Meant to mention in my original post I'm using Inkscape 0.48.2 on a Mac with OS 10.8.2 in case that's relevant.

I'm a new user to Inkscape as of yesterday after thinking about it for several years. I'm finding working with text on a path to be a frustrating experience. Especially the inability to drag text along a path. But that's beside the point of this post. I want a simple oval with some curved text in it...