see the work that I've done. I'm sure you'll be impressed. I got out day before yesterday and put them up. I've actually got a few more to get up, but it's like 30 degrees outside or something like that, so I'll do it tomorrow.

The grades are in. My first step towards getting a bachelor's degree in nursing was taking Human Anatomy and Physiology I this semester. I finished this semester with an average grade of 98%. Woot! Next semester I'll take on A&P II, Chemistry and PE. I'm actually a little worried about the PE. For whatever reason they wont consider the three years of marching band I had back 13 years ago as enough physical education for one person. Guess I'll be hitting the gym this spring. Just don't make me line up for dodge ball picks, okay?

Abby and Fergus are happy that I cleaned the backyard yesterday. I am too. It looks much better.

DV,

-OD

Oda Mae's Christmas List

It's that time of year again. We made it through Thanksgiving which actually wasn't too bad thanks to my SIL and her significant other, Eric. (BTW, thanks for hosting the family event this year. We all had a good time!)

We're planning on decorating the house (inside and out) sometime this week. I'll post pics as needed.

Tonight after dinner, Oda Mae made out her Christmas list. She wrote it all by herself. I did tell her how to spell everything, so you can pin spelling mistakes on me. Take a look...



Just in case you can't read it, here's what it says...

Sleeping Bag
Dollies
Pony
Please

Just so you know, she's too smart for the "My Little Pony" trick. She specifically asked for a "real pony that can stay outside".

Next week we'll make a trip to see Santa and give him the low down.

-OD

Open Letter to My Neighbors

Dear Neighbors,

In spite of your efforts to "beat" me in the dawning of your Christmas lights this year, it is highly inappropriate to actually turn them on before Thanksgiving Day. I know that some of you have been watching the house lately to see what is going on. No, we have not moved. Yes our yard still has leaves all over it and there is not even one Christmas light stapled to the roof. Yes, Thanksgiving is the day after tomorrow. Due to my current academic schedule (two exams, a final and a paper due within the next week) my usual festive decor will be slightly delayed this year. Please note, I am the master; you cannot compete. I will trim my dwelling, post Thanksgiving, this year.

Cordially yours,

"The Light Guy"
-OD

The Big Crash

We've been busy the past couple of weeks. Allow me to fill you in on some changes.

1. Two weeks ago, today, Oda Momma was in a car accident. Not her fault and she's okay. She was behind a few cars at a red light on the way home two Fridays ago. As she looks into her rear view mirror, she sees a grey mid-sized SUV coming up on her that isn't going to stop. He rear-ends her and knocks her into the car in front of her. The JERK proceeded to back up, go around the cars and drove off! That's right ladies and gentlemen, hit and run.

Like I said everyone was okay. The lady in front was able to drive away after the police report. Our Maxima was towed away never to be seen again.





After a week of dealing with OUR insurance we were able to pick up our settlement check and start looking for other transportation options. We decided that in order to get reliable transportation at the same payments we were making on the Armada that we would trade it in and use most of our settlement check as a down payment on two smaller cars. This week Oda Mae and I shopped at Nissan, Toyota and Honda. Ultimately, Nissan gave us the best deal and we drove home two 2008 Sentras.

I have to admit that I usually don't look for new cars, but I think we came out with an average deal that gets the family into good cars, hopefully for about the next 10 years.



More to come...
DV,
-OD

The Chair, The Museum

Tomorrow night, I'll be relaxing in style...


Thank you Oda Mae and Oda Momma!!!!!!

Today we were able to attend the Modern Art Museum as well as the Kimbal Art Museum. We got in for free and and had a pretty good time. They were fairly crowded, but that was to be expected. Afterwords we went out to the Log Cabin Village where Oda Mae had a blast. We watched as pioneers cooked, sewed and told stories about life in the 1800's.





Tomorrow is lunch with Mom. MMmmmmmm, lunch.

DV,

-OD

One Last Hurrah

Ah, the end of summer, the beginning of fall. The leaves begin to change colors and fall activities seem to be never ending. Yesterday Oda Mae and I decided to have one more go at playing in the water as there is a cold front supposed to come in by the end of next week. I think the high on Thursday is only supposed to be 84. :)

Tomorrow is the "Day in the District", sponsored by the Fort Worth Arts District. All of the museums are FREE! from 10 - 5. We'll see how many we can make. Also, at 2 is the Family Fun Saturday at the central library. They're supposed to have some kind of dancers there. I'm sure Oda Mae will love that.

