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