Friday Forecast/Saints/Longaberger Party

HURRICANES AND WEATHER
Another area of disturbed weather is northeast of the Leeward Islands...some slow development is possible.

New cold front is pushing across the country this evening...some strong winds behind it with lots of wind warnings from the southern to northern Plains. Friday will be stormy from the Rio Grande Valley to New Orleans and up the eastern seaboard. There will be snow over the western Great Lakes states and the northern plains. And it will be cold there with highs only in the 30s.

Houston weather for Friday...mild with a few showers possible. Weekend will be dry, very comfortable and cooler. Saturday will be breezy...might be good kite flying weather.

SPANISH WORD OF THE DAY
The word for today is assistance or ayuda, pronounced eye-YOU-dah. Sometimes, people need just a little ayuda.

The brains of children who are learning more than one language have been shown to be more dense in the area of language learning. You can provide your youngsters with that kind of helpful stimulation by watching our award winning DVD, Volume 1 of Let's Learn Spanish with Frank and Paco--order from www.frankandpaco.com, www.venturaes.com, www.dololanguages.com, www.carlexonline.com,www.thecuriousmindstore.com, www.amazon.com, www.bestbuy.com, and http://www.barnesandnoble.com/.

AND MORE
I'm hosting a Longaberger party Friday evening at 7 pm. This is the modern day version of a tupperware party. Well, we are going to have a deliciously fun time. The theme is "Death by Chocolate" and I will have plenty of that. If you would like to come, email me at cecilia_sinclair@yahoo.com.

My reporter friend, Leslie Williams, has produce another excellent article. It is about people getting assistance obtaining the basics...food. I was very touched to read about a lady who was getting assistance. She is taking care of a sick mother, working and raising a child.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/nb/fortbend/news/6108105.html

These are the saints on this earth. Another mother I know has 5 children, can't get more than a pittance of support from her ex-husband and one of the children has Smith-Magenis Syndrome, with many of its most severe characteristics. God bless these people...give them strength and may those around them be merciful and help them.

Happy Friday everyone!
Cecilia Sinclair
Wonder Weather Woman

Thursday Forecast/Chocolate Options/Burger King Benefits

HURRICANES AND WEATHER
For Houston, stationary front is hanging around on the coast. Until the next cold front arrives Friday afternoon, there is a slight chance for showers. It will be mild and a bit muggy on Thursday with highs in the 70s.

Much of the country will be wet on Thursday with showers and thunderstorms for the eastern states and wintry weather over the Rockies and extreme northern sections of the North Dakota and Minnesota and possibly Michigan.

SPANISH WORD OF THE DAY
The word is chocolate...my favorite food. And it is a food, sort of. Anyway in Spanish it is still spelled chocolate, but it is pronounced cho-co-LAH-tay. I have some good news for all chocolate lovers.

There are many ways to expose your children to another language. One way is to send them to a country where the other language is spoken. I have a friend who sends who daughters to Colombia every summer. They stay with their grandparents, have a ball, and really learn Spanish. Obviously, most of us don't have such options. But you can still expose your little ones to another language. You could try our award winning DVD, Volume 1 of Let's Learn Spanish with Frank and Paco--order from www.frankandpaco.com, www.venturaes.com, www.dololanguages.com, www.carlexonline.com,www.thecuriousmindstore.com, www.amazon.com, www.bestbuy.com, and http://www.barnesandnoble.com/.

AND MORE
Okay, here is the good news for chocolate lovers. Many of our favorite chocolate candies are being offered in dark chocolate form...like Hersheys kisses and there is even a variety park of semisweet to dark chocolate for those miniature candy bars. As you may have read, dark chocolate has anti-oxidants. I won't go into the fact that the fat content can get in the way. Basically the darker the better. Enjoy!

Until tonight, I had not been inside a Burger King for a very long time. Well, Sarah and I were in one tonight--her idea. They had a touch screen interactive game system and a WiFI room with at least one computer that actually worked. And there was no one in there. I was amazed. I think we will be be frequenting Burker King a lot more often.

Happy Thursday everyone!
Cecilia Sinclair
Wonder Weather Woman

Wednesday Forecast/Flood Threats/Rainfall Totals

HURRICANES AND WEATHER
A lot going on in the Houston area tonight...over the past 2 days, 5 to 6 inches of rain have fallen in Montgomery County/Northern Harris County. Sprink Creek is rising and minor flooding is expected...so there is a Flood Warning for that. All of the area is under a Flood Watch until Wednesday morning and several counties are under Urban and Small Flood Advisories as there is flooding occurring as I write this blog.

So please remember the rule of thumb--Turn Around Don't Drown (if you encounter a flooded roadway). Six inches of rushing water can sweep a person off their feet. One foot of rushing water can pick up and carry away a car.

