Weekend Forecast/Trouble with Google Adwords

HURRICANES AND WEATHER
An early post today as I will be busy with all kinds of little ghosts and goblins.

Here's a treat...there is nothing disturbed (of note) in the tropics.

Weekend weather will be mild for the southern half of the country. Look for highs in the 30s and 40s for northern New England and in the 50s and 60s for the northwest and intermountain region (their coolest day will be Sunday). There will be rain for the northwest and intermountain region and some rain and thunderstorm in the southeast (mainly Sunday).

Houston area weather for the weekend...lows in the 50s and highs in the 80s with somewhat humid conditions. No rain is expected until at least Wednesday. Trick or treat temperatures tonight will be in the 60s and 70s.

SPANISH WORD OF THE DAY
Let's do fun or diversión, pronounced dee-vair-SYOWN. Halloween is wonderful diversión. And after trick or treating, you say it was great fun or fue muy divertido, pronounced fway mooey dee-vair-TEE-doh.

Adriana Gutierrez, our spanish teaching friend suprema, offered her site as a great place for kids to access language learning information. So check it out: http://myspanishlessonsonline.blogspot.com

And of course, with the holidays right around the corner, the perfect gift for little ones is our award winning DVD, Volume 1 of Let's Learn Spanish with Frank and Paco, a Dr. Toy Top 10 Educational Product for 2008. You can order it from www.frankandpaco.com, www.venturaes.com, www.dololanguages.com, www.carlexonline.com,www.thecuriousmindstore.com, www.amazon.com, www.bestbuy.com, and www.barnesandnoble.com.

AND MORE
Please note that this Sunday at 2 am, Daylight Saving Time ENDS. Remember to turn your clocks back (fall back) one hour before going to bed Saturday night.

Does anyone use Google Adwords? About a week ago, I checked my stats on my Google Adwords account and saw that there had been no activity (no impressions/no clicks) for some time. I went through the help with multiple back and forths with Google Adwords and they just kept referring me back to their online help info. Well, finally I gave up and set up a whole new account. Guess what? Nothing again. Now, keep in mind that I had been using Google Adwords successfully for a very long time and had made no changes in setup around the time it stopped working. By the way, I also use Yahoo's similar product. Anyway, I contacted their help again (of course you know there is no phone number). You just have to exchange emails. This time one tech said hmmmm....there appears to be a technical problem. Yes! Yes! Yes! I had also told them several times that they are not making any money off me if I am not getting clicks. If I set up a brand new account without getting it to work, surely this is happening to other folks. Will let you know what I find out.

Well gotta run--it's Halloween you know!

Happy Halloween!
Cecilia Sinclair
Wonder Weather Woman

Correction!!! Daylight Saving Time Ends Sun. 2 am

Hello all -
My previous post said "returns"...so sorry about that gaff! You still need to turn your clocks back (fall back) one hour before going to bed Saturday night.

Thanks Book!

Cecilia Sinclair
Wonder Weather Woman

Halloween Forecast/More Halloween Trivia/Daylight Saving Time Returns

HURRICANES AND WEATHER
Same area of disturbed weather in central Atlantic--no development expected.

Most of the country will enjoy a dry Halloween--the exception the west from San Francisco northward and then east to Salt Lake City--there will be showers and snow (in the higher elevations). Highs in the northwest will be in the 50s...northern Maine the coolest spot with highs in the 40s.

Here in Houston, I broke a sweat today--it's the return of moisture. And the humidity will be with us until next Thursday. Lows will be in the 50s and highs will be in the low 80s--very little change. In fact, there will be very little change for much of the country over the next few days as we see a somewhat slowing changing pattern stick around.

Trick or treating looks good in Houston -- temperatures in the 60s and 70s and no rain expected. Be careful everyone.

SPANISH WORD OF THE DAY
Have I got a neat one for you! Let's do spooky or espeluznante, pronounces asz-pay-looz-NAHN-tay. It was very espeluznante on Halloween.

I tell you what...when I realized that Sarah was getting closer to growing beyond that age of early language learning maximum benefit, I was spooked. I enrolled her in a Spanish program at her summer camp--taught by Spanish teacher suprema, Adriana Gutierrez. There are many ways you can expose you child to another language--rent videos in that language, read books with both, listen to music in that language--there are lots of choices at the Dolo Publications web site. And of course, you can have them watch our award winning DVD, Volume 1 of Let's Learn Spanish with Frank and Paco, a Dr. Toy Top 10 Educational Product for 2008. You can order it from www.frankandpaco.com, www.venturaes.com, www.dololanguages.com, www.carlexonline.com,www.thecuriousmindstore.com, www.amazon.com, www.bestbuy.com, and www.barnesandnoble.com.

AND MORE
The poll results are in, 5 people said they planned to early vote. You have one more day to early vote--Friday October 31st. The early polls close at 7 pm Friday evening. If you don't make it tomorrow, you'll have to go on Tuesday, November 4th. Thanks so much all poll participants.

Daylight saving time begins this Sunday at 2 am. You will set your clocks back (fall back) one hour before going to bed on Saturday night. That means an extra hour of sleep for people without kids. Since the time change was shifted to the first weekend in November, we have a later sunset on Halloween. So, it won't get dark for trick or treating until 6:50 pm.

We finally got our winterizer down today. In Houston, you want to put that down in October--usually the middle of the month and then in March you want to put down weed and feed. The winterizer is so important because it keeps weeds from emerging in the spring. And then, you won't be wasting all your time pulling weeds. Try it...I'm telling you this works!!! Get that winterizer on your yards now. Don't forget to water it in.

Here's some more Halloween trivia--In the Middle Ages, people believed that people who died the previous year without being reconciled to you might come and haunt you (as a ghost). They believed that you could appease them with special fried cakes known as treats. That way they wouldn't do any mischief to you--play a trick. Then, people started using that night as a night to seek reconciliation by wearing a mask and go to other people asking for treats and forgiveness. Over time (as we know), the focus became less on the asking forgiveness and more on the getting the treats. And that is where we got the tradition of trick or treat.

Have a safe and fun Halloween everyone!
Cecilia Sinclair
Wonder Weather Woman

Halloween Forecast/Halloween Trivia/Deal at Walmart

HURRICANES AND WEATHER
Still have an area of disturbed weather in the Atlantic, but it really looks like it won't develop.

Cooler places in nation are warming up over the next 2 days. Cool spots Thursday will be northern New England and the Pacific Northwest. Highs will be in the 30s in Maine and 50s in the northwest. There will be showers and even some snow showers in Maine. Rest of the country will be mild to warm and dry.

On Halloween the Pacific Northwest highs will be in the 50s. There will be showers and thunderstorms from the west through the intermountain region (including places like Salt Lake City). Halloween night looks dry everywhere except extreme northern portions of the Pacific Northwest.

Houston will be cool in the mornings and mild to warm in the afternoons for the next 2 days. Humidity will rise slightly. No rain is expected.

SPANISH WORD OF THE DAY
The word for the day is the verb vote or votar, pronounced bo-TAR. Don't forget to votar over the next 2 days if you plan to votar early.

80% of neurological development of the brain happens by the age of 8. Early language learning has been shown to increase the density of the part of the brain associated with language learning. So, if you want to get optimal impact for your child, expose them to language learning at an early age. One fun way is through our award winning DVD, Volume 1 of Let's Learn Spanish with Frank and Paco, a Dr. Toy Top 10 Educational Product for 2008. You can order it from www.frankandpaco.com, www.venturaes.com, www.dololanguages.com, www.carlexonline.com,www.thecuriousmindstore.com, www.amazon.com, www.bestbuy.com, and www.barnesandnoble.com.

AND MORE

Well, Gordy and I voted early today and it was a piece of birthday cake. We walked right in. Maybe one or two other people were there. I can not recommend this enough. You will save so much time and stress. Polls for early voting close at 7 pm on Friday, October 31st.

Here is a great tip for saving money...if you take the print ads for great deals at other stores to Walmart and show it at the checkout, they will honor it. For example, if Store X is offering strawberries for 99 cents a pint, and Walmart is selling them for $2.99 a pint, they will charge you only 99 cents. Try it! It works!

Yesterday I promised a bit of Halloween trivia. Here is the tale of the origin of Jack-o-lanterns. Legend has it that there once was a man named Jack. He never hurt anyone, but he never helped anyone either. He just lived his life, a lazy one, doing just as he pleased. He made no positive impact on the world. When he died and went to the gates of Heaven, St. Peter told him that he could not come in and that he would be banished for eternity to roam the world with a light in a turnip as warning to others who were not leading a selfless life. They called this Jack o' the Lantern. Over time, people began carving pictures of the face of Jack in turnips.This legend moved to the New World with the pilgrims. They had access to pumpkins and eventually they would carve the pumpkins and continued calling them Jack-o-the lanterns. Today, we call these Jack-o-lanterns.

Have a terrific Thursday!
Cecilia Sinclair
Wonder Weather Woman

Wednesday and Halloween Forecasts/Learning Meteorology/Halloween Term Origin

HURRICANES AND WEATHER
Still have that disturbed area in the central Atlantic and that is it for the tropics.

Much of the country, early today, woke up to chilly conditions. Wednesday will be a bit warmer in most places…still a lot of sunshine. The cool spots will be the Great Lakes States and New England where highs will be in the 30s. There will be cold rain and even some snow showers from Caribou Maine to Boston. In Houston, we’re looking at another gorgeous day—low humidity after a frosty morning and highs in the 70s. By the way, Conroe was down to 32 this am. And in the Sugar Land area (although the official low was 38), I saw frost on the rooftops as we walked Sarah to school. Houston area highs were only in the 60s.

Halloween forecast calls for coolest temperatures in the Pacific Northwest and the Northeast but it will be the same or just a little warmer most places. Houston highs will be in the low 80s with trick or treating temperatures in the 60s and 70s depending on timing. No rain is expected in Houston on Halloween but there will be showers along the west coast from San Francisco to Seattle.

SPANISH WORD OF THE DAY

So this morning, people were saying to each, gee, it’s freezing. In Spanish that would be muy frío, pronounced mooee (slide the sound together) FREE-oh. It is muy frío outside…take a coat.
Now in case you were wondering, muy is a word that literally means very in Spanish, but like all translations, sometimes it is not literal. Want to learn more, we teach 50 words/phrases in our award winning DVD, Volume 1 of Let's Learn Spanish with Frank and Paco, a Dr. Toy Top 10 Educational Product for 2008. You can order it from www.frankandpaco.com, www.venturaes.com, www.dololanguages.com, www.carlexonline.com,www.thecuriousmindstore.com, www.amazon.com, www.bestbuy.com, and www.barnesandnoble.com.


