Other island exercise news – Chi Gong classes are starting up again this Sunday at 9:00am on the beach at the South end of Victoria House.

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Belize Blog update
“Cable Woes and Cayo Connection Meeting”  – Wealth Ships
Why YOU Should Visit Belize in January – San Pedro Scoop
15 Top Tips For Sellers – San Pedro Belize – Invest in Belize Real Estate blog

Canadian news – World’s top islands: Frommers picks Tahiti, Belize, Tobago and more – The Toronto Star news paper.

Belize Travel News - Some of you may have seen the good news already but for those of you who haven’t, several Belize resorts scored major points in the trip advisor 2012 Travelers Choice Hotel Awards. Congratulations to all who made the cut.

Top 25 Hotels in the World
1. The Phoenix Resort
3. Hamanasi Adventure and Dive Resort

Top 25 Hotels in Central America
1. Phoenix
2. Hamanasi
3. Xanadu
5 Coco Plum Island Resort
7 Turneffe Island Resort
10 Victoria House
13 Belcampo Lodge
20 Las Terrazzas
23 Chaa Creek
24 Mata Chica
25 Grand Caribe

Belize Rain report by Cowboy Doug of Cowboy Doug’s Pool bar and Grill – text received January 20th 1/2 an inch of rain last night starting at 11:40pm. Don’t forget Tomorrow is pool party day, head on up and say hi to the cowboy.

Saga Humane Society Update
I hope this finds you well and enjoying the New Year.  There seems to be a buzz in the air with 2012, let’s hope it’s a good year for all of us!

Saga Humane Society would like to give a big thanks to Mojito Bar and their great staff for hosting our Pasta Cook-off. Friday the 13th turned out to be a lucky day for the Saga shelter animals with an anonymous donor pledging to match all proceeds from this event; Saga was able to raise just over $3,000. There was a great turnout of visitors and locals who enjoyed all the fine Pasta dishes presented.

Winners were: 3rd Place: Chicken Fettuccini ala Parmesan from Faride Salinas who received a Cutlery Set; 2nd Place: Pineapple Chipotle Pasta from Xenika Nicole Armstrong who received a lovely set of 8 Pub Glasses; and 1st Place: Pork Chow Mein from Sharon Metcalfe who Received a Toaster Oven.

We would also like to thank our other entries for their wonderful dishes. Pasta Fiesta Salad – Pineapples Restaurant; Dill Macaroni Salad – LouAnn LeClaire; Bow Ties a Ragu de Tonno – Rosa LaRosa; Shrimp Roulade with Prosecco Tarragon Cream Sauce – Chap Ross & Kathy Neimic; Tia’s Salad – Tia Hindson; and Veggie Callaloni – Mathieu’s Deli.

Raffle Prizes: Kim Gonzalez won a Full Groom from Pampered Paws sponsored by George’s Kitchen. A visiting tourist won a Rod & Reel courtesy of Captain Sharks. And Eliza and her parents Jessica Waters & Stephen Card won Dinner for 2 plus a Mojito courtesy of Mojito Bar.

Thank you to all the volunteers who helped make this event a success. Heather Beck Janina Canales, Grant Crimmins,
Ingrid Juarez, Joe LaRosa, Rosa LaRosa, Bob LeClaire, LouAnn LeClaire, Ingrid Lima, Katia Marin, Sharon Metcalfe
Lori Purdy, Nancy Rountree, Jonny Woodward.

Saga Humane Society would like to thank everyone for their continued support.

[front page picture of The Phoenix Resort by Matt Lankes and Demian Solano]

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Today I did not even have to leave the house to get off track from finishing my Social Media webinar blog post that I started the other day after attending the online conference about Social Marketing in 2012 .  My sidetracker came all the way from Canada via the coconut phone [msn messenger].

I got with Heather writing an environmental press release about a local resort that has stepped up to help Direct Abundance and Caribbean S.E.A aka Caribbean Student Environmental Alliance in their volunteer  work to help San Mateo become a green community.

