Howdy!

Hey how is everyone? Things are going well here although I miss Bob dearly. I attended a small dinner party last night with some friends (Chris, Jody, Cara, Monika, Luis, Barb and John). We had a great time. One of the guys we've met here on the island is a Chef. His name is John and had worked at some of the top restuarants in Houston. He's the one that hosted the dinner party last night. He kept it very simple with serving a Shrimp Pasta dish and Caesar Salad. Very refreshing and delicious. Of course provided several bottles of wine (which I still can't drink) but I brought some Rum. We hung at his place till about Midnight or so talking. Monika & Luis are amazing. They are awesome to hang with and we laugh so much. She is originally from Guatemala and Luis is from here, Utila. They own a bar called Tranquila. Where we spend time while away from Driftwood. They host a Texas Hold'em Tournament on Tues., Thurs., and Sunday's at 8:00 weekly. I plan to be there tonight! Chris, Jody & Cara - Chris & Jody are married and Cara is Chris's Mom. Cara has been visiting here for 2 weeks from Lake Livingston area. Unfortunately she leaves on Sunday. She is one spunky Momma that has not 1 but 2 Harley's. She has been blast! Chris and Jody are wonderful too. They live on the backside of the island where we are staying. They are caretakers of a beautiful rental property. Next year they plan to move to Houston and get real jobs. They are young and living life before they have to grow up and start a family. Bummer! Barb! What can I say about Barb...Party Animal. Of course she is. She's from New Orleans. We have had such a blast with her. She now lives here on the islands permenantly. She's retired from the Service and lives off her pension. She's very cool and has a heart of gold. As you can read we've met some amazing people here and some friends for life. That' not to say we've haven't met some weirdo's too. Well, there's Beverly & Ranger. They come to this island from Belize. Apparently they were run out from Belize. (Long Story) Beverly wanted a friend to talk to on the island and found me. I was there for her a few days till I decided I didn't need to surround myself or be part of the negative energy of this couple. Ranger beats her and yet she remains to stay with him. I don't mean to be cold but I can't help someone who doesn't really want it. This chick is loaded. She's the Granddaughter of Winn Dixie and she's roaming the Carribean with an abusive drug dealer from Belize. Not my thing. Next couple we met are Deb and Joe from New Orleans. These guys are moochers. They love to tell "feel sorry for me stories" in hopes to get on your good will and then rip you off. Barb was unfortunate to be on the receiving side of that. What can I say...Live and learn experiences. Bob and I are always on alert and have decent instincts. Sometimes I just want to give people the benefit of the doubt. But for some reason on this island we can really feel the good aura of the people and yet tense up when the bad aura appears. We hope that always stays with us thru our travels. Instincts always the best...Or was that incest always the best. LOL! Let's see what else is going on...Another couple of friends Paul & Ann has their daughter, Paula visiting them here from Dallas. Another great family. Turns out Paula knows some folks I went to High School with and Paul has a niece I worked with at Avista Energy. Can you say small world? Anyway, they were out one evening for dinner. When they went left the restuarant to go out to their golf cart...It was gone. What the heck! Golf Cart missing? Well they started to walk home when golf cart came tearing by with 6-7 kids hanging off of it. It was their cart. Paul went hollering and chasing them down the street. (Paul is mid 60's) All the kids jumped off their cart and scattered like roaches. He was so pissed but I'm laughing my ass off as he's tell me the story. Apparently any small key will start any one of our golf carts. So, everyone is subject to this. What else do we do....Our hot spots are Driftwood (of course) Sunday's is my favorite. The guys play horseshoes while the women play Farkel (dice game) Who would imagine a dice game being so much fun. We laugh so loud and have a great time. Not to mention the free flowing Monkey Balls. (Homemade Kalua w/Vodka) O'mammacita, very good! Monday's is Pub Trivia at Skidrow. They ask some hard questions. Fortunately I had 2 smart girls with me and we did alright. We came in 3rd place overall of about 12 teams. However, our team name won 1st place. Which means we get a free round of drinks next week. The name may not make since to you guys but we were called the Skinned Knees of Utila. Right now, there is so much construction going on and have most of the main road dug up to put in new sewer lines. Everybody seems to fall over here. How has that not happened to me yet? I'm the biggest klutz around...so I thought. It' so funny. When you walk the streets and pay attention to those walking around...almost everyone has some kind of street wound on their legs. The main street is where everyone walks or bikes and these holes are really tripping up folks. I've seen a couple of bad bike wrecks. So, what do I do...My bike is sitting in the garage at home. No way am I riding it while the roads are dug up. It's crazy! I ready for a siesta now. I'll be in touch soon. Have a great day! Lots of love. Bonnie.