AND MORE
I am getting recertified for my National Weather Association broadcast seal. In addition to attending the annual conference, I am taking some online courses with exams. COMET is a wonderful resource for learning more about meteorology and anyone can access it. So, all you weather enthusiasts, check it out: comet http://www.comet.ucar.edu. And guess, what—you don’t have to take the test if you don’t want to.

Thanks to my good buddy Lew Fincher, I found out about the release of a wonderful new book.

Here is what Lew sent me:
Galveston: A City on Stilts was a project of the Galveston County Historical Museum, and covers the period of the building of the Seawall, and the raising of the grade over much of the City of Galveston, following the 1900 Storm. The idea came from a collection of photographs that were donated to the museum from the Edworthy Family, whose father photographed Galveston in that era, showing the improvements and how daily life was like as this amazing engineering feat took place. We got a call about a week ago from the publisher, telling us that the First Edition and deep into the second edition was already sold out, well before it will officially go on sale. The publisher is also donating its profits to the GHF in helping restore the historical structures that were damaged during Hurricane Ike.

Thanks Lew for letting us know. That’s what I want in my stocking this Christmas.

Did you know that the term Halloween developed after November 1st was set as All Saints Day…a day to remember all of the saints. Saints of course are the “hallowed ones”. So the night before All Saints Day was considered the “hallowed evening” before. Eventually, it became a contraction—Halloween. Tomorrow, I’ll have some more Halloween trivia.

Have a wonderful Wednesday.

Cecilia Sinclair
Wonder Weather Woman

Tuesday and Halloween Forecast/Christmas Stamps/Dr. Toy Helps Out

HURRICANES AND WEATHER
There is an area of disturbed weather in the central Atlantic, and it does have the potential to strengthen a bit. But even if it does, in a couple days it will run into some hostile conditions which will weaken it. I'll let you know if anything interesting happens.

Looks like a nice Tuesday on the way for most of the country. It will be mild to warm except for the Great Lakes states and northeast where highs will be in the 30s, 40s and 50s. There will also be some snow showers and chilly rain in these cooler areas.

Did you notice that wind today. Ahhhh, but it was so refreshing. Now that the front has moved east of Houston, the pressure gradient is no longer tight and the winds have died down. It will be chilly in the morning...kids will need those jackets. But get ready for a spectacular, sunny and mild afternoon.

Outlook for Halloween--Highs in the 30s,40s,50s along the northern tier of states. There will be some showers along the west coast. Everywhere else should be dry. Houston's average high/low on Halloween are 76.3 and 57.3, with 4/10 and inch of rain. Temperature wise, we should be close to that...maybe 3 degrees warmer. Look for trick or treat time temperatures to be in the 60s. There should be no rain.

SPANISH WORD OF THE DAY
I will go with chilly--definitely felt chilly or fresco, pronounced FRAYS-co, this morning. Now, I being female--if I said, I feel chilly, I would say tengo fresca.

Tengo is a word used to indicate a state you are in. If you're hungry, you say tengo hambre. We introduced such short sentences in our award winning DVD, Volume 1 of Let's Learn Spanish with Frank and Paco, a Dr. Toy Top 10 Educational Product for 2008. You can order it from www.frankandpaco.com, www.venturaes.com, www.dololanguages.com, www.carlexonline.com,www.thecuriousmindstore.com, www.amazon.com, www.bestbuy.com, and www.barnesandnoble.com.

Had some exciting news today...apparently Dr. Toy is talking up our DVD big time. We will be in a best holiday gifts section in a regional catalog distributed in Colorado. Other exciting news includes that we had our first international order from Hong Kong. I shipped that one out today.

AND MORE
When I was at the post office, several times (not just a few) I heard customers asking for Christmas stamps. I thought wait a minute, why are they are doing that. Then I realized, wow! We are getting to that holiday time of year. Kudos to those folks for being so proactive.

Speaking of being proactive, I'm hoping to early vote tomorrow or Wednesday. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Tomorrow, I'll have an announcement about an exciting new book that is being released.

Have a terrific Tuesday everyone.
Cecilia Sinclair
Wonder Weather Woman

World Series Game Forecast/Wind Advisory/Blood Test

HURRICANES AND WEATHER
Making the switch from tropical discussions to talking about the coldest weather so far this fall for some parts of the nation (mainly the northeast). The set up is a big ridge over the west and a deep trough over the east. And that deep trough will bring Houston a reinforcing shot of dry, cool air starting early Monday. It is going to be a windy, cool day with highs only in the 60s. So make sure the little ones are bundled up. In fact a Wind Advisory is in effect for the Houston area. This means you should keep both hands on the wheel and be especially careful driving a high profile vehicle like a van or SUV.

There has already been some snowfall over the western Great Lakes states and for much of the Great Lakes, it will be intermittent cold rain or light snow for the next couple of days.

In Philadelphia, Game 5 of the World Series will be played Monday night with temperatures in the 40s. Windy conditions won't arrive there until after the game is over. Rain should not be a problem.

SPANISH WORD OF THE DAY
Another lovely day...although we did wait for the cooler late afternoon to head to the park. So, we'll make park the word of the day...parque is pronounced PAR-kay. If you didn't make it to the parque today, you'll have to wait a couple days until it is pleasant enough to go again.

In our DVD series, we include the article with each noun introduced. We did that because we wanted the children to learn the article along with the noun so that when they do begin conversational Spanish, it will come more naturally. One example is el parque for park. What DVD series you ask--well our award winning one of course. You can order Volume 1 of Let's Learn Spanish with Frank and Paco, a Dr. Toy Top 10 Educational Product for 2008, from www.frankandpaco.com, www.venturaes.com, www.dololanguages.com, www.carlexonline.com,www.thecuriousmindstore.com, www.amazon.com, www.bestbuy.com, and www.barnesandnoble.com.

AND MORE
We ran into a neighbor at the park. He told me that they tried to go to the zoo today, but it was just a "zoo". They could not find a parking space until much effort and time were wasted. So, they decided to take their little girl on the train ride and to feed the ducks and then leave. Fortunately, she is only 2 and thought they had happily achieved what they had set out to do. Oh, the wonderful innocence and gratitude of a child.

Speaking of wonderful children, I have to brag on Sarah. Bless her little heart, we had to do her annual labs yesterday morning. She had a long blood test. Well, she was a bit nervous at first but bravely submitted to the needle and patiently (and curiously) watched as they drew out 4 viles. The funny part was when she was done...she ran down the hall yelling, "Yay! I was so brave!!!" Everyone in the waiting area just laughed and smiled. She really is so brave. Sometimes, it just makes me want to cry.

Well, happy Monday everyone. Don't forget to vote early if you are so inclined. And hang onto your hats. It is going to be windy.

Cecilia Sinclair
Wonder Weather Woman

What Hubby Got From High School Musical 3/Halloween Party/Sunday Forecast

HURRICANES AND WEATHER
No developing areas in the tropics. Yay!

Cold front is almost off the eastern seaboard. Look for some showers and thunderstorms in Maine and southern Florida on Sunday. Wrap around low over Great Lakes will bring some cold rain and even snowers (mainly northern Minnesota). The coolest temperatures will be over the Great Lakes and northeast.

For Houston, another great day on the way...it will be warmer in the afternoon. Reinforcing shot of dry, cool air arrives Monday. Halloween will be mild with a slight chance of showers.

SPANISH WORD OF THE DAY
Today is two months until Christmas!!! Yikes!!! So our word for the day is month or mes, pronounced mace. So it is dos meces until Christmas. Dos by the way means two in Spanish.

So, wrap up your shopping right now. Order our award winning DVD--Volume 1 of Let's Learn Spanish with Frank and Paco. It is a Dr. Toy Top 10 Educational Product for 2008. So, order today from www.frankandpaco.com, www.venturaes.com, www.dololanguages.com, www.carlexonline.com,www.thecuriousmindstore.com, www.amazon.com, www.bestbuy.com, and www.barnesandnoble.com.

AND MORE
We went to a Halloween party this afternoon. Would you believe that Sarah dressed up as High School Musical character? She was Sharpay. And there were several kids at the party in High School Musical characters.

Gordy took Megan to see the movie again tonight. I asked him what was his favorite part and he said watching her happy face as she enjoyed it.

We also got to the park today. I just love October in Houston. It was soooooooooooooooooo nice!!!

Have you voted yet? This is the last weekend for early voting. I am hoping to vote early. Waiting 2 hours to vote in presidential elections is something I have done and it's not fun. Don't forget to answer my poll about early voting.

Have a great Sunday!
Cecilia Sinclair
Wonder Weather Woman

Weekend Forecast/High School Musical 3/Losing Teeth

HURRICANES AND MORE
The tropics are quiet but a spotter reported a tornado in southeastern Georgia today. There are storms along and ahead of a cold front. There will be rain from the northeast to southern Miami both Saturday and Sunday. There will also be some rain and even snow showers around the Great Lakes States and Minnesota.

Houston woke up Friday to temperatures in the 40s and it will be that way again on Saturday. Highs both Saturday and Sunday will be in the 80s with Sunday being the warmer day. Enjoy!

SPANISH WORD FOR THE DAY
Since my girls and I saw High School Musical 3 today (and yes, Sarah sat through the whole movie--a first for her!), we shall do musical or musical--but notice the pronunciation is quite different--moo-see-CAHL. My daughters loved this musical.

The characters of Taylor and Gabriella are very good at math and science. Well, one way to increase your little ones standardized test scores in math and science is to have them learn another language. And you can do this in a fun way by buying our DVD--Volume 1 of Let's Learn Spanish with Frank and Paco. It is a Dr. Toy Top 10 Educational Product for 2008. So, order today from www.frankandpaco.com, www.venturaes.com, www.dololanguages.com, www.carlexonline.com,www.thecuriousmindstore.com, www.amazon.com, www.bestbuy.com, and www.barnesandnoble.com.