Writing a press release is a job that neither one of us is particularly fond of, but one we both know is an important skill to have. I took the opportunity in helping Heather do hers to remind myself that this is a good thing to have in my tool box. Thankfully we have Google on our side and tacoboy who has written many and was willing to help us.

Belize rain report by Cowboy Doug coming shortly, I am waiting for him to go check the  Grand Caribe rain gauge when he is done his meeting. Current island temperature from San Pedro Weather Live – 84f or 29c. Looks like the cowboy is not on Belize time this morning as his text came quicker than I expected. He said north Ambergris Caye got 1/10th rainfall this morning.

I was just about to hit publish on this post and somehow got sidetracked by emails. Which is not a bad thing as the first one I opened had a Montana Weather report and picture from one of my readers from Helena MT who is ready for some San Pedro sun. I found that interesting as Cowboy also hails from Montana.

Two feet of snow last night…  9 below this morning…  up to 3 above right now.
Gotta love Montana in the winter;)
Looking forward to next monthJ
cheers,
brent

Two feet of snow and 9 below by Brent Doig in Montana

Coke tractor doing deliveries in San Pablo area

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Today’s San Pedro weather report comes from Dennis while he was visiting on his lunch break. He said it is hot enough to get ripe fast and was on shirt number two. He also noted, the Caribbean Sea is super calm making it a great day for swimming, snorkeling diving, fishing outside the reef boat rides. I will add a tacogirl travel tip – Don’t forget to pack sunscreen and a shade option on days like this and drink lots of water or coconut water to stay hydrated.

Listening to Moves like Jagger, I never get tired of this song. Totally agree with Michele in Playa Adam Levine is super hot in the video. I am bummed I did not get to see the Kinnon crew more but I was following doctors orders and resting as much as I could at the time. Thankfully what ever I had did not turn out to be pneumonia. Cindy still fighting her battle as well. Anoyne on island or mainland Belize have similar health issue right now? [Started as a cold and ended with no energy for too long]

Check out Michele’s recent Belize trip review – Best BBQ in San Pedro? Estel’s on the Beach!. The family blog is  Life’s a Beach and it’s about observations on life and Real Estate From Rob and Michele Kinnon in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico.

Pedro’s Hotel is now featuring live music Friday nights with Gino and the Shackshakers. The band w ill be be shaking their groove thing on Friday the 13th. Cindy’s  seriously strong rum punch will be on tap and the weekly food special $1 wings. Don’t miss a great party.

Hibiscus flower flowers

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It was not long before  Seleni and Madison came along and wanted to share our toys. They played with the hula hoops and the float rings and were very eager to have us pull them around the pool. As soon as Dennis worked out that the shallow fountain pool was warmer than the big pool kiddy rides stopped and lounge time was on. Looking back, I should have have stayed there and not volunteered to go to the store.

They say bad things happen in three’s well I can vouch for that one. Before our road trip, Dennis came upstairs to cook a chicken carcass for soup, got busy didn’t notice that the water had boiled away. Not long after I suffered from severe burnt toast and later in the afternoon I got my freak accident out of the way for 2012 [and hopefully longer].

Dennis and I were going to pick up smokes for Paul at the store and while driving there I turned to the side at the wrong time, Denis hit a bump and before I could stop it from happening I got spat out of the cart and onto the dirt road. It was pretty funny till I tried to get up and discovered my right foot was likely sprained. I also got my left finger and now I cannot do peace signs or flip anyone the bird for a while.  The silver lining to this dark storm cloud was…. when Paul found out he kissed my sore finger better and immediately proceeded to make sure I had food in front of me and ordered shrimp Quesadilla. He knows me so well good food = tacogirl. Back at our lounge chairs, Dennis did a finger kiss to my knee and asked if Paul had kissed my booboo’s. He said “that is the first thing you do when a girl gets hurt”. I told him he is going to make someone a great boyfriend one day. I cannot even claim party foul on my golf cart accident, while I did have a white rum and cranberry juice in the cart with me, I was no where near drunk or even tipsy for that matter – chalking it up to centrifugal acceleration force and a dumb@ss accident

