Rain, then sunshine/Please be an organ donor/Unpasteurized milk

WEATHER
Big buzz in Houston today as it started sleeting this afternoon. Temperatures were in the 40s, but by golly, those were ice pellets hitting my windshield (or at least some of the wet stuff was ice pellets). For counties, a few counties north of Houston, there will be sleet and even some snow. Around Houston, temperatures will stay warm enough to prevent ice on roads. It will be very chilly on Thursday with highs in the 40s and rain increasing in intensity as the day progresses. Rain tapers off Friday morning. There could be some breaks with sun on Friday afternoon. Saturday and Sunday will be milder with sunshine--especially Saturday. A brief overcast Sunday afternoon and then sunshine for the early part of the week.

Ridge will build over the western US the next few days. This will keep the wet stuff mainly over the eastern US. On Thursday, highs will be in the 20s over the northern plains and Great Lakes. There will 60s over the southwest US, Florida and south Texas. Wettest are will be Texas and Oklahoma.

SPANISH WORD OF THE DAY
Let's do aunt or tia, pronounced TEE-ah. Find out about one of my very special aunts in the AND MORE section.

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AND MORE
A dear friend of mine told me today that a lung function problem he had since childhood has pulled on his heart so much that the heart is only operating at 18%. He needs a lung and heart transplant but is just now getting on the waiting list...yet the doctors think he only has 1 to 5 years to live.

BECOME A DONOR! I have the sticker on my license and it is very easy to get from your DPS office. Also very important, tell your family that is what you wish. Know that your family will never be charged for the transplant costs. Stop the needless deaths of people waiting for donors. For more information, check out the following site:
http://organdonor.gov/donor/index.htm

Still doing a lot of reminiscing...a lot has to do with my nephew Taylor being here. I was thinking about my Aunt Shirley. I used to visit her family during the summers...often for weeks at a time. I was one of those "city folks". But, my heart was in the country. I loved running around barefoot, collecting eggs from the chickens, picking blackberries from the wild bushes along the back fence, riding Sam the horse bareback and drinking milk (unpasteurized) from the cows. By the way, that milk tastes very different from what you buy in the store.

Anyway, Aunt Shirley was a joy! She had a great sense of humor. I used to ask her why she didn't have a dishwasher and she would answer...I already have 4 dishwashers. When I asked where they were she would point at me and say "you, and her and her and her" (she was pointing at her 3 daughters after pointing at me. Then she would belt out a hearty laugh. We were up around 5 or 5:30 to do "the work" and that was taking care of the animals. Aunt Shirley whipped up these wonderful breakfasts--my favorite was the cream gravy with bits of sausage over biscuits. She packed up huge lunchboxes and sent her 3 boys off to work the farm. During the day, us girls took care of the chore of the day. She had one day devoted to washing clothes. For a long time, she had one of those ringer washers. One day was for going "up to town" to shop for groceries and run errands. My aunt and cousins got dressed up...in dresses! Then, there was alway "the work" at around 5:30 pm which was again taking care of the animals. There was always a wonderful dinner too and usually dessert. Then, Aunt Shirley would stay up until about 12:30 am sewing clothes for extra money on the side. She made outfits for entire dance drill teams and made many wedding dresses. She was extremely good at what she did. Of course when I look back on all of this, I marvel at how hard she worked every minute of every day and yet had a ready laugh that shook the rafters. She was a blast!

Well now, go give that special aunt a hug or phone call.

Stay warm everyone!
Cecilia Sinclair
Wonder Weather Woman