AND MORE
Yes, I literally picked up Megan from the house and then Sarah from school and headed to the theater to see High School Musical 3. Most of the kids we saw were about 5 to 9. Sarah is right smack in the middle at age 7. But Megan, who is 20, loves it too. And I have to admit, I wanted to see it. Well, I read some negative reviews, but I have to say that just watching the dance scenes, made it worth seeing. They took it up a notch or two for this theater version. You'll have to see it, but one of the dance scenes actually made me dizzy--it was too cool! So, yep, we give it 3 thumbs up!

Losing teeth is turning out to be something Sarah does very well. She just lost her 8th baby tooth yesterday after losing her 7th one on Wednesday. She is absolutely fearless and determined about it to the point that sometimes folks at school ask me if she is okay. Well, those 2 teeth were loose. But I think what got her going was her teacher reading a story about a kid with a loose tooth. Sarah got so worked up while the teacher was reading that she pulled the 1st one out. Then, the next day, she had to repeat the story back to me for her homework. Well, that got her thinking and messing with the other one until that one was out too. The tooth fairy had to make an extra trip to the bank!

By the way, we were looking for costumes for Megan tonight, and I found a Wonder Woman outfit. Do you think I should get it for me? What does a Wonder Weather Woman wear? Leave me a comment if you dare! That's my attempt at being poetic. Sorry!

Hope everyone has a great weekend!
Cecilia Sinclair
Wonder Weather Woman

Weekend and Halloween Forecasts/Effective Comcast Worker

HURRICANES AND WEATHER
Still have some disturbed weather in the western Caribbean.

Otherwise, it's fall baby!!! Today's high in Houston was only 70. We'll start Friday in the 40s. I'm shivering already. Seriously, we opened up the windows today and just enjoyed it so much!!! Weekend lows in the 40s and 50s and highs in the 70s and 80s. Wow!!!

It's raining along and head of the cold front that brought us our cool down. Much of the eastern U.S. will have rain over the next 2 days.

Houston Halloween looking mild and breezy after all...rain chances only about 20%.

SPANISH WORD OF THE DAY
I am keeping this brief because I am helping my step-daughter Megan study or estudiar, pronounced s-too-dee-ARE. The only way to get good grades is estudiar. By the way, Megan is studying to be a vet. paramedic. Go Megan! Go Megan!

I love to give free talks about the benefits of early language learning. So, let me know if you want one for your group. I always throw in some interesting weather info. too. One way your young ones can enjoy the benefits of early language learning if through our award winning DVD--Volume 1 of Let's Learn Spanish with Frank and Paco. It is a Dr. Toy Top 10 Educational Product for 2008. So, order today from www.frankandpaco.com, www.venturaes.com, www.dololanguages.com, www.carlexonline.com,www.thecuriousmindstore.com, www.amazon.com, www.bestbuy.com, and www.barnesandnoble.com.

AND MORE
FINALLY!!! FINALLY!!! Our digital cable is working correctly. Still waiting for Comcast to bury the cable though (and not in our neighbor's yard where it is lieing right now).

Anyway, a wonderful fixer person came to our house and I told him of our woes and how our signal drops out and some stations don't even show up. Well, he listened and figured out that there is not enough power going to the digital cable. He said someday Comcast will improve the infrastructure so it works right to begin with. In the meantime, he fixed us up and made sure that the phone and high speed Internet did not suffer. It turns out that this guy is from up north and came her as contract labor. He said he hears complaints nearly all day long. He was so nice...I was very happy to meet him!!!!

Have a fabulous Friday everyone!
Cecilia Sinclair
Wonder Weather Woman

Thursday forecast/Spooky Weather for Halloween/Our claims experience

HURRICANES AND WEATHER
From one extreme to the other...tropical disturbance has brought deadly flooding to Honduras while blizzard warnings and winter storm warnings are in effect for parts of Kansas and Nebraska through Thursday. The same system bringing wintry weather to the nation's mid-section is bringing a line of storms through Houston this evening. A Severe Thunderstorm Warning and Urban and Small Stream Flood Advisory were issued in Harris County.

Cooler and drier weather will move into the Houston area. But it will take about a day and a half to kick that upper low out of the central plains. So it will be slick and possibly treacherous there until Friday.

Look for a cool day on Thursday in Houston. Friday morning lows will be in the 40s. Friday afternoon highs will be back up in the 80s. The weekend -- cool mornings, sunny, warm and dry afternoons.

Looking ahead to Halloween--could it be? Something wet this way comes? It is starting to look like there will be some storms around on Halloween. Will keep you updated.

SPANISH WORD FOR THE DAY
Since we've had thunderstorms in Houston this evening, let's do lightning. Now there isn't exactly lightning in Spanish, but there is a flash of lightning -- un relámpago, pronounced oon ray-LAM-pah-go. There was un relámpago, but fortunately we were inside!

Learning Spanish is not only fun, it helps the brain. Research shows that the brains of youngsters who are learning more than one language, benefit by having increased neurological development in the part of the brain associated with language. So, it's a no brainer...help them learn another language. And one of the most fun and easiest ways is through our award winning DVD--Volume 1 of Let's Learn Spanish with Frank and Paco. Of course, I never fail to mention that it is a Dr. Toy Top 10 Educational Product for 2008. Because it is so beneficial to cognitive development, you can feel good about giving this DVD as a gift to your favorite youngters. So, order today from www.frankandpaco.com, www.venturaes.com, www.dololanguages.com, www.carlexonline.com,www.thecuriousmindstore.com, www.amazon.com, www.bestbuy.com, and www.barnesandnoble.com.

AND MORE
Well, our insurance adjustor showed up today. He thinks we will get some money back, especially since we had the 1% deductible (before the standard became 2%). This will help pay for some of our new fence and a few other little items.

Dennis, our adjustor from State Farm, had a very interesting story. He is here because when his house in New Orleans was flooded with 9 ft of water, he temporarily moved to Dallas. He said it was one of the best experiences of his life because the people were just so kind and welcoming to him. He said he'll never forget it. And when Ike hit here, he volunteered to help assess the claims. He just wanted to give back. Now that is neat!!!

Have a safe evening everyone. Remember to TURN AROUND AND DON'T DROWN if you encounter a flooded roadway.

Cecilia Sinclair
Wonder Weather Woman

Wednesday Forecast/Winter Storm Watch/Ike Damage

HURRICANES AND WEATHER
Still seeing that area of disturbed weather in the western Caribbean...nothing new to report. Hope it doesn't bring too much rain to Honduras, Belize, Guatemala.

The strongest cold front so far this fall is on its way. Will arrive around midnight tomorrow (Wednesday) night. Here's a big news flash--A Winter Storm Watch has been issued for portions of Nebraska. There could be some snow and slippery roads from Wednesday morning until Thursday morning. It will be chilly and wet across the nation's midsection.

In Houston, it will be more humid as the front approaches. Look for a few showers during the day and a line of storms Wednesday night into early Thursday morning. Then most of Thursday should be dry. Thursday night into Friday morning, most of the area will drop into the 40s. Brrrrr!!! Weekend is looking spectacular. Halloween will be breezy and mild.

SPANISH WORD FOR THE DAY
Since we are talking about the first snow of the season for Nebraska, let's do snow or nieve, pronounced knee-AY-vay. Just thinking about nieve makes me shiver.

Everywhere I go people ask me how I like just taking it easy. Well of course, I tell them I have been a busy little bee making Volume 1 of Let's Learn Spanish with Frank and Paco. Of course, I never fail to mention that it is a Dr. Toy Top 10 Educational Product for 2008. Because it is so beneficial to cognitive development, you can feel good about giving this DVD as a gift to your favorite youngters. So, order today from www.frankandpaco.com, www.venturaes.com, www.dololanguages.com, www.carlexonline.com,www.thecuriousmindstore.com, www.amazon.com, www.bestbuy.com, and www.barnesandnoble.com.

AND MORE
We didn't make it to David Wallace's big book signing last night, but I did talk to David's executive assistant. The release party for "One Nation Under Blog" was quite a big success and fun! I can't wait to read this book!

Had a nice long chat with Greg Bostwick of KFDM in Beaumont. Greg, another Aggie, helped get me hired for my first TV gig. KFDM, the CBS station in Beaumont was a wonderful place to work. Greg taught me a lot. He said he has been there now for 30 years!!! I had called to see how he came through the hurricane. Ike damaged his home in Winnie, picking up part of his greenhouse and slamming it through the roof. Greg said they've had plenty of storms--NO MORE!!! Rita and last year's Humberto also brought them high wind. But Greg thinks the winds with Ike easily hit 100 mph. The good news is that he and his family are safe.

Don't forget to participate in our blog--are you voting early, yes or no.

Happy Wednesday everyone!

Cecilia Sinclair
Wonder Weather Woman

Tuesday Forecast/Talking to Bill Read/Fenceless Containment/Sha Na Na

HURRICANES AND WEATHER
Area of disturbed weather in western Caribbean is drifting westward into Mexico. It will be a rainmaker, but it doesn't look like it will be able to develop into a named storm.

Trough over northern Rockies will continue eastward to northern plains on Tuesday and spin out a cutoff low for couple days. This low will bring rain and cool conditions to the nation's mid-section and the northern plains. Another trough over the northeast will bring that area showers and cool conditions.

Houston's weather will be pleasant again on Tuesday...maybe just a hair more humid. You know that is such a subjective term. I was talking to a teacher from Albuquerque on Saturday (remember how dry it was...not a cloud in the sky). She said it seemed so humid to her. I just laughed! Anyway, back to the weather in Houston...look for some showers on Wednesday and Thursday...then turning cooler. Ooohhhh...looks like a nice weekend on the way! Also looking long range--I think we are going to have dry weather for trick or treating. More to come on that.

SPANISH WORD OF THE DAY
In my AND MORE section, I have some information about fences. So the word for the day is fence or cerca, pronounced SAYR-kah. I am so glad I have a new cerca!

Amazon has accepted our new English teaching DVD for Spanish speakers. I just got the first order today!!! But, most of you are probably more interested in our Spanish DVD for English speaking youngters. Volume 1 of Let's Learn Spanish with Frank and Paco is a Dr. Toy Top 10 Educational Product for 2008. Just over 2 months until Christmas!!! This makes a perfect gift that you can feel good about. Order your copy from www.frankandpaco.com, www.venturaes.com, www.dololanguages.com, www.carlexonline.com,
www.thecuriousmindstore.com, www.amazon.com, www.bestbuy.com, and www.barnesandnoble.com.