This unfortunate incident left me researching how stunt men do it. My first Google search was ‘how to fall out of a moving golf cart’ I was not surprised that turned up some interesting stuff including a video of John falling out of a golf cart. I instantly got sidetracked watching videos of Jackass boys and their golf cart antics, this left me thankful that Johnny Knoxville or Bam Margera were not driving or my injuries would have been way worse. I wonder if the golf cart company charged for extra insurance when Johnny Knoxville was in San Pedro.

I also found some interesting stats on golf cart occupant ejections from Technology Associates Engineering experts website. Based on CPSC statistics, roughly 40% of golf cart accidents involve a person falling out of the car, and many of these accidents involve young children. In addition to ejection accidents, approximately 10% of golf cart accidents involve a rollover and statistics indicate that such accidents are roughly twice as likely to lead to injuries requiring a hospital stay as non-rollover accidents.

Passenger Ejections – One common scenario for a passenger ejection accident occurs when a cart, traveling near its maximum speed, is turned sharply to the left. During a sharp left turn, centrifugal acceleration forces tend to force the passenger to his right, which can lead to ejection. Sharp turns are less likely to lead to a driver ejection because the driver has the steering wheel to hold onto and can always anticipate when he is about to initiate a turn.

Golf carts are typically designed with rectangular or semicircular bars that rise up from each side of the car’s bench seat and are designed to serve as both handholds and hip restraints. One of the deficiencies of this design is that the location of the handhold (i.e. at the outboard edge of the seat) is also the fulcrum about which an ejected passenger will tend to rotate. Therefore, this type of handhold, even when used, does not provide the passenger sufficient leverage to prevent ejection. Another possible deficiency is that the side restraint is often not large enough to prevent ejections.

And so ends my story of how I grounded myself on Sunday funday driving along the north Ambergris Caye road with Dennis. I would like to remind everyone to be careful when driving golf carts around town, especially if you have kids on them and pay attention to the laws of gravity . Off to make our morning juice and ice my foot.

[p.s. tech troubles with file names on camera, one pic not showing in order.]

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Don’t forget if you are looking for something to do tonight big Party at Pedro’s Sports Bar $20 all you can eat pizza, Cindy’s seriously strong rum punch and live music with Gino and the Shack Shakers.

The Church..Revolution Brewery, Paonia by Ken Butcher

Weather comparison shot for Paonia Colorado to Belize was taken on my way to the beach.

People catching the last rays at Banana Beach Resort

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I had the opportunity to go outside and warm up a bit while doing a photo shoot in our backyard, I needed a blow up lobster picture for my front page. I would have used the image I shot for Giant Lobster found in the pool at  Grand Caribe Resort  but it was a close up and not wide angle and I did not want to use a repeat from San Pedro Lobsterfest Block Party 2011.  It was a fun m morning the office

2012 San Pedro Lobsterfest - Will be Biggest and Best yet

Now you can start planning your summer in Belize – the organizing committee of San Pedro Lobsterfest is pleased to announce the official dates of the 2012 San Pedro Lobsterfest. Festivities will begin on Friday June 15th, 2012 and culminate with the traditional Lobsterfest Block Party on Saturday June 23rd, 2012. With 9 days of celebrations of all things Lobster, the 2012 San Pedro Lobsterfest is the longest and largest Lobsterfest yet! Stay tuned for more announcements of specific events and locations leading up to June.

Pedro’s Inn is having a Welcome Back JD party tomorrow night and you are all invited to come out and enjoy Live music with Gino and the Shack Shakers, all you can eat Pizza for $20 and Cindy’s Seriously strong rum punch.

