2 Oklahoma

My morning kicked off by discovering the valet trash people knocked over my trash can, broke my half full trash bag, left a mess outside my front door last night, and then -wait for it- left a note telling me to clean it up and rebag. The raw chicken container was especially fun to walk out and inhale on this warm Texas morning. Pondering what kind words I can pen on a note and leave for them tonight as a "thank you assholes for your stellar service".

Wonderful way to start my day. However, a total first world problem compared to what happened in Oklahoma yesterday.

My friend was in Oklahoma City for work yesterday and one of her appointments had to cancel because his family was injured in the tornados. The devastation is unimaginable and the amount of help they are going to need financially is staggering. 

So you know what gets my blood boiling, though? That both Senators from Oklahoma consistently vote against federal aid for disaster areas in other states. In fact, they recently were outspoken critics for helping the Sandy Victims. My Dad and Mom are both originally from New York and my Dad's side of the family still lives there. After Sandy, my Dad went to New York to help people rebuild for two months. When he came back he said it would be years before the area fully recovered. I can assure you, those people weren't looking for a handout, they just wanted shelter, food, and clothing. The people of Moore are in the same boat.

So I wonder if those same Senators are going to be singing a different tune today. Turns out yes. Also turns out Oklahoma is third in the nation in federal aid for disasters. Boy do politics and politicians irritate me with their hypcroasiy. 

Luckily, I'm not a politician, hence why I can sleep at night with a clear conscious. That and I have the common sense to know when a weather disaster hits, people need help. So I thought I'd share some links to organizations helping Oklahoma.

Red Cross

If you want to send a $10 donation to the Disaster Relief fund via text message, you can do so by texting the word REDCROSS to 90999.  You can also donate to the Red Cross Disaster Relief fund here, and the organization also suggests giving blood at your local hospital or blood bank.
Phone: 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767).

Oklahoma Baptist Disaster Relief

This organization says donations will "go straight to help those in need providing tree removal services, laundry services and meals to victims of disasters." It is requesting monetary donations (It says clothing is NOT needed). For more information, and to donate, visit Oklahoma Baptist Disaster Relief's website.

Salvation Army

The Salvation Army is organizing disaster response units to serve hard-hit areas in central Oklahoma, including Moore, where it is sending mobile kitchens that can serve meals to 2,500 people a day, and to South Oklahoma City. Supporters can donate online via the organization's website, SalvationArmyUSA.org. You can also text the word STORM to 80888 to make a $10 donation via cellphone.

United Way of Central Oklahoma

A disaster relief fund is being activated as of May 21 so that individuals can specifically donated to tornado relief-and-recovery efforts, the organization says on its site. "Financial contributions are the best way to help unless otherwise requested." Donations can be made online at United Way of Central Oklahoma’s Disaster Relief Fund is open.  Donations may be made online here.

Feeding America

Through its network of more than 200 food banks, Feeding America, whose mission is to "feed America's hungry through a nationwide network of member food banks," says it will deliver truckloads of food, water and supplies to communities in need, in Oklahoma, and will also "set up additional emergency food and supply distribution sites as they are needed." You can donate online here.

Operation USA

The international relief group, based in Los Angeles, says it is "readying essential material aid — emergency, shelter and cleaning supplies" to help Oklahoma's community health organizations and schools recover. You can donate online here. You can also give a $10 donation by texting the word AID to 50555.

3 Weekend Recap

My blogging is going to be a bit sporadic over the next couple of weeks. I decided to take two summer courses and they started last week. One is a finance class and the other is a gender communication course. Both are much more work then I anticipated, which means time I usually devote to y'all is going to be spent on school. If you are interested in doing a guest post, send me an email. I'd love to have you.

And before I mention anything about my weekend, I am going to say right off the bat, I had major scale shock this morning. I have not been working out or eating right the last few weeks. And this morning the scale confirmed I had gained eight pounds. Lawd. On Saturday, I went to the grocery store and bought stuff to get back on the Atkins diet today. Thank goodness. I have three weeks till my beach vacation with the family. I plan on kicking it into high gear with diet and exercise until then. No more Corona lights or potato chips on the boat for this chick. I am going to be the no girl for the next three weeks and focus more on eating at home and working out religiously.

Ok, moving on. My weekends probably sound like a broken record lately. Summer is already here in Austin and that means this water baby spends as much time as possible on the lake or river. Toobing, boat, pool, repeat. Every weekend. It never gets old to me.