AND MORE
Poll Results!!! 100% of those responding felt that $6000 was too much for my poor brother-in-law to be charged for moving his damaged boat from the marina to the shipyard. I will be sure to let him know. Now, he has some ammunition for when he complains!!! Thank you to all who responded. Tonight, I am loading up a new poll? Do you plan to vote early for the election? Yes or No.

You know, I kind of liked the look when all the fences were down and we could see our neighbor's backyards. Our neighborheed deed restrictions require fences. But in case your's do not, you might want to consider a fenceless containment for your pets. I found one online (have no idea if this company is any good). But you can check it out at:

http://www.innotek.com.au/products/containment-systems

Dr. John Scala, president of National Weather Association, and resident of Pennsylvania, told me that he has one of those and it works great. He said most of his neighbors have that kind of fence. You may remember Dr. Scala from his stint on The Weather Channel as a severe weather advisor.

Speaking of The Weather Channel, here's a little name dropping from last week's National Weather Association meeting in Louisville, Kentucky -- Nick Walker, Jim Cantore and Dave Schwarz were there. Nick and Jim usually attend. That's how important that meeting is!

Had a nice long chat with my buddy Bill Read today. Bill is the Director of the National Hurricane Center. He is doing great, even after such a crazy, busy season (which by the way does not officially end until November 30th). This is how busy Bill has been--he finally got to play some golf this week--he hadn't been able to play since April. Yikes!!! Now, he is a super avid golfer. That means he was super duper busy. But Bill just takes it all in stride. The Weather Museum is working on getting Bill here so we can recognize him as a weather hero at The Groundhog Day Gala to be held on February 2, 2009. I think we're going to get him here!!! By the way, Bill's house in the Friendswood area came through the storm just fine. Even his fence came out okay! His son took care of the house during the storm and got some friends along with their pets to stay at the house during the storm. Otherwise, those friends would have been caught in the storm surge. Now, that's a good friend to have!!!

I could not find the Sha Na Na opening song. But here is a link to the ending song--Good Night Sweetheart! This one's for you Dad!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TcV5zmQPeKo

Have a great Tuesday everyone!
Cecilia Sinclair
Wonder Weather Woman

Church Festival/Monday Forecast/Mayor David Wallace/Hee Haw

HURRICANES AND WEATHER
There is an area of disturbed weather in the western Caribbean. It is showing signs of getting organized. It is close to land...but maybe we will get a Paloma yet. I like that name, don't you?

What a great day for being outdoors. The St. Laurence fall festival had perfect weather. Everyone was having a good time!!! The only down side of all this dry, peaceful weather is that we are at risk for high levels of ozone to develop. And, you should know that today we had some unhealthy levels of ozone which formed. An Ozone Watch is in effect for Monday...this means conditions are favorable for high levels of ozone to develop.

For Houston, Monday and Tuesday will be pleasant with lows in the 50s and 60s and highs in the 80s. Some showers are possible Wednesday as a low pressure area cuts off over the central plains. Looks like it will hang around a couple days which means we will cool off and should get a couple rounds of showers before it exits to the northeast by the weekend.

Conditions will be cool for the northwest, northern plains, and northeast. Look for some showers in the northwest.

SPANISH WORD FOR THE DAY
Since we were at a church festival, I thought we could learn the word for church--iglesia, pronounced ee-glay-SEE-ah. I love to go to festivals at our iglesia.

Speaking of that, Sarah was back to her usual energetic self. That's her at right dancing on the stage. And check out the kid behind her--he was a dancing machine doing a combination of hip-hop, break-dancing and gymnastics. Sarah had to steer clear of those flying feet.

Your kids will be dancing and learning with our award winning Spanish DVD is available through http://www.frankandpaco.com/, http://www.venturaes.com/, http://www.dololanguages.com/,http://www.carlexonline.com/,http://www.thecuriousmindstore.com/, amazon.com, bestbuy.com, and barnesandnoble.com. Volume 1 of the Frank and Paco series is a Dr. Toy Top 10 Educational Product for 2008.

AND MORE
It's easy to forget that many people are still recovering and will be recovering from Ike for some time. Our church is adopting 33 families from Galveston who are staying at a hotel in Rosenberg. If you have clothes or time to donate to help them, contact tschindler@stlaurence.org.

Former Sugar Land mayor David Wallace is having a book signing Monday evening from 6:30 to 8:30 pm at the Sugar Land Marriott Town Square. David will be signing his book Titled "One Nation Under Blog". Congratulations David!

Helping Sarah with a science project today, I learned about the thorax vs. the abdomen of an insect. You see the thorax is the part between the head and the end of the insect. It is where the legs and wings are attached. We have to make an insect which has the head of one type of insect, the thorax of another, and the absdomen of yet another. The abdomen is the end part. Now, don't you feel enlightened?

I was reminiscing with Sarah about watching shows like ShaNaNa and HeeHaw with my dad. So I will close with a link I found to a 9 minute beginning segment of a HeeHaw show. No matter what you say, that show was funny and entertaining. And once you get that theme song in your head, it's hard to get it out. Enjoy!!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IjWptL1-PQ

Have a great week everyone!!!
Cecilia Sinclair
Wonder Weather Woman

Omar/Full Immersion Spanish/Matt Lavine/Sunday Forecast

HURRICANES AND WEATHER
Omar is now just a remnant low in the Atlantic. There are a couple areas of disturbed weather in the Caribbean and the central Atlantic, but nothing to write home about. So at least for now, our statistics of no storms for Texas after October 17th is holding.

The weather in Houston was sunny and dry today...just delightful. Look for a repeat performance on Sunday. Lows will be in the 50s and highs will be in the low 80s. Conroe did drop to 49 early today and should make it to the 40s again on Sunday morning.

SPANISH WORD OF THE DAY
Since it was so sunny today, that will be our word--sunny or soleado, pronounced sew-lay-AH-do. The little girl said my favorite weather is soleado weather.

I went to the Texas Foreign Language Association conference at what used to be the Wyndham Hotel at Greenspoint. Now, Hilton has taken it over. I enjoyed seeing all the vendors, especially Dolo Publications with Patti Lozano. That is one of our sales partners. Patti and her mom, Renate have such an interesting story. Renate is originally from Austria and is fluent in German. As a youngster she moved to Brazil and learned Portugese. Then at 14, she moved to the United States and learned Spanish. I assume she learned English early on as she is quite fluent. Her daughter Patti also learned Spanish and ended up marrying an industrious man from Mexico. She helped him learn English. Patti and her husband have 3 talented sons, 2 of whom I met today. The ones I met are also into music. You see Patti teaches language using songs. Renate helps with the German teaching work. You can see their products at http://www.dololanguages.com.

I also met the folks from Carlex. They said our DVD is selling well. Hip! Hip! Hooray!!!

You also might be interested to know about one teacher I met. She teaches high school Spanish. Well, she told me our product was too easy for her 4 year old who is already speaking in Spanish sentences. So, I gave her our English teaching version--the Aprendamos one and said that she could use that as a full immersion product as the native language of it is Spanish. She was so excited about that.

Our introductory award winning Spanish DVD is available through http://www.frankandpaco.com/, http://www.venturaes.com/, http://www.dololanguages.com/,http://www.carlexonline.com/,http://www.thecuriousmindstore.com/, amazon.com, bestbuy.com, and barnesandnoble.com. Volume 1 of the Frank and Paco series is a Dr. Toy Top 10 Educational Product for 2008.

AND MORE
Checked in with Matt Lavine. He was all set to work for CW again tonight! He had already had a busy day running his little girls to a festival. Oh yes, I remember when going to work was the easier part of the day. I think every parent gets that. Parenting--the toughest job you'll ever love and be going crazy over at the same time.

Have a happy Sunday everyone!
Cecilia Sinclair
Wonder Weather Woman

Fire Drill/Surprise Meresa/Ike Tarps Are Going Nowhere Fast

HURRICANES AND WEATHER
Well if you live by statistics, then you can put away the hurricane supplies. Today (October 17th) is the last known date for a tropical storm to hit the Texas Coast--it was a storm which hit Freeport in 1938.

Now, don't be too cocky. Storms have approached the Texas coast even in November, but troughs have always whisked them away at the last minute. Just a reminder that records are made to be broken...Allison made landfall on June 5, 2001--you can't forget that deluge!!! That June 5th date broke the record for the earliest Texas landfall of a tropical storm. By the way, Allison is still considered the costliest tropical storm on record (not hurricane) causing $5 billion in damage.

Well, it's not feeling tropical here at all. In fact the cloud cover is almost completely gone and it is going to get down into the 50s tonight. Highs both Saturday and Sunday in Houston will be in the upper 70s to low 80s. Saturday night will also be chilly--might even get some 40s for outlying areas. Everyone say ooohhhh---ahhhhh.

Much of the country will be cool and dry. Showers and the cold front will move off the eastern seaboard on Saturday.

SPANISH WORD OF THE DAY
My dear friend Meresa was given a surprise party this evening which Sarah and I managed to attend. So, the word for today is surprise or sorpresa, pronounced sore-PRAY-sah. The party was a big sorpresa to Meresa. Happy Birthday Meresa!!!

The Texas Foreign Language Association (TFLA) is having a conference at the Greenspoint Wyndham. I am heading up there Saturday to deliver some of our language DVDs to Dolo Publications, one of our vendors. Have I mentioned that I hired 2 bilingual educators and 1 linguist to create an award winning DVD series for children called Let's Learn Spanish with Frank & Paco? Yes! It's true. And you can order one of those fabulous DVDs for the little ones at http://www.frankandpaco.com/, http://www.venturaes.com/, http://www.dololanguages.com/,http://www.carlexonline.com/,http://www.thecuriousmindstore.com/, amazon.com, bestbuy.com, and barnesandnoble.com. Volume 1 of the Frank and Paco series is a Dr. Toy Top 10 Educational Product for 2008.

Well I sent out the evites to the Longaberger Party - Death by Chocolate for Friday, November 14th at 7 pm. If you would like an invite, email me at cecilia_sinclair@yahoo.com. Every person who attends will receive a free copy of our language DVD. Plus, we're going to eat a lot chocolate and have fun!!!

AND MORE
Well you might notice that in the photo with Meresa (the birthday girl), Sarah looks very tired. We got our flu shots today and I think it might have tuckered her out. She's crashed on the couch right now. I've never had the flu since I took one of these shots. But it does make my arm a little sore. Sometimes, I feel a little more tired a day or two afterward.