Oda Mae and Oda Momma are getting me a "chair" for my birthday (which was yesterday, BTW). I get to pick it out myself. We went tonight to look for the perfect recliner. Didn't find it yet. I may have to force Oda Mae to come with me tomorrow afternoon to keep looking. Any suggestions for "the best" recliner out there? Wish me luck!

DV,

-OD

The Sky is Falling!

At least it may be that way in a couple of months. THIS article gave me a little chuckle this morning.

A couple of weeks ago scientists from all over the world were waiting to see the results of the initial tests from the largest particle collider in the world. You may have heard about the 17 mile long Large Hadron Collider in CERN. They are trying to smash super small particles of atoms together to "create a miniature Big Bang". Apparently, they want to know what happened split seconds after the universe was created. They have been able to send particles around the tube in both directions, but have yet to try and smash them together.

Today I read this article stating that they have had a slight glitch. It'll take a couple of months to get it up and going again.

Here's the funny part...and I quote, "The project has had to work hard to dismiss suggestions by some critics that the experiment could create tiny black holes of intense gravity that could suck in the whole planet."

They had a small leak that will pose "no risk to people from the malfunction."

All I can say is, Oops!

What's going to happen in 2-3 months when they get this thing going again? If you see the earth imploding on itself around Thanksgiving, give me a call wont you? I want to watch....



DV,

-OD

New Goals

Okay, I guess it's time to come out with it. What have I been doing the last month or so? Well, after some serious consideration, I've decided to go back to school (again) to obtain another degree. (Trust me when I tell you I had to really think about this one. I have two degrees already)

A while back I had a pretty rough audition for a position that I really wanted. Worked my butt off. Didn't get it. Was left with a pretty bad taste in my mouth (so-to-speak) because of the whole music business. I decided to get out and look for other opportunities. I tried photography, something I really enjoy. Thought about genealogy, something I'm very interested in. After a lot of practice and thought about careers I came up with this scenario... "Same song, different verse." It's still in the arts. Still freelance. Still self-employed. Still subjective to what other people think.

I decided to go a different route....

Back in the days when I was deciding what to do with my life I really enjoyed two things: Music and Science

I chose to go with what I knew I enjoyed and truly loved doing and what I knew I was already good at. I don't regret this decision one single bit! But, it's time now to try something else. Life it too short to limit yourself. I would like to see what life is like on the non-subjective side of things; "Right vs. Wrong" as opposed to "Well that's one way you can do it, but here's what I like...."

I loved Biology back in high school and was in the honors program. My HS counselor told me that I couldn't continue in the honors program after that due to my math grades (B's). I was pretty unsure of my "smartness" after that. FRACKING LOSER!

To make a long story not so long....I've decided to try getting into nursing school. I have just a few prerequisites (mostly science classes) before I can apply. In a couple of years I can get a job anywhere in the country at a starting salary that I have only dreamed about in the music business.

That being said...time to go study "The Tissue Level of Organization"

DV,
OD

My Grade

Hello All,

I know it's been a while, but I just wanted everyone to know that I just received a 96/100 on my first exam in Anatomy and Physiology I.

I know that I should be pretty happy with this score, but I'll just put it out there..... I WAS ROBBED! If this exam had been essay or fill in the blank, I would have gotten all of my points. The the multiple choice, guess the right answer questions were worded poorly. I think I'm going to demand a recount. There was probably some kind of "chad" loose in the grading machine. I'll let you know how things turn out.

Dominus Vobiscum,

-Oda Daddy

Strangly Entertaining

I find myself oddly entertained by this guy.

The President Song Updated...

Today Oda Mae wanted to wish everyone a happy 4th of July! Here is the latest version of "The President Song".

Happy Independence Day!

This morning I played an interesting gig. It was a small orchestra for an outdoor Citizenship Ceremony. 131 people from all over the world became American citizens today in the small town of Keene. After what I am sure has been years of trials for each of these individuals, all they had to do today was to take an oath of citizenship which included renouncing all ties to their home countries.

It makes you think a little. We worry about the high gas prices, the cost of goods on the rise, health care, what crazy politician is going to be leading our country in the next few months and all of the other things that we consider important. However, we must remember that there are people all over the world that want to live here. Why? Because we have it better than most. We don't have to worry about getting from our house to the grocery store and getting shot at. We don't have to worry about the military coming in and taking over our homes. We don't have to worry about what other people think when we walk into any particular place of worship. These are the things that we should be thankful for.

So many others want what we have. As a country, we certainly need to learn how to humble ourselves in the face of the rest of the world and be thankful for all that we have.