Friday night I was not feeling so great. I went to bed super early and was happy to do so. On Saturday I did get up early and was pretty productive. I cleaned the inside and outside of my car at the local self-serve place. I find I do a better job then the expensive car wash places and it costs me a lot less. I then ran some errands, did a couple things around the house, and stocked the cooler for the boat. By 2pm I was at Volente Boat club and hopping on a boat with friends. We hung out at Point Pleasant beach for a little while, but then ended up at Devils Cove on Lake Travis, and tied up with some other boats.

 

I also ate at Texas Roadhouse over the weekend, I bet their delicious rolls and the gazilion calorie ribeye I scarfed down were a factor in my scale shock this morning.

 

Yesterday, I enjoyed a morning at home and then headed to Driftwood to meet a bunch of friends for some of the best bbq in the area at the Salt Lick. Again, I bet gorging on brisket, sausage, and ribs contributed to the scale this morning. And probably their delicious cole slaw, homemade bread, potato salad, and the best dang pecan pie around was a factor. Not to mention its a byob place, so my friends and I had a cooler of Corona Light to par with the meal.

By the time I left there I was in a serious food coma. I went home and watched my Sunday shows and then went to bed.

I'm so glad this is a short week for me, I am really looking forward to Memorial Day Weekend! My friends have rented a house on the lake in Lago Vista, and I am looking forward to four full days of boats, dock parties, and crawfish!

Linking with Sami's Shenanigans.

6 Weekend Recap

This weekend my younger brother, John, came in for a visit from Maryland. We went floating on Friday afternoon in San Marcos.

Later that night we went out with some of my friends to my favorite honkeytonk.

And my brother decided it was time to try a mechinical bull (no judgement).  He actually did stay up for 8 seconds, not bad.

Saturday morning we stayed in and watched episodes of Game of Thrones, since my brother doesn't have HBO and loves the show as much as I do. We also made a trip to Lowes, where I bought some garage organizational stuff. My brother hung some hooks for me so I can hang my tubes to dry, and I also put together a shelving unit to store some other items. I didn't, however, take any photos to share with you.

That afternoon we went to my friend's birthday crawfish boil. It was a lot of fun and super delicious. Did I mention the boy was there cooking the crawfish? Yeah, that was awkward. But he cooks crawfish like no one else, and I didn't think it was fair for him not to come because of me, so I put on my big girl panties and did what any mature women would do, avoided eye contact and stayed as far away as possible from him. He returned the favor and did the same. And that is how grownups handle a breakup y'all. Nevertheless, I had a nice time and was glad my brother got to chow on some crawfish and meet all my friends while he visited.

Yesterday, I had to drive him back to Houston to catch a plane. On Thursday night, he took a bus from Houston to Austin, after attending a conference for work. However, the bus schedule yesterday didn't work for his flight time, so I had to drive him back. It's three hours each way, so yes I am sister of the year. It gave us a chance to call our Mom and wish her a great Mother's Day and also just catch up and talk. Then I turned around and drove all the way back right away, so I could spend the afternoon on the lake with my friends.

There was some interesting stops on the lake yesterday. My friend Sean insisted we swing by the cove where all the hippies hang out, appropriately called Hippie Hollow. Y'all, there were a lot of naked older people just prancing around on the beach and rocks--- and there were other boats anchored there where people were just lounging in their birthday suits. Lawd. I can say I have seen it, but I don't think I have any desire to go back. Don't worry, I didn't zoom in for that camera shot.

We then decided to go to Devil's Cove instead, where people wear bathing suits. 

Then we checked out a beach area recommended to us, which we stayed out for a couple of hours and a enjoyed some nice adult beverages. 

And then did what girls do after consuming adult beverages, took lots of photos of ourselves. 

When we got off the boat, we went to our favorite outdoor restaurant and ate more crawfish. Yes, my friends and I are crawfish addicts. But the season is almost over, and after Memorial Day, we will have to wait another year for mudbloods. So we are getting as much as we can. This was the aftermath of round one. The four of us ate about twelve pounds of crawfish last night. Yum, yum, and more yum.

It was great to have my brother in town and I was so glad the weather was awesome. I'm a little tired today at work after such a busy weekend, but it was worth it.

Linking with Sami's Shenanigans.