Watching Tropics/Drought Report/Twins Update

HURRICANES AND MORE
All eyes are on Invest 90 (as labeled by The National Hurricane Center). This is an area of low pressure over the Bahamas. There is also a 2nd area of low pressure (non-tropical) over Florida. There was a possibility that a recon flight would be sent to the Bahamas low, but that was scrapped as no development is indicated and the area is being absorbed by the Florida system (which by the way has brought welcome rain to drought plagued Florida). We will watch all of this as it drifts western into the Gulf of Mexico. Models are all over the place as to where it will end up. And there might be some development as the system encounters less wind shear over the Gulf waters. Hurricane Center has less than a 30% chance for tropical development--in the near future. So, I will keep a watchful eye.

50s and 60s for highs today west coast, Pacific Northwest, northern states and northeast. Most other areas will have highs in the 70s and 80s...hotter (some 100s southwest). There will be showers and thunderstorms in Florida and over the Rockies and southwest.

Houston will be sunny and pleasant. Wednesday will also be very comfortable. Some higher humidity starting Thursday and possibly a shower. Some showers and thunderstorms end of week and over weekend.

SPANISH WORD OF THE DAY
Let's do drought or sequía, pronunced seh-CWEE-ah. There is a terrible sequía around Corpus Christi. See AND MORE section for details.

While we were in the valley, I enjoyed hearing Spanish spoken more frequently. Your child is well equipped to learn more than one language. Research shows that young minds have an amazing ability to do so and they enjoy tremendous benefits such as improved cognitive development. Help your children discover Spanish...order our award winning DVD, Let's Learn Spanish with Frank & Paco. Courtney has done missionary work in Mexico and enjoyed learning and speaking more Spanish. You can order your copy from www.frankandpaco.com/. You can also order from http://www.venturaes.com/, http://www.dololanguages.com/, http://www.carlexonline.com,www.thecuriousmindstore.com/, http://www.amazon.com/,http://www.bestbuy.com/, and http://www.barnesandnoble.com/. Volume 2 is almost ready for release and Volume 3 will follow soon thereafter!!! For our English as a Second Language (ESL) version, got to http://www.frankypaco.com/.

AND MORE
I am giving up on the polls for a while...sorry I did not get results for the Rockets respect poll. Will let you know when we can try again.

Happy to report that little Michael and Alexander are both home. These are Ned and Danielle's identical twin boys. Their big brother Teddy is very excited they are all together and no more running back and forth to the hospital. Yay!!! Congratulations and welcome home!

Do you remember back in November, I was talking about my cousin who had been in a car accident where 3 of the 5 occupants had been killed? Well I am happy to report that she has made an amazing recovery. I saw her at the wedding reception and she looked fantastic. She said she is still doing therapy to recover from her head injury, but she has made a lot of progress! Well, I could certainly tell and it was just wonderful to see her beautiful face!!!

The photo of the bride and groom is one of my favorites. I always love that moment as the bride and groom cross that threshold from their reception to their new life together. I was right by the door (the threshold) when I took this photo. Hunter had already looked up and could see the crowd which had gathered to congratulate and cheer them on. Courtney had bowed her head (to make sure she wouldn't trip on that beautiful dress) but also I think she was taking a deep breath. This is it!!! Everyone had little cowbells to ring and celebrate the glorious moment. They are now on their honeymoon and we are very happy for them.

Well, when we returned from the wedding festivities, I couldn't wait to check out our corn (even though it was dark). In just 4 days, the plants had grown a foot!!! But, most importantly, we had corn cobs already on 3 plants...see photo. I know those wasps buzzing around helped with the cross-pollination. Thanks wasps. Most of the neighborhood kids have been over to check out the plants and of course, they want to pick the corn. My stepdad Gerry said that you know the corn is ready when the fine hairs, on top of the cob, turn brown. I want to especially thank Gerry for suggesting using the Miracle-Gro spray attachment. I think that helped tremendously. By the way, Gerry wants me to put in a daily forecast for Bandera. Do you think I should do that? Today will be warm, sunny and dry. You're welcome. Ha!

Speaking of dry weather, it rained at Courtney's wedding which was in Harlingen. That area has been suffering with drought for a few years. Someone told me this was the first rain in 2 months. Unfortunately, the Coastal Bend (around Corpus Christi) did not get any. I am telling you all, I have never seen it so dry...it is getting to be like Grapes of Wrath with dirt fields, crops not planted due to lack of irrigation water and what crops have been planted are pathetic little nothings. Even some of the trees are dieing. It's bad!!!

Well, that's all for now.

Have a terrific Tuesday!
Cecilia Sinclair
Wonder Weather Woman