BTW: Happy July 4th Nonchalant Savant! I'll set off some fireworks in your honor tonight.

DV

-OD

We've been busy...

It started out a pretty normal week, but it kind of snowballed on us.

Thursday morning was the Ladybug Lady at the library. Oda Mae and I had to go check her out. Did you know that ladybugs come in fun different colors like red, yellow, green, orange, purple and blue? Neither did I. They can also get very large; we're talking as big as your head large. Imagine having something like that fly onto your arm while your walking around in the garden! At the end of the presentation we all got to go outside and get a handful of ladybugs to "set free". There are 3 things that are sure to happen when you have about 1000 ladybugs and 50 little kids.
1. The ladybugs will tickle.
2. The ladybugs will go up your nose.
3. The ladybugs will get squashed when all the kids go back into the library.

Thursday night was our first monthly "Family Movie Night". Last summer the local movie theatre had a free kids movie once a week. I had been looking around for the same thing this summer with no luck. Guess they weren't making enough on popcorn and snack sales last year. Anyway, Oda Mae is getting older and can sit through something more involved than a 20 minute cartoon so we were all a little disappointed that there would be no free movies at the theatre this summer. That's when I decided to have a family movie night. We made a pretty big deal of it. First we picked our movie a couple of days in advance and decided on a fun menu for dinner. We ended up watching The Little Mermaid and having "make-your-own pizza". We all had a good time sitting down and watching the movie together.

Earlier that same day, Oda Mae and I made a blueberry pie! Oda Momma had bought two pints of fresh blueberries from a coworker earlier this week so on Thursday morning, Oda Mae and I went to the store to get one more pint and some stuff for dinner. We came home and taste tested the blueberries and through them into a pie shell with some flour, sugar, cinnamon and lemon juice. It turned out YUM!

Yesterday morning, Oda Mae and I went out to the water park for a little morning swim. First we had to make our way to two different stores to get her a new swimming suit. (She left her other one at GeeGee's house.) Here's the kicker though...Maybe I'm just old and not very in with the times, but the first store we went to didn't have any one piece suits in her size. The only swim suits I could find were bikini style. It's possible that they were sold out, but for some reason I doubt it. MY DAUGHTER IS ONLY 3! Why would I want her to wear something like that?

RANT:
Why does a toddler girl (or any girl for that matter under the age of 16) need to wear anything other than a single piece bathing suit? I figure I'll try my best to teach Oda Mae to be modest when it comes to her clothing. When she is old enough to make educated and informed decisions about society (at least age 29) then she can dress however she wants. Until then, all of her flighty friends can just keep their mouths shut about how UNcool her dad is.
END RANT

We went to another store and Oda Mae found a nice little "stripy" one piece (with a whole in the back) that she got to pick out herself. Then we went to the water park and played sea monster for about an hour and a half. That was fun.

Yesterday evening we went out to the Concerts in the Garden to see the "Super Awesome Laser Spectacular". The laser show was really good this year. The fireworks were great and we had a great time listening to themes from Superman, Spider Man, Star Wars and others. The snacks were also very good and provided by my sister, nephew and his friend.

This morning we are headed over to Gran's house for haircuts. The whole family is getting trimmed today. Then we're off to drop off Oda Mae at Sis' house for a fun evening of movies and junk food while Oda Momma and I go to a friends wedding tonight.

So that's all we're up to. Just hanging out.

DV

-OD

Free Book!

Oda Mae and I went to the library today for story time. We decided to get there early today 'cause we were tired and wanted to go home for lunch and quiet time ASAP.

Today was Bug day and we read stories about Bugs! As we left, the librarians had a special treat for everyone. We got a free copy of "A Bug's Live: Flik the Inventor".

We love books around here. Oda Mae is doing very well in our "One Year Toward's Reading" program. She knows about 80% of her letter sounds and is starting to sound out words. She'll be reading "War and Peace" before you know it. The beginning reader books we check out from the library are helping quite a lot. They have simple words that repeat a lot. We work on the word at first by sounding it out then I make her read it every time it comes up in the book. We also have flash cards that we do every week. Each week we work on a new letter; this week is G. She has 6 or seven cards with words that start with the letter of the week and a picture on the back. Some of the words are pretty complex and some are easy, but she knows how they start.

We've started working on the next next 6 presidents in the President Song. She'll know them as soon as I actually finish the song!

DV

-OD

Raising Her Right

I've been meaning to blog about this for a while......