One more thing about The National Weather Association workshop. Tuesday night was our wedding anniversary. It was 10:30 pm and all of a sudden the fire alarm went off. Well, we were on the 18th floor. A voice comes over the intercom and says to stay in your room. I thought that is quite strange as I have never heard of people in a high rise being told to stay in their room if there is the possibility of a fire. Eventually, we decided to hike on down the 18 flights. We weren't alone. So did a whole bunch of people. End result--false alarm. Maybe we should have stayed in our rooms.

On the way to Meresa's party, we drove along Beltway 8. There are so many tarps on rooftops. And we just had some heavy rain in the last few days. A friend of mine whose roof is damaged is still trying to round up someone to fix his roof. It is going to be a while. And guess what? This week's rain got into his house. So, there was even more damage done. Gordy wants to know why more roofers aren't converging on the Houston area.

Two more days and the boat poll closes...in case you didn't read about it, my brother-in-law was charged $6000 for his boat to be moved from the marina to the shipyard. He'll be back from working in China in a couple days and I sure would like to tell him what you all thought about that. So, don't forget to vote yes if you think he got ripped off or no if you think that was reasonable. Look below the poll for a picture of his boat.

Have a great weekend everyone and be safe!
Cecilia Sinclair
Wonder Weather Woman

National Weather Association Wraps/Matt Lavine Update/Southwest Airlines Rocks

HURRICANES AND WEATHER
Well we made it home no problem last night...the heavy rain had ended (although our plane was delayed in arriving in Birmingham due to the weather). After we got home, we had a few heavy downpours and rumbles of thunder. Southwest Airlines, we love you!

Omar is barely a hurricane and moving rapidly northeastward away from the Bahamas. It should weaken over the next several days. The area of disturbed weather in the western Caribbean is over Mexico.

Definitely a change to fall weather for much of the country. Houston area rain has tapered off and it will be cooler over the next few days. Friday will start out in the low 60s and highs will be in the upper 70s with skies clearing. The weekend will be spectacular--lows in the 50s and highs in the low 80s with sunshine and low humidity--make sure to check out St. Laurence's fall festival on Saturday evening and Sunday. St. Laurence is in Sugar Land at the intersection of Austin Parkway and Sweetwater. I'll be working the cake walk on Sunday.

Rain has moved east out of Louisville and it will be a chilly night with temperatures dropping into the 40s and skies clearing. Highs will be in the 70s on Friday. Enjoy! By the way, Louisville, your rain today was .11 inches.

Frontal boundary will move across the eastern U.S. over the next 24 hours bringing some showers (with some thunderstorms in the southern states). Looks like a pleasantly cooler weekend shaping up for much of the country.

SPANISH WORD OF THE DAY
I had to post the photo of Betsy Kling--it's just her. I like that adjective exuberant or exuberante in Spanish. That is pronounced aches-oo-bear-RAHN-tay. That's what we love about Betsy--she is so exuberante.

By the way it was thanks to Betsy's energy and dedication that (if I got that number right), more than $9000 were collected for NWA scholarships. Way to go Betsy and all the folks who participated in the golf tournament and raffle.

We have received our first one thousand copies of our English teaching DVD for spanish speakers. It's called Aprendamos Inglés con Frank y Paco, Volumen 1. I'll let you know when the Spanish web site will be up and running. Please tell your teacher friends, family and friends in Mexico etc. about it! I'll be uploading the information to our distributors and Amazon.com on Friday.

In the meantime, for Spanish learning and all of the benefits such as enhanced cognitive development in children, you can buy our award winning DVD, Let's Learn Spanish with Frank & Paco, Volume 1, a Dr. Toy Top 10 Educational Product of 2008, at http://www.frankandpaco.com, http://www.venturaes.com, http://www.dololanguages.com, http://www.carlexonline.com, http://www.thecuriousmindstore.com, amazon.com, bestbuy.com, and barnesandnoble.com.

Dolo Publications is a wonderful web site with a variety of language teaching products. You can check it out at http://www.dololanguages.com. I just received one of their books with accompanying CD called Music That Teaches Spanish! It has a plethora of activities and of course the music on CD to encourage early language learning. They also have products for German and French.

AND MORE
I've gotten back to work and it has been busy, busy, busy. But I wanted to make sure and tell you about some more exciting talks at the National Weather Association annual meeting (which by the way, concluded today--so safe travels home everyone). Please know that I would love to speak about all of them, but I will be here all night if I do.

First of all, there was a fascinating series of talks about the "Super Tuesday" outbreak of tornadoes back in February of this year. I saw for myself the damage to Clinton, Arkansas as we drive through there every July on our annual trip to Table Rock Lake in southwest Missouri. I am no tornado damage assessor by any stretch of the imagination, but you could easily tell that a tornado had gone through there because of the way the trees and structures were twisted. It was an amazing footprint of mother nature.

With the upcoming elections, Katie Mercadante gave a fascinating talk about the demographics of voters (democrat vs. republican) turnout according to weather conditions. Some of her findings contradicted other study findings which would suggest that republicans turn out in greater numbers in times of inclement weather. Yet, her findings showed that democrats actually did. She has plans to study this further. Please keep in mind, that she did do a lot of filtering to hone her research focus.

There was a spirited debate about the appropriateness of issuing numerous tornado warnings vs. one large tornado warning in a situation were multiple vortices are rapidly developing along a fast moving line during a serious severe weather outbreak. Ted Funk of the NWS in Louisville cited the Super Tuesday outbreak as a time when they put a large area under a Tornado Warning. It was interesting to hear the perspectives of media vs. emergency management vs. NWS. I can tell you from my own broadcast experience that what I really need and want to give the viewers is specifics on just where the tornadoes are (or will be) and where they are heading. In the Houston area, you get so many warnings (sometimes a stack 1 inch thick for one round of bad weather) that the public can become overwhelmed and confused. They want and need to know exactly where the trouble is. Toward the end of my on air career, I was less likely to mention specific warnings and more likely to point out where I thought the problem locations and threats were. After all, isn't this what the viewers needs to know? You might be surprised at how many people don't even know what county they are in or at least how to tell from a map. But if you say their town and even better, a nearby intersection, they'll get it.

I really enjoyed hearing about upcoming changes in radar and satellite technology, especially in the way Brian Motta explained it--multiplatform, multisensor products and the fact that there is going to be a lot of terrific data but how do you filter it down quickly to what you need for specific situations? It is an exciting time indeed.

Thanks so much to everyone who worked so hard at The National Weather Association annual meeting. We really appreciate it!!! And a big congratulations to Dave Knapp for his much deserved member of the year award. I have worked with Dave on a number of NWA projects (and these were only a tiny fraction of his overall projects). He really has done so much for NWA.

Checked in with Matt Lavine today--he got through the first weekend at CW here in Houston. It's great to see him back on the air!!! Good job Matt!
Happy almost weekend everyone!
Cecilia Sinclair
Wonder Weather Woman

Omar/Getting Home/National Weather Association Awards

HURRICANES AND WEATHER
Gordy and I are heading back to Houston and I hope we are able to land tonight at about 8:45 pm…those of you in the Houston area know that is has been raining on and off since yesterday. This is due to a trough of low pressure that is on the Texas/Mexico coast. Although the storms are moving along right now…as the cold front approaches tonight, there will be heavier rain. We may be spending the night in Birmingham. I’m hoping that the timing coinciding with nightfall will help some…but these tropically enhanced events are tricky.

Omar is now a hurricane and will move across the northern islands of the Lesser Antilles during the next 24 hours as the storm strengthens. Then it will move into the Atlantic…not a concern for the Gulf Coast. Tropical Depression #16 will not become Tropical Storm Paloma…just too close to land…moving west…a rain maker for Honduras and Guatemala.

Houston will have rain into Thursday pm…then cooling off and a nice weekend unfolding with sunshine, lows humidity, lows in the 50s and highs in the 80s.

SPANISH WORD OF THE DAY
Bernie Meisner was teasing me this afternoon…what would be my word of the day…I think it should be interesting or interesante, pronounced een-tear-ay-SAHN-tay. The talks this morning were especially interesante.

Mom called and our English teaching (for Spanish speakers) DVDs have arrived!!! So, I’ll be jumping on that once we get back. But for those of you who want to have your little ones learn Spanish, you can buy our award winning DVD, Let's Learn Spanish with Frank & Paco, Volume 1, a Dr. Toy Top 10 Educational Product of 2008 at http://www.frankandpaco.com/, Ventura's Educational Supply, Dolo Publications, Carlex Inc., The Curious Mind Store, amazon.com, bestbuy.com, and barnesandnoble.com.

AND MORE
There were so many great talks this morning. I can’t wait to tell you about them all. But right now, I am going to catch a plane! Be safe everyone. Oh yes…congratulations to all the NWA Award winners—especially Dave Knapp who won member of the year!!!

Cecilia Sinclair
Wonder Weather Woman

Omar/Paloma/Greg Forbes/Jack Hayes/Lance Berkmann/Louisville Slugger

HURRICANES AND WEATHER
T.D. #15, in the eastern Caribbean, is now Omar. Omar is will eventually move into the Atlantic…so not a worry to the Gulf coast. Meanwhile, Tropical Depression #16 has formed off the coast of Honduras. It will probably become Tropical Storm Paloma on Wednesday, but it is very close to the coast of Honduras. Regardless…this will be a rainmaker for Honduras, possibly Belize, and Guatemala.

There were heavy downpours in parts of the Houston area today. Thanks Kim Matthews for your spotter report! A trough is just offshore and will produce some heavy rain…some offshore, some mainly in the coastal counties. Meanwhile cold front approaches late Wednesday and generates a line of storms…timing—late Wednesday into early Thursday. A nice weekend shaping up with cool mornings, low humidity and mild afternoons.

For Louisville, one more day of mild weather with a few showers Wednesday and scattered showers Wednesday night. Rain continues into at least the first half of Thursday with noticeably cooler temperatures—highs only in the 60s and 40s for Friday morning.

SPANISH WORD FOR THE DAY
Today is our wedding anniversary so the word for today is love or amor, pronounced AH-more. My husband is my amor. Happy anniversary Gordy!