Saga Humane Society 2012 calendars available for sale.
Prices are $25.00 BZ each; 6 for $100.00 BZ and 15 for $200.00 BZ.
Call or email, or go to Saga Belize website to order and they will ship it to you.

SAGA Humane Society relies mainly on donations and fundraising to support the clinic and the shelter.  The purchase of a calendar goes to the direct support of the clinic and the shelter, Fort Dog. Saga team thanks you for your continued support in SAGA Humane Society. For more details and a visual please click the following link – 2012 Saga Paws and Princesses Calendar flyer

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Eating well is the key to a fabulous and energized body which is totally my goal. I have been doing fairly well with  clean eating and getting better at moderating with the not so good stuff. When I slow down and pay attention to what I eat and drink and how it makes me feel, it gets easier to say no thanks and opt for something better. Or just have less [coming from the girl  with the hollow junk food leg ] I am also thinking it is a good time to revisit the Wild Rose meal plan that I saved from a Liver cleanse I did 3 years back.

My organic vegetable order this week consists of celery,  moringa leaf, limes, bell peppers – assorted colors, mixed greens, zucchini squash and cucumber. I have been enjoying the moringa leaf in juices and salads, I highly recommend the raw form or the powder.

Moringa trees are highly nutritious, being a significant source of beta-carotene, Vitamin C, protein,iron, and potassium.  It has been used to combat malnutrition, especially among infants and nursing mothers. Leaves can be eaten fresh, cooked, or stored as dried powder for many months without refrigeration, and reportedly without loss of nutritional value.  It is said that Moringa leaves contain more Vitamin A than carrots, more calcium than milk, more iron than spinach, more Vitamin C than oranges, and more potassium than bananas,” and that the protein quality of Moringa leaves rivals that of milk and eggs.  [ info from Sol Farms Limited, Farm Fresh Organics ]

To make our weekly orders even better,  Sol Farms has made a new addition to their facebook page and added a This Weeks Harvest tab to the left hand side. Each week they update it with what is available, and what is in the works. I was pleased to see that strawberries and local Maya cherry’s are on the up and coming list.

Once an order is placed Sol Farms in Teakettle Village Belize processes it and drives the vegetables to Belmopan where they are flown on Tropic Air to San Pedro. The shipping cost .65/lb and  the Tropic Air Cargo boys are great about letting us know when our order has arrived.  After we get the order we go put the money in their Scotia Bank account bank to pay for it.

For those of you who may have missed it due to rising fuel costs, Tropic Air increased airfare on January 1, 2012. New pricing in Belize Dollars for round trip flights from San Pedro to other destinations are as follows: Caye Caulker $163; Corozal: $216; Sarteneja: $216, Tower Hill, Orange Walk: $216; Belize Municipal: $163 and Belize International: $282.50, prices include rider fee of $5.00. Please check the San Pedro Sun newspaper for more details.

Pictures courtesy of Sol Farms Facebook page.

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Tonight December 16, 2011, from 6:00 — 11:00 p.m. at Central Park

Also presenting Costa Maya Miss Belize launching Saga’s 2012 Calendars & Photo’s with Santa

Come out for a fun-filled, family night and support Saga Humane Society by attending their first Annual Holiday Fundraiser at Central Park.  The Grand Champion will be chosen by you, the public, in our first every Grand Champion Cook-off.  The monthly cook-off Winners from 2011 compete to vie for the title of Saga’s Grand Champion.  Food Tickets are $10.00BZ to sample the entries and place your vote.

Also, Miss Costa Maya Belize, Idolly Salazar, will be on hand to launch Saga’s 2012 Calendars and will personally be signing all calendars sold that night.

Santa will be making his 4th appearance once again for Saga  at this years Holiday Fundraiser doing Photos with Santa.  His elves will be joining him also and helping the kids make Christmas Tree Ornaments and other activities.

