Forecast/Toy Drive/Walmart Appraisal

HURRICANES AND WEATHER
Snow advisories are in effect for northern Ohio and New York--due to Lake Effect snows. There are also winter weather advisories for eastern Tennessee and western North Carolina.

Tuesday will be very cold along the northern tier of states from Montana eastward--highs in the 20s with snow. There will be some rain in the southeast.

Houston will enjoy another pleasantly cool day. It will be a cold morning--starting out in the 30s. Outlying areas could have a brief freeze early. Milder weather is on the way for Wednesday. There should be some showers late Wednesday as the next cold front arrives.

SPANISH WORD OF THE DAY
The word is gift or regalo, pronounced ray-GAH-low. It is the season of regalo giving.

And gift giving is easy, appreciated and just perfect when you give our award winning DVD, Let's Learn Spanish with Frank and Paco. It is a top 10 educational product winner from Dr. Toy and a top 15 educational product winner from Homeschool.com. You can get it from our web site, www.frankandpaco.com or from 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
Sarah and I headed to Walmart to get a little girl's gift for the St. Laurence Wish Upon a Star drive. I think they still need a lot more gift givers...so if you are feeling generous, please give them a call 281-980-9812 or http://www.stlaurenceparish.com/index.cfm?load=page&page=21 and then open the latest bulletin and go to page 11. Every person should get a gift at Christmas. For some of these recipients, these are the only gifts they receive.

Speaking of Walmart, they were super busy as usual. But, we didn't have to wait long to check out...lots of checkout lanes open. They really do have great prices. I stocked up on non-perishable items. My suggestion to them is to get bigger carts (or at least have some available). It took 2 carts to get to my car. And they don't offer any help. I was pushing Sarah with a loaded cart and pulling another loaded cart. Yikes!

Have a great week everyone!
Cecilia Sinclair
Wonder Weather Woman

Forecast/Hurricane Season Commentary/DVD wins another award

HURRICANES AND WEATHER
Today is the last day of the 2008 hurricane season. Hurricane Season begins again on June 1, 2009. By the way, storms can develop in months outside of the 6 months (from June 1st through November 30th), but it is very rare.

A few weeks ago, I had a good time teasing our new Hurricane Director, Bill Read, that he is the reason it was so busy. In fact, six storms in a row hit the U.S.--Dolly, Edouard, Fay, Gustav, Hanna, and Ike. And five of those hit the Gulf coast. All together, there were 8 hurricanes--five of those became major (Category 3 or higher). An average year has only 6 hurricanes with 2 becoming major.

There has been a lot of discussion about whether the use of the Saffir-Simpson scale (for hurricane ratings) should be revisited. What most people don't realize is that the scale also has columns for pressure and storm surge. If you look at the pressure, Ike was a Category 3. If you look at the storm surge, Ike was a Category 4. I'm talking about when it made landfall. Officially, it goes down as a Category 2 hurricane at landfall because the winds were 100 mph. And as you remember, it was a Category 2 for quite a while before it made landfall. Since the surge is what did the most damage, many critics are saying that most people did not realize the impact would be that of a Category 4 storm.

Of course, we can see in hindsight that the storm had a Category 4 storm surge. But, what I would suggest is that we use the storm surge levels predicted by the models and talk about the Saffir-Simpson category that corresponds to its forecasted impact at landfall--whether it be by wind or storm surge.

Bill Read was quoted in the Houston Chronicle today as being concerned about just doing away with the Saffir-Simpson scale since most people are used to it. According to the article, Gene Hafele, long time colleague of Bill Read and now the Meteorologist in Charge at the Houston/Galveston National Weather Service, would like to see the rating system changed. So stay tuned. And, I'll let you know if any changes are implemented.

Case in point--the Fujita-Pearson scale was revised to the Enhanced Fujita scale--the new scale more realistically correlates the amount of damage wrought by certain ranges of wind speed.

You thought it was windy in Houston today, it was even windier to the north of us. In fact there are several almost entire states with wind advisories. There is a threat of tornadoes this evening over the Florida panhandle.