Several days ago I was "assisting" Oda Mae in the bathroom. I think mainly, I was just waiting for her to finish so that I could go. That's the problem with a 1 bathroom house. Especially when you're the only guy with two females. [We're moving before she becomes a teenager!]

Let me preface by saying that Oda Mae is somewhat fascinated by the fact that sometimes Daddy stands up to go potty and sometimes he sits down. Just this morning, she was sitting at the table eating her breakfast when I told her that I would be right back, that I had to go potty. She quickly responded with, "Are you going to stand up or sit down?" When I didn't answer her she proceeded to yell her question while I was taking care of business getting louder every time I did not answer her.

Anyway, after she had finished going to the potty I told her that I had to go. She of course asked me if I was going to stand up or sit down. I told her that I was going to stand up. She promptly said that she would get the potty ready for me and proceeded to raise the lid. :)

I think this should be one of my rewards for staying at home to raise my child. The lid of the potty should be raised by every female after they finish. Stay-At-Home-Dads.....UNITE!

DV,

OD

Abducted

Sorry for not being around much the last month, I was abducted by aliens. I'm back now and everything seems to be doing well except for the occasional unexplained visions and sharp pain just to the right of my left nostril.

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A while back I told you that Oda Mae would probably start asking the dreaded "Why?" question. So be it..... It's just about to start driving me insane. I figure maybe it'll stop if I start giving long drawn out answers. Surely she stop asking "Why?" if she knows she going to get a complete 1 hour rambling lecture in the process.

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Oh, we went to South Dakota a few weeks ago. I didn't want to let cyberspace know about it until after we got back. Burglars and stuff, you know.... We had a great car trip in the Armada. We stopped whenever/wherever we wanted, had the cooler loaded, ipods charged and a couple of grandmas in the back. We drove a leisurely pace and made the trip in a couple of days. We didn't really see any major tourist sites, but I did get to make my way through some new states. We went through Oklahoma (been there), Kansas (never been there), Nebraska (never been there), Iowa (never been there), South Dakota (never been there, and Missouri (been there).

I always enjoy going through Oklahoma. I try to imagine buffalo roaming the land with indians just over the ridge. A lot of my ancestors lived in Oklahoma back in the late 1800's as well. While I didn't get to do any research this time around It's still fun to see some of the area where they lived.

Kansas is kind of nice. You can't go through Kansas and not think about the Wizard of Oz. We were pretty watchful of tornados. I tried to get the fam to let me go to the Wizard of Oz museums, but NOoooooooo, they didn't want to go 4 hours out of the way just to see some ruby slippers. Maybe next time.

I kind of zoned out in Nebraska. There's really not much there except cows and a long stretch of highway................

I have to admit that I really can't count Iowa because we were only in the very tip of the state as we got near Vermillion, SD. We did spend the night there however. :)

In South Dakota we got to attend my brother-in-law's graduation at The University of South Dakota. It rained a lot, but fortunately the ceremony was in the "Dakota Dome". It was a relatively small group and we made it to lunch at "The Roadhouse" before becoming famished. I have to say the food was GREAT! I'd go back to SD just to eat there.

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You might have noticed that the header is gone from the top of my blog. Do not try to adjust your screen. It's the aliens.....they've taken over. I'll try to combat that in a couple of days.

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I started putting our books on LibraryThing the other day. You can check them out over there to the left. Looks like I've used up my "free" space with 200 books. I might have to splurge for the lifetime membership of $25.00 so that I can put as many books up as I want.

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Congrats to my sister! She gets to start her ONE job on Monday. The last 4 years she's been working 2 jobs (7 days a week) and going to school at the same time. As of next week, we have a weekend babysitter again! Woo Hoo!

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Oda Mae said "damn" the other day. Actually, she said, "Damn, damn, damn, damn, damn, damn, damn, damn.....". I asked her where she learned that word, and she didn't say anything. That's probably a good thing. I'm gonna have to turn up the music when we're driving around in traffic!

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We're off to day one at the water park today. Hopefully it won't be as rainy this year as it was last year. We are all hoping to get pretty water logged by the end of the summer. I gotta go find some lunch stuff, so I'll blog to you later.....

Dominus Vobiscum!

-OD

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Laundry, originally uploaded by jtpro1.

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Down the Slide, originally uploaded by jtpro1.

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Toe Talent, originally uploaded by jtpro1.

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Micky D's, originally uploaded by jtpro1.

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USA, originally uploaded by jtpro1.

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Looking Up, originally uploaded by jtpro1.