Right now, there are slow moving lines of storms in the area and at least one Severe Thunderstorm Warning has been issued in Colorado County.

Wednesday, the rain will taper off in the morning in Houston. The models are backing off some on the return of less humid air. But it still looks like the rain will let up during the day. For the rest of the nation...it's 30s and 40s for the northern states with rain and snow over the Rockies and Pacific Northwest. Also, look for thunderstorms from the Rio Grande Valley northeastward into the Tennessee Valley.

SPANISH WORD OF THE DAY
A warning is the most serious type of statement issued by the National Weather Service. It means that type of weather is imminent or happening. In Spanish, this would be advertencia, pronounced ahd-vair-ten-SEE-ah. When the advertencia was issued, the residents stayed in their homes, rather than venture out into the flood waters.

We are waiting to hear if we are award winners from homeschool.com. This is the largest retailer for homeschool education materials. They invited us to enter their contest for best holiday gifts (free of charge). When I asked them where they heard about our DVD, they said they heard from a homeschooler who just raved about our product. We'll know the results come December 1st. So, keep your fingers crossed. We already won the 2008 Dr. Toy Top 10 Educational Product award. So, what a perfect gift this DVD is! You can purchase copies of our award winning DVD, Volume 1 of Let's Learn Spanish with Frank and Paco from www.frankandpaco.com, www.venturaes.com, www.dololanguages.com, www.carlexonline.com,www.thecuriousmindstore.com, www.amazon.com, www.bestbuy.com, and http://www.barnesandnoble.com/.

AND MORE
At right is my list of favorite weather web sites. One that I think you all will find very useful is the Harris County Office of Emergency Management web site. Look for my item called Harris Co. Rainfall Map. There you can find out just how many inches fell for different periods of time.

I am sending out a special prayer request for my cousin who was in a terrible car accident. The good news is she has been moved from the ICU to a regular room. But she is in a lot of pain and her memory is not right. Two occupants of the car were killed. One other was also critically injured. The driver, who was wearing a seat belt, is okay with minor injuries. Please pray for all of them and their families...especially the driver.

Have a safe Wednesday everyone.
Cecilia Sinclair
Wonder Weather Woman

Tuesday Forecast/Flood Threat/Sarah Scissorhands

HURRICANES AND WEATHER
What is left of Paloma is just northeast of Cuba. Redevelopment does not look likely because there is so much wind shear.

The big story in the states is the upper storm swirling over the central part of the country. A line of storms is spinning out and there is a tornado watch over north central Texas. Also there are winter weather advisories and warnings and freezing rain warnings in Nebraska, Iowa and South Dakota.

On Tuesday, there will be rain and snow over the northern and central plains. There will be thunderstorms southward to Houston. It is going to be a soggy couple of days in Houston. I would not be surprised if we have some flooding trouble...Wednesday looks like the wettest day of all. Humidity will be high...temperatures mild. Nice weekend coming our way...although Saturday will be breezy and cool--good for kite flying.

SPANISH WORD OF THE DAY
The word of the day is haircut or corte de pelo, pronounced CORE-tay day PAY-low. When my hair is long, I schedule a corte de pelo.

If you want your children to learn another language and you want them to have the best pronunciation possible, they need to learn as children. Our award winning DVD, Volume 1 of Let's Learn Spanish with Frank and Paco, was created with the most accurate pronunciation possible--with a team of experts making sure every syllable was pronounced correctly. You can order our DVD from www.frankandpaco.com, www.venturaes.com, www.dololanguages.com, www.carlexonline.com,www.thecuriousmindstore.com, www.amazon.com, www.bestbuy.com, and http://www.barnesandnoble.com/.

AND MORE
Well Sarah did it again. I had her working on some exercises with cutting. After giving her the assignment, I went into the kitchen. When I came back, I found long pieces of hair on the floor. Yep. She cut it. The first time was right at the beginnning of kindergarten when she cut her hair right in the front...a couple days before school pictures. Well Santa is going to ask Sarah what happened to her hair. It's not that bad...it's toward the back. What I don't understand is why there...it had to be hard to reach that one spot. I figure it will take about 5 months to grow back out. When I asked her why she did it, she said, "I don't know". Well that answer hasn't changed. Tee hee!

Have a great Tuesday!
Cecilia Sinclair
Wonder Weather Woman

Monday Forecast/Bee Picnic/Frank Caliendo

HURRICANES AND WEATHER
Paloma is dieing over Cuba. The top has been lopped off by strong upper level winds. There is still a low level circulation. The National Hurricane Center has stopped issuing advisories. Forecast models indicate what is left will shift westward, but no intensification is suggested.