Winter storm warnings/advisories/watches are in effect for parts of the Great Lakes states and northeast, the Appalachians, and the Rockies in Montana. It is very cold in the western Great Lakes states--highs there on Monday will be in the teens and 20s.

It is chilly in the Houston area and it will be in the 40s (maybe some upper 30s in outlying areas) early Monday. Still lots of sunshine but also breezy with highs only in the low 60s. So bundle up the kids before they head back to school. Tuesday will start cold--in the 30s and highs will be in the 70s. Looks for some showers Wednesday and possibly Thursday.

SPANISH WORD OF THE DAY
It is the end or el extremo, pronounced l x-TRAY-moh. Thank goodness, it is el extremo of the 2008 Hurricane Season.

We are super excited to announce that Let's Learn Spanish with Frank & Paco has won another award--Top 15 Educational Product of 2008 from Homeschool.com--the largest homeschool Internet supply web site. Check out this congratulatory note:

Congratulations! Your product, Let’s Learn Spanish with Frank and Paco, has been selected as one of Homeschool.com’s Top 15 Educational Gifts of 2008. This means your product will be listed in Homeschool.com’s Gift Guide article next week, which will go out to our 75,000 opt-in subscribers. This article will also appear on the Homeschool.com homepage for a full year under the Articles headline and will be added to the Article Archives section of the Homeschool.com website indefinitely. You are to be commended on the quality and usefulness of your product, as well as its educational value.

So, now you really know which gift to purchase for the little ones on your list: our double award winning DVD, Let's Learn Spanish with Frank and Paco. You can get it from our web site, www.frankandpaco.com or from 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 don't have much else or time to write this evening as Sarah is anxious for my attention. She wants you to know that she loves chocolate.

Now, that's a sweet thought.

Have a great week everyone!
Cecilia Sinclair
Wonder Weather Woman

Weekend Forecast/Poll Results/New Poll

HURRICANES AND WEATHER
Line of thunderstorms will push across the southeast U.S. through Sunday. There is a slight risk of severe storms (those producing large hail, high winds and/or tornadoes) in the panhandle of Florida and southern Georgia/Alabama today. Look for thunderstorms from the east coast all the way down to the northern Gulf coast today and storms in Florida on Friday.

Elsewhere, there are winter weather advisories in effect for the mountains of Colorado today.

Houston, the mugginess is gone. I was putting up Christmas lights late Friday and sweating--oh should I say more delicately, perspiring. We had the a/c on and everything. Well, we are back to comfortably cool mornings in the 40s and highs in the 60s for the next 2 days. Look for some lows in the 30s on Monday morning. Humidity will be low and there will be sunshine. So enjoy! Next chance for rain in Houston is around Thursday.

SPANISH WORD OF THE DAY
It is shopping or compra, pronounced cohm-PRAH. Compra is just crazy right after Thanksgiving.

So you still have some youngsters to buy for--here's something affordable and beneficial. Order our award winning DVD, Let's Learn Spanish with Frank and Paco. You can get it from our web site, www.frankandpaco.com or from www.venturaes.com, www.dololanguages.com, www.carlexonline.com,www.thecuriousmindstore.com, www.amazon.com, www.bestbuy.com, and http://www.barnesandnoble.com/.

By the way, if you want to really work on your Spanish, go to our web site, frankypaco.com. We are still getting the Spanish videos in place, but you can read everything in Spanish.

AND MORE
Our shopping poll has closed--55% of you are planning to spend less this holiday season than you did last year. 44% of you are planning to spend about the same amount. None of you are planning to spend more.

Our new poll was inspired by the shopping frenzy on Friday. Why do you think people have gotten so aggressive about shopping for deals?

Gas prices continue to fall--my friend Dave Gorham said he saw 125 at Highway 3 and Bay Area Blvd., but he thinks it was some kind of promotional deal because the station across the street was charging 165.