Early language learning enhances cognitive development and improves memory. And if you want the youngsters in your life to develop proper pronunciation, have them start language learning early. A great way to do that is by purchasing our award winning DVD, Let's Learn Spanish with Frank & Paco, Volume 1, a Dr. Toy Top 10 Educational Product of 2008 at http://www.frankandpaco.com/, Ventura's Educational Supply, Dolo Publications, Carlex Inc., The Curious Mind Store, amazon.com, bestbuy.com, and barnesandnoble.com.

AND MORE
Lots of great talks today at the National Weather Association but we did take a couple hours to sneak away to the Louisville slugger museum and factory. We were given an excellent 30 minute tour of the factory area. I got to touch a baseball that was custom ordered by Lance Berkmann (Astros). He’ll get it next, but he doesn’t know it was blessed by me first. Ha! Ha!

Today’s keynote address was by Jack Hayes, National Weather Service Director and perhaps even more exciting, Good Morning America went live with Sam Champion outside the conference hotel!!! This was definitely some excellent and much deserved publicity for the National Weather Association. Kudos to our president, John Scala, for getting all of this arranged. This workshop has had record attendance…about 560 folks.

Greg Forbes of The Weather Channel gave a talk about the tornado outbreak of 1974. Although he had done a thorough evaluation of the Monticello damage, he had not had a chance to see Xenia's. I was in Ohio in 1974 and I saw the damage...it was something else!!! Dr. Forbes compared the available radar technology to the improvements we have today.

There were so many terrific talks today, but I definitely had some favorites. Jeffrey Craven, was brave and extremely self-deprecating in his talk about a rare January tornado which touched down on January 7 in Wisconsin. Jeffrey is a fantastic severe weather forecaster, but even this one almost got the upper hand. Jeffrey was generous to give credit to the weather intern at the time who really thought mention of tornadoes should be in the forecast. I commend you Jeff on coming forth with this important talk—reminding us all not to stop looking at the weather carefully in all cases. I personally have had at least a few similar experiences. It is humbling and educational. I think every person in that room could relate to Jeff’s experience.

I learned a lot from Kristopher Nedka’s talk about Aviation Turbulence Signatures. Did you know that 1000 people a year are injured by turbulence? He showed one example where standard IR imagery failed to show turbulence which definitely showed up on the water vapor imagery. He also talked about overshooting tops and Rapid Anvil Expansion. There is no doubt that satellite imagery can provide our pilots with very important routing information.

Well it is our anniversary, so I gotta run! We already had a lovely dinner at the Rivue—voted Louisville’s most romantic restaurant. Our dessert was definitely hot…they lit it before serving!!!

Cecilia Sinclair
Wonder Weather Woman

Nana/Omar/Learning About Weather at NWA Conference

HURRICANES AND WEATHER

Nana is weakening…now only a tropical depression. And, Tropical Depression #15 has formed in the eastern Caribbean. This will likely become a tropical storm (probably Omar) on Tuesday. Also, an area in the western Caribbean will probably become a depression on Tuesday. So, stay tuned. There are no immediate threats to the Gulf Coast.

Meanwhile for Houston, it is more warm and muggy weather. Look for a line of showers (possibly thunderstorms on Wednesday) into Thursday as the next front approaches. This front will ease back to the north and finally make its way south through Houston, giving way to a dry and pleasantly cooler weekend.

Louisville will stay mild into at least Wednesday night when it will finally cool into the 40s. Look for a shower or two Wednesday.

SPANISH WORD OF THE DAY
Being at the National Weather Association workshop is allowing me to learn lots of new things. So, that is my word for the day…new or Nuevo/nueva, pronounced new-A-voh/new-A-vah. The use is gender specific…the o ending when modifying masculine words…the a ending when modifying feminine words. The Mount Washington presentation had record data which was nueva to me.

I’ve been sharing with the meteorologists at the workshop that early language learning has been shown to increase math and science scores on standardized tests and to improve scientific hypothesizing. Those are just 2 of the benefits. So, help those budding scientists in your life… Give them a fun yet rewarding tool—get our award winning DVD, Let's Learn Spanish with Frank & Paco, Volume 1, a Dr. Toy Top 10 Educational Product of 2008 at http://www.frankandpaco.com/, Ventura's Educational Supply, Dolo Publications, Carlex Inc., The Curious Mind Store, amazon.com, bestbuy.com, and barnesandnoble.com.

AND MORE
One of the pictures on the right is an interesting sign we saw yesterday along the Ohio River. I was wondering if they were that punitive with folks whose cars were parked along the river’s edge. Well, today I was at very interesting talk about The Great Flood of 1937 in Louisville, KY. Maybe that sign means that if there is a sudden rise in the river, any cars along the edge will be swept away. That talk by the way was given by Rick Bell.

Another little addendum to yesterday’s blog…the waitress who told us about the Ike induced power outages in Louisville also mentioned that they too had run out of gas because of the gas stations being out of power. And there were shortages of certain perishable groceries. I guess we in Houston were all so busy recovering from Ike, we just did not know what other terror Ike was causing.

Tom Skilling was the keynote speaker…he ended by talking about chemical threats and how they are handling by our emergency managers. By the way, in Houston, the Hazmat responders are some of the best in the world. I met Tom's brother, Jeff, at a Christmas party years ago. All he wanted to talk about was his brother Tom. He was so proud of him being such a successful on air meteorologist.

I loved today’s talk by Brian Clark about working on Mount Washington. He talked about not only his own experiences but also how in 1934, observers measured a 231 mph wind—later testing of the anemometer indicated that (due to something that had happened to the device) the actual wind speed might have been 237—bottom line—that’s fast!!! The station is not and never will be automated. Brian has had to service the weather instrumentation in 100 plus mph winds. Yikes!!! By the way, Brian has a very nice broadcast quality voice for anyone looking for a person to do voice work.

I also enjoyed the Hurricane Iniki talk by Wes Browning. Iniki pounded the northernmost Hawaiian Island, Kauii back in 1992. I was there a few years after the storm hit. One local told me they were without power for 2 months. The community had to come together for survival. Neighbors became lifelong friends. There was an interesting discussion about what would happen if this same type of storm would hit Oahu/Honolulu Bay. Half the city would go under water.

The day ending with a dinner cruise on the Belle of Louisville paddle boat. It was a really fun evening with most of the 500 plus workshop attendees on board. The view of the city was absolutely gorgeous. See photos at right.

Well…gotta run!
Cecilia Sinclair
Wonder Weather Woman

Nana/National Weather Association/Louisville Ike Story

HURRICANES AND WEATHER
Odile has fizzled out in the eastern Pacific and the remnant of Norbert is being pulled into the approaching frontal system. Now, we have newly formed Tropical Storm Nana in the central Atlantic. Also, it looks like a new storm is forming in the eastern Caribbean. That one will be named Omar. Neither of these new storms will threaten the upper Texas coast.

Warm weather continues for Houston. And I can tell you it is also warm in Louisville, Kentucky, where I am currently attending the annual National Weather Association workshop. It is not humid, just warm and dry. Warm and muggy weather will continue in Houston with rain likely on Wednesday. Some rain will also be possible there on Thursday and Friday as the front shifts by to the north and then high pressure pushes a backdoor front into the area for the weekend.

Here in Louisville, a few showers are possible on Tuesday as the same front moves through. It will be cooler in the mornings.

SPANISH WORD OF THE DAY
The Ohio River views are just gorgeous from here. We ate dinner looking out over the water. So my word for the day is the water or el agua, pronounced l AH-gwah. In Spanish, words with an emphasized first ah sound are considered masculine and have the masculine article el.

Even though I'm gone, I will still be getting orders out...so don't be afraid to purchase our award winning DVD, Let's Learn Spanish with Frank & Paco, Volume 1, a Dr. Toy Top 10 Educational Product of 2008 at http://www.frankandpaco.com/, Ventura's Educational Supply, Dolo Publications, Carlex Inc., The Curious Mind Store, amazon.com, bestbuy.com, and barnesandnoble.com.

AND MORE
It is so neat meeting up with everyone at the annual workshop. Kristine Kahanek gave me a copy of her new weather book for children. It's called Katie and the Magic Umbrella A Stormy Adventure. It is a great story and very colorful. You can purchase this terrific book at many bookstores. We are wishing Kristine luck as she gets ready to begin a national book tour.

And Betsy Kling is the proud mommy of 10 week old Josie. Betsy I sure hope I spelled her name correctly. Betsy is still a bundle of energy (to go along with her bouncing bundle of joy). Congratulations Betsy!

Talking to our waitress, Tiffany, we learned a lot about how Hurricane Ike had affected the Louisville area. For one thing, the servers for Joe's Crab Shack were offline for 4 days, making order taking very difficult. Tiffany herself lost power at her home for 12 days!!! She believes about 20% of the area lost power. One of her friends lost power for 3 days. And lots of trees and limbs were broken. Our shuttle driver from the airport said the wind was just horrible and she had sore muscles from fighting the wind while driving the big bus.

Well gotta run for now!
Have a great week everyone!
Cecilia Sinclair
Wonder Weather Woman

Celebrity Meteorologist Revealed/Norbert/Odile/NWA Conference

HURRICANES AND WEATHER
As of this writing, Norbert alreayd made landfall on the Baja peninsula and it now moving across the Gulf of California (heading for the Mexican mainland) with 100 mph and little change in strength forecast. Meanwhile, further to the south, Odile is about 35 miles from the coast of Mexico and from here on moving away from the coast. It is apparently much weaker than thought. And the only reason this became known is because the recon flying to Norbert flew through Odile and found out.

The warm, humid weather here in Houston will continue for several days. Cold front approaching Tuesday will trigger showers Tuesday and especially Wednesday. It will be a bit cooler a day or so in the middle of the coming week, but not much cooler. For those of you heading to the National Weather Association (NWA) conference in Louisville, bring a light jacket for evening or early morning. But actually, the weather won't be that much different from the weather here. Rain chances will be lower but there could be a few showers in the middle of the week.

SPANISH WORD OF THE DAY
Tomorrow I will be heading to the airport or aeropuerto, projounced eye-row-pwear-TOE. Why you ask? Because I am going to the NWA conference in Louisville, Kentucky. Yeehaw! This is a meeting of folks who love weather and for many, who work doing the business of weather. See you in Kentucky!

While I'm gone, Elsa Acosta, a bilingual educator and one of our fabulous content developers for our Spanish teaching DVD series and my mom, co-performer of our music will be at the Barnes & Noble in Sugar Land for a special event for area teachers. But anyone can come. So, head over there anytime after 5:30 pm on Monday, October 13th.

