Well, I found this recipe by recipe-girl, a food blogger, that looks decadent and delicious.
OMG!
Can you tell I've been off sweets for awhile? 
Last weekend at the From the Heart Auction I had the great fortune to bid on
Jim supervised.
John got right to work. They decided to empty the dirt into a clear plastic bag,
He vacuumed.... 
until he worked up a bit of a sweat. 
Manly Maids don't sweat, the glow!
John really doesn't have a sunflower growing out of his butt,
He really took his job seriously.
He not only did all the carpeting and area rugs, but the hard surfaces too!
After repeated emptying of the canister he finally announced the job done. Now just because John took almost 3 hours to vacuum our relatively small mobile home, that is no reason to assume we were up to our eyeballs in accumulated filth. No sirree! John is thorough, that's all.
Thorough, I tell you!
Close to two pounds! Yikes!
The Sandpipers Roadkillers have ridden our initial bike ride with good results.
We rested at 8 miles for a few minutes to view some 
At 10 miles we turned south to face the winds fury.
We rested again when we reached Monte Cristo Road. 
Some of us were fascinated with the ants feeding on wasted citrus fruit!
Others were just glad to be off the bicycles!
We arrived at Nature's Resort about 11:30 and were welcomed into the park.
Danny and Robin entertained us with soft chairs, drinks, hot dogs and chips.
We toured their home with particular notice of the new 40" LCD TV and Robin's fantastic "rack" and Danny's fine tomato garden! All of us appreciated the loo but none more than the ladies! Dave and Alice stopped by to say hello and we waved hello to Bernie though we didn't see him or Arlie! (Editor's sad note: Arlie passed away a little while ago).
At 3:00 p.m. we rolled through the Sandpipers gate. No breakdowns, no wimps, we were the Sandpipers Roadkillers!
ndpiper family. (Sign up & pay $3 by Feb 1st. See Bob or Bernie #36/John or Sue #37) Just bring a chair to #36-37 at 4pm, your towel, a smile, your appetite, oh...and a couple of tasty beers so we can do a bit of a beer tasting. AND, if you are an OWL, wear your OWL shirt! In fact, did you know that OWLS are supposed to wear their shirts, not only for OWL events (few they may be) but every Wednesday? So dig it out and wear it. Get the newcomers to the park wondering, "What the heck is an OWL? " Can you answer that question? Hoot, hoot!
The event started out with the "President of the Ring" giving an explanation of some of the history of bullfighting and, with the help of a couple of two-legged bulls, introduced the crowd to some of the technical moves that would be seen, as well as the sequence of the bull fight. 
The first matador was Enrique Delgado from Monterrey, who demonstrated considerable bravery. It had been explained to us earlier that most matadors get injured in the area between the waist and the knees. Enrique was clipped by the bull in that area (use your imagination) and came back to compete with the bull after a few minutes of pain.
The other matador was one of only five female matadors in the world, and this was the debut in this area of Lupita Lopez. She also showed considerable skill and bravery, as she drew an unusually feisty young bull. It took her 3 tries to snatch the ribbon off of the bulls back (which is the "kill" in these bloodless events), but she was enthusiastically received by the crowd.
After a short intermission, both matadors returned to face their second bulls of the day, and for both matadors, this performance was the best of their day, and both received two ears and a tail, the highest honor the crowd can bestow for an exceptional display of skill.
The day concluded with a display of horsemanship by Mario Ordaz and his dancing horses.
We would highly recommend this excursion to other Sandpiper's, 
Euchre, Petanque or water volleyball...you can pick one event to participate in. Sign up in the pavilion but do it quickly as the organizers need time to, well, organize.
The weather as of yesterday looked terrible for the weekend, but today the forecast has changed and it should be sunny and in the 70's. The pool water is warm if you are leaning toward water volleyball. The teams should be about 7 to 8 per side.
The weather should be terrific for petanque, and for euchre, the weather doesn't matter. So pick one and join in with the Natures folks for a fun day.
The day will start with a pot luck breakfast...I'm gonna make ooey, gooey homemade cinnamon/pecan sticky buns!!
Lunch will be served starting at noon for a $4 donation, and we will conclude with a time of fun and laughter at our Happy Hour. For this special event, all gate and visitor fees are being waived by Sandpipers for competitors and visitors from Natures Resort.
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Recommendation from Pauline:
Ernie Rodriguez is an Autoglass Certified Technician with a mobile service who fixes rock chips starting at $15.00 each and apparently can fix cracks up to 16 or maybe it’s 18 inches long. He also does head light glass restoration and quoted me $25.00 for each coach light. Personable, professional guy who enjoys imparting information to his customers. His phone number is 956-827-2710 and I have some of his business cards (Lot 49) should someone want one. Pauline
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Restaurant Review Contest
It's not too late to enter the restaurant review contest. Every recommendation or warning about a dining experience will get you a chance for free lunch tickets. The drawing will be at the Feb. 1st FunBuzz. Comment here or email me NOW! Here are the latest:
The Blue Shell – across from Sam’s Club in McAllen. Rating: 5 toilet flushes (which is kind of what happened about 20 minutes after one of us actually ate). Ordered their fish and shrimp special. Got scorched beans, tasteless fish, soggy and tasteless fries and still the expectation of a check paid in full!