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Running Out of Room, originally uploaded by jtpro1.

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Balance, originally uploaded by jtpro1.

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IP 47: Warm Cookies, originally uploaded by jtpro1.

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Reading in Bed, originally uploaded by jtpro1.

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Mutes, originally uploaded by jtpro1.

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Lots of Baby Ducks, originally uploaded by jtpro1.

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Big Jake, originally uploaded by jtpro1.

Ahhh, Look. I got a letter from Stella....

I received this e-mail today from a poor lady who is going to die. She apparently is going to leave me $5,000,000.00. Wow! That is so nice of her to think of little ol' me in her time of passing.

Here is the letter...

"FROM : MRS STELLA TRICIA COLLINS

MY DEAR BELOVEN ONE IN CHRIST I AM THE ABOVE NAMED PERSON FROM ABIDJAN THE CAPITAL OF IVORY COAST. I AM MARRIED TO LATE TOM COLLINS OF BLESSED MEMORY WHO WORKED WITH KUWAIT EMBASSY IN ABIDJAN FOR NINE YEARS BEFORE HE DIED IN THE YEAR 2005. WE WERE MARRIED FOR ELEVEN YEARS WITHOUT A CHILD. HE DIED AFTER A BRIEFILLNESS THAT LASTED FOR ONLY FOUR DAYS.BEFORE HIS DEATH WE WERE BOTH VERY BORN AGAIN CHRISTAINS. HIS SUDEN DEATH RISE MY BLOOD PRESURE WHICH NOW LEAD TO MY STROKE DESPITE MY FORMAL CANCER FIBROID AND TUMOUR WHICH I USE TO SOFFER WHEN HE WAS ALIFE .

WHEN MY LATE HUSBAND WAS ALIVE HE DEPOSITED THE SUM OF ($5.MILLION U.S. DOLLARS) WITH ONE OF THE COMMERCIAL BANK HERE IN ABIDJAN.PRESENTLY, THIS MONEY IS STILL WITH THE BANK.RECENTLY,MY DOCTOR TOLD ME THAT I WOULD NOT LAST FOR THE NEXT THREE MONTHS DUE TO THOSE PROBLEMS. THOUGH WHAT DISTURBS ME MOST IS MY STROKE SICKNESS. HAVING KNOWN MY CONDITION I DECIDED TO DONATE THIS FUND TO EITHER A CHRISTAINS ORGANISATION OR CHRISTAINS INDIVIDUAL THAT WILL UTILIZE THIS MONEY THE WAY I AM GOING TO INSTRUCT HERE

(1).I WANT YOU TO USE THIS MONEY IN ALL SINCERERITY TO FUND CHURCHES, ORPHANAGES,WIDOWS AND ALSO PROPAGATING THE WORD OF GOD AND TO ENSURE THAT THE SOCIETY UPHOLDS THE VIEWS AND BELIEFS OF THE HOLY BIBLE. THE HOLY BIBLE EMPHASIZED SO MUCH ON GOD GOODNESS AND THIS HAS ENCOURAGED ME TO TAKE THIS BOLD STEP. I TOOK THIS DECISION BECAUSE I DON'T HAVE ANY CHILD THAT WILL INHERIT THIS MONEY.I DON'T WANT A SITUATION WHERE THIS MONEY WILL BE USED IN AN UNHOLY MANNER. HENCE THE REASON FOR TAKING THIS BOLD DECISION.

I KNOW THAT AFTER DEATH I WILL BE WITH GOD THE MOST HOLLY AND THE MOST MERCIFUL.AS SOON AS I RECEIVE YOUR REPLY WITH YOUR FULL NAME AND ADDRESS,SHALL FORWARD TO YOU THE CONTACT OF THE BANK. I WILL ALSO ISSUE YOU A LETTER OF AUTHORITY THAT WILL PROVE YOU AS THE ORIGINAL- BENEFICIARY OF THIS FUND. I WANT YOU AND THE RELIGHON COMMUNITY WHERE YOU RESIDE TO ALWAYS PRAY FOR ME. MY HAPPINESS IS THAT I LIVED A LIFE OF A TRUE DEVOTED CHILD OF GOD WORTHY OF EMULATION. WHOEVER THAT WANTS TO SERVE THE GOD MUST SERVE HIM IN TRUTH AND IN FAIRNESS.LEASE ALWAYS BE PRAYERFUL ALL THROUGH YOUR LIFE.ANY DELAY IN YOUR REPLY WILL GIVE ME ROOM THINKING OF LOOKING FOR ANOTHER PERSON.