Deep trough begins digging into the nation's midsection on Monday. This means rain and snow in the higher elevations of the Rockies. Highs in the northern states will be in the 30s, 40s and 50s. Some rain and thunderstorms are possible from San Antonio to Oklahoma City.

In Houston, a few showers are possible on Monday. Look for the most active weather Tuesday and Wednesday. It will be more humid but still mild. Front moves through Wednesday afternoon or evening. Looks like the end of the week and the coming weekend will be very pleasant.

SPANISH WORD OF THE DAY
The word is sting (as in a bee sting)--picadura, pronounced pee-kah-DOO-rah. The poor girl cried because the picadura hurt so much.

Spanish is a beautiful language. Even the word sting sounds more interesting and almost fun in Spanish--picadura. Well, children love to learn languages and they enjoy many intellectual benefits when they do--like higher scores on standardized tests in math and science. And on average, bilingual or multilingual folks earn more money as adults. So, invest in their future now...order 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 http://www.barnesandnoble.com/.

AND MORE
At yesterday's picnic, there was an amazingly large number of bees flying around once we had opened drinks and food. They were easy to shoo away except for one poor little girl. One landed on her hand and when she touched it, it stung her right in the palm. I immediately pulled the stinger out with my fingernails. Fortunately, I had a first aid kit and some anesthesizing spray. It did seem to help...but I felt so sorry for the little girl. She was so brave! I'm glad she wasn't allergic.

Gordy and I love the comedian, Frank Caliendo. We got to see him a couple years ago when he came to Houston. After the show, I told him he does a good job, and he said "I'm trying". Now, he has a show on Tuesday night at 10 pm on TBS called Frank TV. It is a riot. Today, we finally got to watch what we recorded this last week. Frank did impressions of George W. Bush (excellent), John McCain and Tom Brokaw. He also has a team of actors who do impressions as well. There is one guy who does a pretty good Obama. Check out the link to the TBS site for him: http://www.tbs.com/shows/franktv/. They have clips and even entire episodes. Enjoy!

The poll has closed for evaluating Michelle Obama's dress from election night. 1/3 liked it while 2/3rds of respondents did not. Now, after watching the intensity of Obama's action following election night, I have posted a new poll. You can participate by clicking your response at the right.

Happy Monday everyone!
Cecilia Sinclair
Wonder Weather Woman

Sunday Forecast/Hurricane Paloma/Baylor College of Medicine helps parents

HURRICANES AND WEATHER
As I write this blog, Hurricane Paloma has made landfall on Cuba. Here is the latest from The National Hurricane Center.

AT APPROXIMATELY 620 PM EST...2320 UTC...HIGH-RESOLUTION GOES SATELLITE DATA AND A RECENT POSITION FIX FROM AN AIR FORCE RESERVE UNIT HURRICANE HUNTER AIRCRAFT...PLUS SURFACE OBSERVATIONS AND RADAR DATA FROM CUBA...INDICATE THAT MAJOR HURRICANE PALOMA LIKELY MADE LANDFALL NEAR SANTA CRUZ DEL SUR CUBA AS A STRONG CATEGORY 3 HURRICANE WITH MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS NEAR 125 MPH...200 KM/HR.

It already hammered the Cayman Islands. It also has the distinction of being the 2nd strongest Atlantic basin November hurricane on record.

After crossing Cuba, the forecast models take it different directions as it falls apart. But it shouldn't matter unless it stalls over land...which it doesn't look like it will do. For one thing, the upper part of the storm should be sheared away.

Sunday weather in Houston: another pleasant day with some clouds by late afternoon--a cool morning and a warm afternoon. Look for rain on and off starting Monday and continuing until Thursday. Then...another great weekend.

On Sunday, the northern half of the country will be chilly with highs in the 20s, 30s and 40s. There will be rain in the Pacific Northwest and intermountain region and some snow showers over the Great Lakes states.

SPANISH WORD OF THE DAY
The word is tired--cansado or cansada, pronounced cahn-SAH-dough or cahn-SAH-dah. I am so cansada (a ending as I am female) after hosting our 5th annual Smith-Magenis Syndrome picnic.

And when you are tired, what is better than shopping from the comforts of home? Speaking of that, when you do your Christmas shopping, don't forget to order 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
For five years, Gordy and I have hosted a picnic for families who have children with Smith-Magenis Syndrome. This is the syndrome our daughter Sarah has. For more information, see prisms.org. Anyway, every year, we see new faces. And this is truly a lifeline as the syndrome is so rare and it is validating and comforting to the families of these children to meet others who understand.