Paws & Princesses Saga 2012 Calendar:  $25.00 BZ each    OR     (6) for $100 BZ

Photos with Santa
**4×6 Colored Print in a Holiday Greeting Card
**$10.00 BZ each or     (3) for $25.00 BZ

Saga Humane Society needs your support to operate the Shelter.  It takes continued fundraising efforts from the Board, Staff and committed volunteers AND your generous donations.  Thank you for attending this event and for your continued support.

A great cause for our whole community!

Make your own Christmas Ornament — $1.00 BZ ea
Kids Raffles –Tickets $2.00 each; 4/$5.00; 10/$10.00
Adult Raffles — Tickets $3.00 each; 2/$5.00; 6/$10.00; 15/$20.00
Full Bar with Christmas Spirits: Eggnog, Hot Buttered Rum, Sangria

Paws and Princesses 2012

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I knew it would be a busy day so I decided to prepare with a Belize breakfast of champions – 2 iced coffees, leftover Pedro’s pizza that Paul brought home last night and some ruffles potato chips is a clear sign I have fallen off the wagon food wise.

As I was reheating pizza, 3 thoughts came to mind.
1. I have not been eating nearly enough fruit and vegetables this past week.
2. At least there is pineapple on my pizza,   thanks to Paul’s new favorite being – thin crust Hawaiian with Bacon.
3. Think I will be ordering Garlic Shrimp or Chicken wings and hopefully be able to resist the pizza in Pedro’s poker room tonight.

We are live at the  first Ladies poker night at Pedro’s Poker room. Paula and I got here only to discover that the internet has been down all day, leaving me wondering how I was going to live blog and stream.

Thankfully our host for the evening Jason had my back and I am now able to blog by tapping into the connection on his cell phone – a happy geek moment for me ha ha. Next step is to see if it is fast enough to stream – we both do not think so but still hopeful. I am going test it right now and see, will update here and on facebook.

We have the video running but on our end, it is not streaming fast enough so people are likely seeing a frozen image or slight movement and hearing a bunch of girls gone wild, they way more vocal and excitable at the table than boys Ha Ha.

Jason is doing an excellent job teaching everyone how to play, unfortunately I am missing it all so my plan is to sit next to Aida and wing it

Still not made it to the table yet, two of us are waiting for seats to open up but everyone playing is too well.  It has been fun watching and chatting about future ladies nights and plans for an all girl tournament down the road.

Congratulations to Purdy Grl for winning my Belize Poker Trivia question.  Her mystery prize  is a gift certificate from Cowboy Doug’s poolside Bar at Grand Caribe or El Divino at Banana Beach.

The answers to this mornings 5 Poker Trivia questions are as follows. mysteryboy guessed them all right but still has to decide which of his 3 choices for the Island poker player he will go with.

1. Where was Texas Hold’em invented?
Robstown, Texas

2. Why is the hand Aces and Eights referred to as the Dead Man’s Hand?
Because Wild Bill Hickok was holding it when he was shot at the poker table

3.Why is the 10-2 called the Doyle Brunson?
Brunson is convinced that the hand A-Q can be beaten in too many ways. On the flip side Brunson won theWorld Series of Poker with A-Q twice in back to back years.

4. Name 3 Hollywood actors who have won major tournaments.
Gabe Kaplan won a Super Bowl of Poker, Jennifer Tilly won a WSOP bracelet in the 2005 NL Hold’em Ladies Event, Ben Affleck won the 2004 California State Poker Championship for $356,000, and although he’s never won a tournament, Phil Hellmuth estimates that Tobey Maguire has won more than $10,000,000 playing poker.

5. What is the name of the book Barry Greenstein gives an autographed copy to every player who knocks him out of a tournament?
Ace on the River.

Thanks to everyone who tuned in live and helped with info from afar regarding live stream via facebook, and to Jason for hosting a great night and providing me with internet to live blog .

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