Arctic Air Coming!/New Year's Wedding/Get me out of trouble!

WEATHER
The big story for the eastern 2/3rds of the country this week will be the arctic air that is plunging southward. On Monday, highs will be in the single digits and teens over the Midwest, northern Plains and Great Lakes states. Warm spots will be coastal California with highs in the 50s and 60s, southern Arizona with highs in the 60s, south Texas with highs in the 50s and southern Florida with highs in the 60s. Elsewhere expect 20s to 40s. There will be some snow showers over the northern Rockies and Great Lakes.

Houston, this is going to be a chilly week with freezing temperatures early Tuesday and an arctic air mass arriving Thursday. There could be some brief sleet changing to snow on Thursday but accumulation is unlikely. Will keep a close eye on that. The important thing is to be prepared for Friday morning when lows for most of the area will be in the mid-20s and possibly low 20s. Galveston will likely get down to about 30. So, we will be protecting pets, plants and people Thursday night into Friday morning. Also, check your sprinkler system valves...frozen water can bust those items. There will also be freezing temperatures for much of the area early Saturday...but not as cold as Friday morning.

SPANISH WORD OF THE DAY
Let's do wedding or boda, pronounced BOW-dah. I went to a fabulous boda yesterday. To find out all about it, go the AND MORE section.

Start the New Year off on a positive note...introduce your to the fun and benefits of early language learning. Our DVD series, Let's Learn Spanish with Frank & Paco is a perfect way to get started. And, you'll feel good about purchasing it, knowing that it has won awards from Dr. Toy and homeschool.com as a best educational product. You can find Volumes 1 or 2 at http://www.frankandpaco.com
, http://www.amazon.com, http://www.bn.com, http://www.bestbuy.com, or http://www.ebay.com/. Our ESL (English as a Second Language) version can be found at http://www.frankypaco.com.

AND MORE
Okay...I am in trouble. I am on the board of the John C. Freeman Weather Museum and I was supposed to sign up two new members by the end of the year (being the year 2009, not 2010). First of all, how cool is this place--the only weather museum in the United States!!! For students, young professionals and senior citizens, membership is only $25 per year. You get unlimited visits to the museum and a free subscription to the newsletter. You also get a discount on museum merchandise. Family memberships are only $50 and you get discounts on weather camps! These camps are really great by the way. Kids from all over the country attend. So, please get me off the hotseat and join. Here is the link:

http://wxresearch.org/

Just got back from a whirlwind trip to San Antonio over the weekend. My cousin Sue-Anne Hill was married to Ian Benoist (on Jan. 2nd) at the Sacred Heart Conventual Chapel on the campus of our Lady of the Lake. This "chapel" was more like a cathedral if you ask me. It was built in the 20s and is attached to the convent there---the one my Dad used to tease me he was taking me to once I graduated high school. He would laugh and tell me they added another foot to the brick wall surrounding it so that the novitiates couldn't escape. By the way, there is NO brick wall. Anyway, inside the church, there are individual seats for each person as well as closeable pockets for songbooks and mass books. Sarah had fun playing with those during the vows...Yikes! The beautiful music was performed by my Mom and stepdad of Cherish the Music. Janie, Esther and Dorothy, three sisters and cousins of mine, sang the Our Father in harmony--it was a feast for the ears. The bride and groom were so happy and we enjoyed seeing family. Gordy took the photo of Sarah, me and Megan (at right) out front. One of the neat things I saw at the reception that I have never seen before was a photo booth. Each family or group was encouraged to get into the photo booth and take 4 photos. Then a printer produced 2 copies of the 4 photos, one for your to keep and one to paste with good wishes in a special scrapbook. They even had dressup items if desired. This was one of those photobooths you see in the mall etc. It was really fun and the scrapbook looked so neat. The bride had ordered all the flowers in bulk from Costco and the bridal party made their bouquets as well as the centerpieces for the reception. Everything was just beautiful! Congratulations Sue-Anne and Ian!

By the way, the officiating priest was the same one who officiated at Sue-Anne's parents' wedding (Leona and Jerry) almost 40 years ago. I was at that wedding...just a little girl...but I do remember it! Sue-Anne was the last of their 4 children to marry. Wow! Time really does fly! Wanting to take advantage of seeing so many family members, my sister Julie and daughter Sophia flew in from Spain on New Year's Day just to attend. They had spent Christmas with Julie's husband Alex and friends overseas. I know both were jet lagged but they were worked very hard to enjoy. We had a great time!

My poll on new year's resolutions is closed. More than one answer was allowed. The number one resolution was to eat better at 75%. Tied for second was lose weight and clear clutter at 66%. Next came pray more and do regular exercise at 50%. 41% said make more money but 0% said work more. 16% actually resolved to work less. 33% said finish more home projects or spend more time on kids. 25% said spend more time with spouse or spend more time with friends. 16% said other. 8% said go to church regularly or get a better job and 0% said no resolutions. Thanks to all who participated.

My new poll is about the month of January. I was inspired to do this poll as I looked around my barren house--I put all the decorations away on New Year's Day and felt relieved and sad at the same time. More than one answer is allowed. Thanks in advance for participating.

More to come on arctic cold snap.
Have a great week back at work and school everyone!
Cecilia Sinclair
Wonder Weather Woman