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There is also MIMI'S CAFE that is reallyyyyy goood!(just off 83 in Mission)
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Texas Roadhouse in McAllen for 2-Fers is a great early dinner place. I enjoyed the happy hour beer prices and the 2-Fers are $14.99 for two meals on the 2-Fer menu. We had a nice 6 oz steak with 2 sides and the sides can be healthy. The time, as I said, is early. Before 6PM Mon-Fri
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We "dined" at the Flying J at Monte Cristo & 281. The food was fine, but the service was AUTROCIUOS (no matter how you spell it)! Would not recommend that particular Flying J to anyone!
This one of Mariana's scarves.
It is basically a very large cemetery with numerous, small mausoleums about five feet tall. The legend is that they contained the bones of the "dearly departed" and that the priests kept incense burning at the door of the temple/mausoleums. This is also the location of Cortez' first landing and legend has it that he made an alliance with the Quihuiztlanis, who did not like the Aztecs either, and they joined forces to overthrow the Aztecs. There is also some legend of a continually burning, funeral pyre maintained at the top of the mountain which was probably visible from the sea and functioned similarly to the lighthouse at Alexandria. 
It was a major Totanac center in 1200 AD. It fell to the Aztecs in the mid-1400's and had a population of 30,000 when the Spaniards arrived in 1519. The buildings were covered with white plaster but were constructed of round rocks instead of the squared, lime-stone blocks common at most other sites. These round stones were set in mortar made from burned sea-shells, small aggregate stones and sand. I have included a picture of the round Plaza of the Gladiators where it was possible to fight for your freedom if you were a prisoner of war. 
Legend has it that only one person successfully won his freedom by defeating all challengers. Apparently all others attempting to win their freedom died in the process. This also the site where Cortez met and defeated Panfilo de Narvaez who had been sent by the governor of Cuba to arrest Cortez in 1520.
We have been on the road since Jan 7. We have been visiting Kent and Sue Ellen in Paamul, Quintana Roo, Mexico since Jan 13. Paamul is just south of Playa del Carmen and right on the beach. It is basically an RV park, but the RV's have been set on the ground, bricked around and covered with palapa thatched roofs. The thatching is made either from palmetto fronds or from "thatch grass" very similar to that used in England. Kent and Sue Ellen's is made from palmetto fronds. These palapas are fairly cool, have tall roofs and ventilation triangle windows in the gables at both ends. The triangle windows remind me of the hay-mow doors on old barns. The windows have no shutters or other way to close them so they allow hot air to vent all the time. Consequently, the palapas are quite comfortable...they shade the sun, keep out the rain, break the wind and add a wonderful ambiance. 
Just north of Paamul, 1 km., is a beach called Yon-Ten and it is clothing optional. 
It is also fairly empty. The sand is very shallow and the slope likewise is fairly shallow so you can walk out 100 yards and still only have water up to you knees. These beaches are all sheltered by an off-shore reef, resulting in small, "lappy" waves like we see on small lakes in the Midwest. 
This area is greatly affected by the large tourist trade in Cancun and Cozumel and most prices are at least as high as in the states and many times priced in US dollars instead of pesos.
We went cenote diving yesterday at the "Dos Ojos" cenote about 25 miles south of here and back in the jungle about a thousand miles--actually it was only 2 miles but the road was absolutely the worst I have ever driven and it just seemed like a thousand miles. 
Cenotes are sink-holes that have fallen into the underwater lake that lies under the entire Yucatan. There are numerous limestone caves, tunnels and cenotes all over this place. We took some underwater pictures but will wait to have them developed in Texas.
The cenote was inhabited by fish that love to eat body hair when you stop moving to take a picture. It hurts like having your eye-brows plucked and is somewhat disconcerting the first couple of times. I referred to them (the fish) as the "little pluckers"--Catherine did not think that a funny as I did. I think her sense of humor may have been affected by the dark, the wet, the cool, and maybe the heavy rocks hanging by a thread from the ceiling, etc. 
We are leaving here today and heading south to Tulum, Coba, Xacalak, Chetumal and then we are heading into the interior to visit some even lesser-known ruins and cenotes. We will be "off-the-air" for a while when we are in the jungles.
I am not sure when we will be back...probably mid-February-ish.
Love,
Catherine and Bob
Fat Daddy's, on 1015 on the way to Nuevo Progresso has some mighty fine sausage, and the best potato salad I've found in a restaurant.
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The Arizona Room in Progresso. Their flaming cheese and the Seafood Molcajete are wonderful. Great ambiance and service, and two for one margaritas!
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P.F.Chang's China Bistro in Mission, just off 83, for great Chinese.
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The Pelican Cove in McAllen is great for seafood and Italian fare. It is located just across the tracks at Business 83 and 6th Street. Good food, great service, reasonable prices. Even have covered parking for your car! Don't be alarmed when walking in and seeing the white tablecloths, wine glasses and upholstered chairs. We wondered our 1st time there.
Some members of the group in front of one of the churches.
The group with a couple of children who attached
The delegation that came to meet us!
Now this is what we were waiting for! 
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The group in the bar at the Yacht Club.
Lanny gives us the history of the collapse of the causeway.
We were a real biker gang!
How many wheels are in that picture? 
We had our own Inauguration Parade!