Even though I'm gone, I will still be getting orders out while I am gone so...don't forget to purchase our award winning DVD for children is the perfect gift! It is entertaining and educational. You can purchase Let's Learn Spanish with Frank & Paco, Volume 1, a Dr. Toy Top 10 Educational Product of 2008 at http://www.frankandpaco.com/, Ventura's Educational Supply, Dolo Publications, Carlex Inc., The Curious Mind Store, amazon.com, bestbuy.com, and barnesandnoble.com.

AND MORE
My stepdaughter, Megan just asked me not to send her this blog anymore. Wahhhhhhhhhhhh!!!! She is just not interested. Now understand, she is the sweetest gal in the world, but wahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. She just doesn't care about what I do!

Okay...enough of that...The celebrity meteorologist returning to air tonight is former FOX 26 meteorologist Matt Lavine. He will be on 9 pm on CW. Don't pressure him! He had to learn a whole new graphics system in just a few days. But he is super smart. So, I know he is going to definitely break a leg.

Have a great weekend!
Cecilia Sinclair
Wonder Weather Woman

Norbert and Odile/Celebrity Weather Personality Return

HURRICANES AND WEATHER
Norbert is a stronger hurricane this evening...back to a Category 2 and will hit the Baja California peninsula Saturday morning and the Mexican mainland very late Saturday. It will be weaker by the time it hits the mainland...a weak hurricane or down to a tropical storm. Odile has a chance to become a hurricane as it moves parallel to the Mexican coast...a small jog to the right and it will make landfall.

Back to balmy here and that will be the case this weekend. Lows will be in the 60s and highs will be in the 80s. Look for showers and thunderstorms as early as Tuesday but more likely Wednesday as the next "cold" front arrives. It will actually stay warm at least through the week.

SPANISH WORD FOR THE DAY

This is my Mom's brief way to remember the rules for accenting syllables: If the word ends in a vowel, the syllable before the last is accented. If it ends in a consonant other than s or n, the last syllable is accented. If the word does not follow these rules, it will bear a tilde to show you where to put the accent.

Now, I compared this to Adriana's and let me make two changes:
If the word ends in a vowel, s or n, the syllable before the last syllable is accented. If it ends in a letter other than s or n or a vowel, the last syllable is accented. If the word does not follow these rules, it will bear a tilde to show you where to put the accent.

I like my revised version. Don't you?!

So since this weekend's weather will be so balmy, I am choosing the adjective tropical or tropical, pronounce troh-pee-CAHL. This tropical weather reminds me of where I grew up, the Rio Grande Valley.

It's beginning to NOT feel a lot like Christmas (unless you are from Australia or the Rio Grande Valley). Seriously, one year it was 94 degrees in Harlingen on my sister Barb's birthday on December 22nd. Really!!! So, warm weather like this weekend's actually reminds me of my youth. But I digress. Our award winning DVD for children is the perfect gift! It is entertaining and educational. You can purchase Let's Learn Spanish with Frank & Paco, Volume 1, a Dr. Toy Top 10 Educational Product of 2008 at http://www.frankandpaco.com/, Ventura's Educational Supply, Dolo Publications, Carlex Inc., The Curious Mind Store, amazon.com, bestbuy.com, and barnesandnoble.com.

AND MORE
Okay...my mystery celebrity asked me to wait just a little longer to make the big announcement. But I will give you one clue...it will happen Saturday night!!! (as in tomorrow). Stay tuned!!!

I am getting super excited about the upcoming Groundhog Day Gala benefitting the educational programs provided by the Weather Museum/Weather Research Center. Now, seriously, you can tell people--oh yeah, I have plans for Groundhog Day. You betcha I do!!! I'm going to the gala. You know, the Groundhog Day Gala. Anybody who's anybody will be there!!!

Seriously, there will be these meet the animal sessions and celebrity guests and important people honored. Of course, I'll have more details soon! Your's truly will be there. That's enough...isn't it?!!!

If you would like to be one of those in people, contact me at cecilia_sinclair@yahoo.com or go to http://www.wxresearch.com/.

Have a terrific weekend!
Cecilia Sinclair
Wonder Weather Woman

High Speed Internet Withdrawal/Talking to Gene Norman/Norbert and Odile

HURRICANES AND WEATHER
Norbert has weakened quite a bit (but this is partly due to some lower winds measured during reconnaisance). Still, the forecast track should still be that it heads into Mexico on Sunday. It will be fairly weak by the time it hits Mexico. The remnants of Norbert will be pulled northeastward by the approaching cold front which will arrive here on Tuesday. It will be a weak front. But, look for some rain on Tuesday and possibly later in the week depending on return flow and how much moisture hangs around.

Odile is another slightly interesting feature as it is forecast to move northwestward, parallel to the Mexican coast. It shouldn't get very strong however. I am also putting up it's forecast path.

Another pleasant day today with a high of only 82. Took Sarah and her good buddy on a park outing and nice little walk. You just want to be outside on a day like today. Of course there's always something and there were some Ozone Warnings today. It is also ragweed season. I know both of these things make life miserable for folks with respiratory problems.

Humidity will increase Friday. And it will be a warm, humid weekend. Some showers are possible starting Saturday with the most likely day being Wednesday.

SPANISH WORD OF THE DAY

Today's word of the day is school or escuela, because I am definitely going to school about this whole accent rule thing. It is pronounced s-QUELL-ah. Here a lesson on how to figure out accented syllables from Adriana Gutierrez, well known local Spanish teacher.

"Understanding where to put the emphasis in a word can be as difficult as sounding out the word itself. Fortunately, Spanish makes it easy for you. When a word is stressed on an irregular syllable, an accent mark will appear above the stressed vowel. Accent marks look like this:
á é í ó ú
Pay attention to accent marks! Two words might be spelled exactly the same, but the presence of an accent mark can completely change their meaning. For example, esta means “this” while está means “is.” Llamo means “I call” while llamó means “He, she, or you called.” Accent marks are also used to distinguish how a word is used: for example, dónde and donde both mean “where,” but the first is used to ask a question while the second is used in statements. So no matter what you do, don’t forget the accent!
Where Does the Stress Go?
Rule 1.
Most Spanish words that end in n, s, or a vowel are stressed on the penultimate (or next-to-the-last) syllable. Listen to the examples below, repeat each word in the gap that follows, and note where the stress falls. The stressed vowel sound is underlined to help you.
camisa, blusa, chaqueta, pantalones, hablo, como, llamo
Some words that end in n, s, or a vowel are stressed on the last syllable instead. These words must carry an accent mark to warn the speaker. Listen to these examples and repeat them aloud.
televisión, conversación, pais, inglés, alemán, mamá, papa, comió, escribió
Rule 2.
Words that do NOT end in n, s, or a vowel are usually stressed on the last syllable. This includes most verbs in their infinitive forms. For example…
comer, hablar, escribir, estar, seguridad, español, actor, doctor
When these words are not stressed on the last syllable, an accent mark is placed over the stressed vowel. For example…
lápiz, árbol, fútbol, vóleibol"

Thank you Adriana. Did I get it right on es-QUELL-ah?

Tomorrow, I will show you how my mom (National Spelling Bee coach) explained it (unless she tells me not to after reading what Adriana wrote). Ha!

Only 2 and half months until Christmas!!! I know...can you believe it. Be proactive, bypass stress and get an affordable, fun and beneficial gift for the youngsters in your life. Purchase our award winning DVD Let's Learn Spanish with Frank & Paco, Volume 1, a Dr. Toy Top 10 Educational Product of 2008. You can buy it at http://www.frankandpaco.com/, Ventura's Educational Supply, Dolo Publications, Carlex Inc., The Curious Mind Store, amazon.com, bestbuy.com, and barnesandnoble.com.


AND MORE
With my frustration with Comcast, I considered working off my wireless Internet modem forever...well let me just say...DON'T DO IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It is so slow...almost as slow as my old dial-up modem and it disconnects frequently. ARGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

Okay, I feel better.

Say...anyone know a good high speed/home phone (local/long distance)/digital Cable company--besides Comcast?

Gene Norman and I are long time friends (I would say old friends but I don't like that word old). He is the one who actually got me my first job at KFDM in Beaumont. You see, Gene and I knew each other from the local American Meteorological Society. At the time, Gene was working for the Space Flight Meteorology Group at NASA. But he was also working in Beaumont on weekends as the on air meteorologist at KFDM. Well, when Doug Johnson left Channel 2, and Frank Billingsley opened a slot at Channel 13 by filling the spot Doug Johnson vacated, I contacted Gene and told him he needed to fill that opening at Channel 13. Well of course, Gene was already ahead of me. He had already applied and was waiting to hear back. I just knew he would get the job. So, I told him that when he left KFDM, he had to get them to hire me as his replacement. I also was working full time during the week, but I was doing air quality meteorology. Well, Gene wanted to help but he asked me to bring him a copy of my aircheck (that's inside TV lingo for a copy of your weathercast) to his place. Get this...he wanted it on 3/4" tape (which doesn't exist anymore as far as I know). He wanted that because he had a 3/4" player that his sister had given him. I still don't know why his sister had that.

Well, Gene looked at my aircheck and decided he could feel good about recommending me. So, once he got the position at 13, he walked into KFDM, told the news director he was leaving, and handed him my aircheck tape and said that I was his replacement. And they hired me!!! There is a little more to it than that like the fact that my dearly departed friend Robert Smith called and bugged them and demanded that they hire me. And I can't forget that Greg Bostwick, the chief at KFDM and a fellow Aggie demanded that they hire me even though I hyperventilated during my audition.

Anyway, thanks Gene. You got me into KDFM...a great place to work!

In any event, back to Gene...he is very happy to be back in Houston! He had been the chief at a CBS affiliate in Atlanta for 8 years. I teased him about all the action this hurricane season. But he is definitely a cup half full kind of guy, because he said he had 3 storms Dolly, Edouard, and Gustav to warm up on before Ike hit. Wow! He's got a great attitude. Welcome back Gene and keep up the good work!

By the way, Gene is not the mystery weather celebrity I mentioned yesterday. I can't divulge that just yet. But I will soon. So stay tuned.

Have a fabulous Friday everyone!
Cecilia Sinclair
Wonder Weather Woman

Hurricane Norbert/News on a Weather Celebrity/100 blogs

HURRICANES AND WEATHER
First of all, this is my 101st blog! I forgot to mention yesterday was my 100th blog. Okay...everyone sing. Happy 100th blog to me, Happy 100th blog to me...hey, who's singing out of key?