UNTIL I HEAR FROM YOU, MY DREAMS WILL REST SQUARELY ON YOUR SHOULDERS.MAY THE ALMIGHTY GOD CONTINUE TO GUIDE AND PROTECT YOU.

REGARDS,YOUR SISTER FROM : MRS STELLA.T.COLLINS"

LOSER!!!!!!!!! Learn to spell when you send spam!

-OD

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BW Flower 3, originally uploaded by jtpro1.

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Oda Sleeping, originally uploaded by jtpro1.

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Cars, originally uploaded by jtpro1.

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My Jammies, originally uploaded by jtpro1.

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Got Tickets?, originally uploaded by jtpro1.

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Sunset Silhouette, originally uploaded by jtpro1.

The Car is Fixed....

Got my car back the same day it went in. Turns out that it was just a sensor of some sort in the transmission. Not the transmission itself thank goodness.

I got a thing cut off of my neck yesterday. That was fun. No, it wasn't my head. Quite possibly a second head trying to come in, but not my main head. I have a couple of stitches and if anybody wants to see I'll post a pic, but don't feel obligated; it's kind of gross.

Oda Mae and I are trying to decide what to do today. Maybe we'll go to the stockyards to see what's going on there. Who knows....

BTW, if you're wondering what we do everyday, make sure that you click on the picture of the day to read the comments I make. It's pretty insightful.

DV,

-OD

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Hanging On, originally uploaded by jtpro1.

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Momma and Allison, originally uploaded by jtpro1.

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Street Dancer, originally uploaded by jtpro1.

The Weekend and a 3-Year-Old

Hello all,

I've been meaning to put up an actually blog post, but have just been a little busy. Never-the-less, here it is. This weekend was an Abilene weekend for me, so I was able to get away for a couple of days. I was able to stay overnight on Thursday night this time because GeeGee was keeping Oda Mae on Friday. I decided to do a little bit of genealogy work Friday so I figured I'd get up early and head to west Texas. I left Abilene at 5am and headed for Odessa. While there I had just enough time to get some tombstone pictures and make my way over to the county library. I didn't really find anything other than the tombstone pics, but it was fun searching for a couple of hours. When I finished, I had just enough time to drive to Kermit and check out the cemetery there. I was able to get all of the pictures I needed just before I had to make my way back to Abilene for rehearsal that evening.

BTW: Uncle J. & Aunt N. Mom reminded me yesterday that you guys live in Kermit. I totally forgot. Next time, I'll make sure to give you guys a call, maybe we can catch lunch or something. I was on a pretty tight schedule anyway. You guys should come up and check out the Philharmonic in a couple of weeks. We're playing movie music and I can hook you up with tickets. :)

Unfortunately, my car started acting weird on the way back. Turns out a transmission sensor went bad. I made it back to Abilene just fine, but not with out a couple of scary-going-10-miles-an-hour-on-the-highway adventures.

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Oda Mae is 3 now. That means she isn't 2 anymore. "Yes", you say. "That's usually what that means...". Let me explain. The day she turned 3, she decided that she finally knew the ropes and was going to take charge of her own life. She suddenly became her own little person. Oda Momma and I had a little chat last night about what we were going to do with her. It's too late to turn her back in for another model, guess we'll have to keep her and deal with what we've got. Lately, we've been pretty hard on her to be polite, take her naps, and generally not be a little hoodlum. I think that as she gets older, we have to one-up her on the parenting. We can't do the same things we did a year ago to get her to behave. We also have to pick our battles more selectively. She gets pretty upset about anything that she isn't allowed to do, which lately is everything. I'm pretty sure I'd get an attitude if I was told that I can't do anything that I wanted to do as well. So we're trying to come up with a compromise. We'll back off and pick our battles if she'll be a little nicer to us. I think it's going to work. Turns out she's pretty shy around other people as well, (I wonder where she got that from?). We have to really let her warm up to others on her own time.

God, this is starting to get harder every day. I thought I had it all figured out WAY BACK WHEN (Check out the entire day).

DV

-OD

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Climbing 2, originally uploaded by jtpro1.

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Chicken Dance, originally uploaded by jtpro1.

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Jacob's Ladder, originally uploaded by jtpro1.

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Buffalo Truck, originally uploaded by jtpro1.

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Neon Church Lights, originally uploaded by jtpro1.

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Egg Chalk, originally uploaded by jtpro1.

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White Tiger, originally uploaded by jtpro1.

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My Girls, originally uploaded by jtpro1.