Last night, Baylor College of Medicine medical students had Parents Night Out. This is a night when parents of Smith-Magenis children can drop them off and go out and have a break. You see some of these children are so difficult that the parents can not find anyone to watch them. Special thanks to all of these folks and Dr. Lorraine Potocki and assistant Yolanda for volunteering your Friday night to do this once a year. It is so very appreciated.

Well, enjoy Sunday everyone!

Cecilia Sinclair
Wonder Weather Woman

Saturday Forecast/Credit Card Scam/Hurricane Paloma

HURRICANES AND WEATHER
Paloma is a Category 2 hurricane and will hit Cuba late Saturday, then move through the Bahamas and out into the open waters of the Atlantic.

Meanwhile, the north-central and Great Lakes region of the country will be dealing with wintery conditions--snow and highs in the 20s and 30s. Much of the south will enjoy dry weather. The Pacific Northwest will also be showery.

Houston weather will be chilly in the mornings and warm and dry in the afternoons...Saturday will be especially nice.

SPANISH WORD OF THE DAY
I spoke to a Mom's group at Prince of Peace Catholic church this morning. They had child care...so it was very peaceful. Ha! Ha!

So our word for the day is babysitter or canguro, pronounced cahn-GOO-row. It is wonderful sometimes to have a babysitter.

Doing some Christmas shopping this weekend. Don't forget to order 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 have to fly as I am involved in a very personal and important event tonight...I'll have more on this tomorrow.

In the meantime, I want to tell you about a terrible credit card scam. Here are the details:


Snopes.com says this is true. To verify see this site:
http://www.snopes.com/crime/warnings/creditcard.asp
This one is pretty slick since they provide YOU with all the information, except the one piece they want.Note, the callers do not ask for your card number; they already have it. This information is worth reading. By understanding how the VISA & Master Card Telephone Credit Card Scam works, you'll be better prepared to protect yourself.One of our employees was ca lled on Wednesday from 'VISA', and I was called on Thursday from 'Master Card'. The scam works like this: Caller: 'This is (name), and I'm calling from the Security and Fraud Department at VISA. My Badge number is 12460. Your card has been flagged for an unusual purchase pattern, and I'm calling to verify. This would be on your VISA card which was issued by (name of bank). Did you purchase an Anti-Telemarketing Device for $497.99 from a Marketing company based inArizona ?'When you say 'No', the caller continues with, 'Then we will be issuing a credit to your account. This is a company we have been watching and the charges range from $297 to $497, just under the $500 purchase pattern that flags most cards. Before your next statement, the credit wil l be sent to (gives you your address), is that correct?'You say 'yes'. The caller continues - 'I will be starting a Fraud investigation. If you have any questions, you should call the 1- 800 number listed on the back of your card (1-800 -VISA) and ask for Security.'You will need to refer to this Control Number. The caller then gives you a 6 digit number. 'Do you need me to read it again?'Here's the IMPORTANT part on how the scam works. The caller then says, 'I need to verify you are in possession of your card'. He'll ask you to 'turn your card over and look for some numbers'. There are 7 numbers; the first 4 are part of your card number, the next 3 are the security Numbers that verify you are the possessor of the card. These are the numbers you sometimes use to make Internet purchases to prove you have the card. The caller will ask you to read the 3 numbers to him. After you tell the caller the 3 numbers, he'll say, 'That is correct, I just needed to verify that the card has not been lost or stolen, and that you still have your card. Do you have any other questions?' After you say No, the caller then thanks you and states, 'Don't hesitate to call back if you do, and hangs up.You actually say very little, and they never ask for or tell you the Card number. But after we were called on Wednesday, we called back within 20 minutes to ask a question. Are we glad we did! The REAL VISA Security Department told us it was a scam and in the last 15 minutes a new purchase of $497.99 was charged to our card.Long story - short - we made a real fraud report and closed the VISA account. VISA is reissuing us a new number. What the scammers want is the 3-digit PIN number on the back of the card Don't give it to them. Instead, tell them you'll call VISA or Master card directly for verification of their conversation. The real VISA told us that they will never ask for anything on the card as they already know the information since they issued the card! If you give the scammers your 3 Digit PIN Number, you think you're receiving a credit. However, by the time you get your statement you'll see charges for purchases you didn't make, and by then it's almost too late and/or more difficult to actually file a fraud report.What makes this more remarkable is that on Thursday, I got a call from a 'Jas on Richardson of Master Card' with a word-for-word repeat of the VISA scam. This time I didn't let him finish. I hung up! We filed a police report, as instruc ted by VISA. The police said they are taking several of these reports daily! They also urged us to tell everybody we know that this scam is happening.

Have a safe weekend everyone!
Cecilia Sinclair
Wonder Weather Woman