Well, anyway, I'm having fun and I hope you keep coming back for more. Today's weather was definitely Chamber of Commerce, made to order. Tomball, Conroe and Huntsville all dipped into the 40s this morning. And almost everyone else was in the 50s. Look for a repeat performance on Thursday. Humidity starts returning on Friday and in a big way by Sunday. Next front approaches early in the coming week...slightly increasing our rain chances. But, it is beginning to look like the front won't make it...so don't get too used to wearing those extra jackets...not just yet.

Hurricane Norbert is making headlines!!! It's off the coast of Mexico and moving away from Mexico. What's the big deal? Well to begin with, it is a Category 4 hurricane with 135 mph winds. But more importantly the ridge over Mexico and then in a few days our next approaching upper trough and associated surface front could steer it across the Baja Peninsula and into Mexico with the remnants moving into west Texas early next week. Historically, this is not unprecedented. In fact, there have been some major floods in places like the Texas Hill Country from storms like these. So, will track that. I put this afternoon's National Hurricane Center forecast track on the right.

Some interesting information about Tropical Marco. It was teensy-tiny...in fact the smallest tropical storm ever. Do you remember that very strong but very small Hurricane Bret which hit the King Ranch? Marco was less than half the size of that. Wow!!!

SPANISH WORD OF THE DAY
In honor of Marco, today's word will be tiny or diminuto, pronounced dee-mee-noo-toe. My Mom keeps telling me to put the accented syllable in caps. I don't always know which one it is. So, if you know, leave me a comment and I will mention it in the next day's blog.

Early language learning improves cognitive development and function, increases neurological development (makes brain tissue in the area of language learning more dense), increases scores on standardized math and science tests, improves memory, improves hypothesizing in science and more. Our award winning DVD is one of the best ways you can help you child reap the rewards of early language learning (while from their perpective, they are being entertained). So, don't wait! Purchase Let's Learn Spanish with Frank & Paco, Volume 1, a Dr. Toy Top 10 Educational Product of 2008. You can buy it at http://www.frankandpaco.com/, Ventura's Educational Supply, Dolo Publications, Carlex Inc., The Curious Mind Store, amazon.com, bestbuy.com, and barnesandnoble.com.

AND MORE
A little birdie told me that one of Houston's favorite and long-lived TV meteorologists will be reprising that role again...no, no, it's not me. But coming up soon, I'll let you know who it is and where you can catch the broadcasts.

Don't forget to vote in our poll about whether $6000 is an unreasonable amount for moving a damaged boat from a marina to a shipyard.

Have a great Thursday!
Cecilia Sinclair
Wonder Weather Woman

Cooler Weather/Latest on Marco/Boat Considered Scrap

HURRICANES AND WEATHER
What a neat little squall line we had this morning. We drove Sarah to school this am as we didn't want to get caught. Also, warned my neighbor who usually walks. She was very grateful. My husband teased me because although it was raining when we got back to the house, it wasn't Armageddon (yet).

Most areas picked up about 3/4 inch but Bush Airport had 1.1 and Conroe to Huntsville had even more! The cold front itself moves through overnight. Temps in the morning will be in the 50s....brrrrrr!! Look for 50s again on Thursday morning. The weather will be pleasant with low humidity and highs in the 80s through Friday. Humidity and morning lows increase over the weekend through Tuesday. Next weak cold front will move through on Tuesday with another round of rain likely.

Tropical Storm Marco (with some creative estimating from The National Hurricane Center) increased to 65 mph winds. It made landfall at 10 am this morning along the southern Mexico coast and is now weakening inland.

Elsewhere in the tropics...nice and quiet.

SPANISH WORD OF THE DAY
I began teaching 1st grade catechism at my church this afternoon. I have never taught 1st graders before, only middle-schoolers. Well, 1st graders are much harder because their attention span is about 5 minutes max. So, you had better keep it moving. There is a lot more advance planning needed. Fortunately, my co-teacher Kim Castillo, loves arts and crafts and works at a scrapbooking store. Thank goodness!!! We had a really good time, and I had fun trying to be creative.

So, I thought we should do the word for children -- los niños, pronounced lohs nee-nyos. This is generic for a room full of kids, but if you had all girls, you would say las niñas, pronounced lahs nee-nyahs. By the way, ñ, (called n-yah) is a distinct letter of the Spanish alphabet. If you look in a Spanish dictionary, you will find a section (albeit small) of words which begin with ñ.

One research study investigated how bilingualism affects cognitive development.
French-Italian bilingual children (aged 7-11)...[and]...a control group of monolingual Italian children... [were given]...a series of cognitive tests...It is concluded that bilingualism in early childhood exerts a positive effect on the formation of cognitive processes in children.

This is from Fardeau, O. (1993). Franco-Italian bilingualism in early childhood and cognitive development...Il Forneri, 7(2), 83-99. from Linguistics and Language Behavior Abstracts database.

So, stimulate cognitive development in the little ones you love. Purchase our DVD, Let's Learn Spanish with Frank & Paco, Volume 1, a Dr. Toy as a Top 10 Educational Product of 2008. You can buy it at http://www.frankandpaco.com/, Ventura's Educational Supply, Dolo Publications, Carlex Inc., The Curious Mind Store, amazon.com, bestbuy.com, and barnesandnoble.com.

AND MORE
At the party we attended the other night, I had a chance to visit with the area's new Meteorologist In Charge, Gene Hafele. He is not "new" to the National Weather Service as he worked at the local office for many years, serving as Bill Read's right hand man. As you know, Bill Read was promoted to Director of The National Hurricane Center. I commended Gene on his hard work before, during and after the storm. He was very modest, saying that his job eased up and that he really feels sorry for the emergency managers and responders who are still working extremely hard...with still much work yet to be done. A friend of mine told me today that while Gene was working so hard, Gene's church sent a group to clean up his debris strewn yard, including a large tree which had fallen into the pool. Now you know how much Gene is loved and appreciated.

If you look to the right, you will see a picture of my brother-in-law's boat. I had captioned it...don't worry it's okay. Well, come to find out, it is not. My brother-in-law was informed that it had been towed to a shipyard and supposedly in the process, it was wrecked and made unsalvageable. He was told this by the insurance adjustor. And although my brother-in-law has insurance to pay off the rest of the note, he did not know it would cost about $6000 to have the boat moved to a shipyard. I am putting a poll to the right--Do you think that $6000 is what it should cost to move a 40 ft boat to a shipyard?

This weekend, I am heading to the National Weather Association meeting in Louisville, Kentucky. My friend, Meresa Fincher, who is from Louisville, helped me learn how to say Louisville. It is NOT Leweyville, it is Louil-ville. Now you know! Thanks Meresa!!! I plan to keep blogging while I'm there, although I'll have to be briefer. Lots of meeting to attend and fun to have you know!

The John C. Freeman Weather Museum is selling tickets to it's Feb. 2, 2009 Weather Heroes gala to be held at the Houston Zoo. This is Groundhog Day. The museum wants to expand so it can handle a larger volume of children (and larger tour groups). The museum does so much for educating the young folks of our community. You can find out more by going to http://wxresearch.org/. Remember to give me credit if you buy tickets...I'm on the board.

Be safe and be back soon.
Cecilia Sinclair
Wonder Weather Woman

Marco/Cold Front/Ike Victims/Advice on Market Plummet

HURRICANES AND MORE
I am adding the following link to my list of links...thanks John (Book Hathorn) for this animation of Hurricane Ike!
http://www.srh.noaa.gov/hgx/projects/ike08/radar/IkeLong.gif

Tropical Storm Marco formed today in the southern Gulf...not a threat to us...will drift westward into Mexico. Thanks Frank Brody for the heads up!

Cold front will arrive in the morning along with some scattered showers and thunderstorms--40% chance. By the way, that 40% means that if you were to stand in one spot for that time period (say tomorrow morning), you have a 40% chance of being affected by that type of weather.

Sunshine returns Tuesday afternoon and it will be very pleasant (for a few days) and even in the 50s Thursday morning. Another Pacific cold front approaches over the weekend. Look for some showers and thunderstorms especially Sunday into Monday.

SPANISH WORD FOR THE DAY
Since I filed my sales tax report today, I will do--the taxes, los impuestos, pronounced lows eem-pweh-stows. It's a pain, but when you have a business, you have to do it. Hey, it least I had some los impuestos to report--always a sign of life!

Won't do the research part today as I have a pot of water about to boil on the stove. You know what they saw, a pot you don't watch boils way too fast!

But I just want to remind you that we are now less than 3 months from Christmas and you can beat the rush and buy a great gift for every youngster on your list by purchasing our DVD, Let's Learn Spanish with Frank & Paco, Volume 1, a Dr. Toy as a Top 10 Educational Product of 2008.--it is less expensive right now at Best Buy and Barnes & Noble. Order through http://www.frankandpaco.com/, Ventura's Educational Supply, Dolo Publications, Carlex Inc., The Curious Mind Store, amazon.com, bestbuy.com, and barnesandnoble.com.

AND MORE
Here are some great articles from my field reporter, Peyton Cascarelli. She got these from the Galveston Daily News. There is even discussion about missing folks...thanks Peyton.

http://galvestondailynews.com/story.lasso?ewcd=186c0000610bb3a3
http://galvestondailynews.com/story.lasso?ewcd=d1dac7f5b4b842a5
http://www.galvestondailynews.com/story.lasso?ewcd=8a2b2996d5a8581c

The market dropped below 10,000 today...1st time in 4 years. Before you go selling off everything, remember to buy low, sell high. My advice would be to buy right now. Wish I had some extra cash to do so. The last time the market dropped drastically (I believe 1999), we lost 1/3 of our wealth (on paper). But we recovered that and then some. Remember that you are in this for the long haul (at least most of you). So hang on!!! Now, if you need to sell at a loss, then now is the time to do it. You can get some benefit from that on your taxes. Of course, consult your tax professional before buying or selling.

I have a Masters in Business Adminstration (in addition to my degree in Meteorology). One of the things I learned was that over the long haul with only one exception of a 29 year run (several decades), history shows you are always going to make money on your retirement investments. So take heart everyone and don't sell!!! It is only on paper until you sell and make it real!!!

Be safe everyone!
Cecilia Sinclair
Wonder Weather Woman