Well I saw Dave Schwarz on the Weather Channel on Friday. So, I went to weather.com and there was Cheryl Lemke right at the front with a recorded weathercast. And she, Dave, Eboni are still on the talent page. Maybe they are giving them some time before termination.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Cecilia Sinclair
Wonder Weather Woman

Weekend Forecast/Giving Thanks

HURRICANES AND WEATHER
Friday - Winter Storm Warnings and Winter Weather Advisories are in effect for northernwestern and north central New Mexico as well as parts of southern Colorado. There will also be some snow showers around the Great Lakes, rain in the Pacific Northwest (Seattle area) and thunderstorms along the northwestern Gulf Coast and in Texas and Louisiana.

The coldest areas are north central U.S. (International Falls highs in the 20s) and northeast and Great Lakes States highs in the 30s.

Houston will enjoy another mild (and humid) day. Cold front moves through early Saturday. Expect a line of thunderstorms after 6 pm Friday. It will be cooler over the weekend but not cold.

SPANISH WORDS OF THE DAY
I am doing a few today because of Thanksgiving. These come courtesy of the amazing Spanish teacher Adriana Gutierrez.
turkey - pavo, pronounced PAH-voh
cornucopia - cuerno de la abundancia, pronounced CWHERE-no day lah ah-boon-dahn-SEE-ah
corn - maíz, pronunced may-EEZ

I hope your cuerno de la abundancia had a lot of maíz and a pavo on the side.

Be sure to check out Adriana's web site at http://myspanishlessons.com/.

Don't do it!!! Don't get out in that madness on Friday. Just count up the number of youngsters on your shopping list and get them our award winning DVD--once they start watching it, they'll sit tight for 30 minutes while their brains start racking up the cognitive benefits of early language learning. You can order Let's Learn Spanish with Frank and Paco from our web site, www.frankandpaco.com or from www.venturaes.com, www.dololanguages.com, www.carlexonline.com,www.thecuriousmindstore.com, www.amazon.com, www.bestbuy.com, and http://www.barnesandnoble.com/. Special note: I've got a really great deal going on teachers pay teachers: http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/.

AND MORE
We weren't able to visit our families this Thanksgiving but Megan, Sarah, Gordy and I had a wonderful celebration together. As I looked around at each of them, I thanked God for putting each of them in my life--which is exactly what he did. The more I started counting my blessings, the more blessings I thought of to count.

I am so thankful Lord for all you have done for me. Please forgive me when I don't remember to say thank you. Let me not forget the story about the 10 lepers--how only one returned to Jesus to thank him for curing him of his leprosy. Let us not be like the other 9, but always remember to thank him each and every time we should.

My heart just overflows when I think about all the sacrifices my mom and dad made for us. They put all of their focus on raising us the way they thought God wanted them to. They put us in a private school, scraping every little penny they had. They prayed with us and made our whole family active in our faith community.

I am grateful for the teachers who went out of the way to cultivate my strengths. Thank you teachers for all you did for me.

I am grateful to my husband who treats me like a queen regardless of how unqueenlike I act. I am grateful that he has helped my family so much and treats everyone with so much respect.

I am grateful to Megan for making me laugh and being my first daughter...for those hugs that are worth all the riches in the world.

I am grateful for Sarah who lights up our lives. She is an angel on earth. I am grateful when she says "I love you Mom" just out of the blue. Those words I cherish more than any others.

I am grateful for all the doctors and nurses and medical personnel who have helped us, especially those who have helped us with Sarah. If not for them, we would not have found out about a dangerous renal problem Sarah was having and wouldn't have had such a productive surgery to correct the problem.

I am grateful for all the teachers and therapists who have worked with my daughters. You have done so much! Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

And of course, there is no way to say it all, but thank you God for all the gifts you give us each and every day.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
Cecilia Sinclair
Wonder Weather Woman

Thanksgiving Weekend Forecast/Some Happy News

HURRICANES AND WEATHER
Still plenty chilly across the northern tier of states and Thanksgiving Day will bring more of the same. Highs will be in the 30s in many locations. Look for snow across the Great Lakes States and in the Appalachians, northern New England and the Sierra Nevada of California. Flood watches and warnings continue for southern coastal California. The rest of the country is mild.

Houston will be mild and muggy with a few showers. A cold front moves through on Friday. There could be a few thunderstorms in the mix. Showers should ease up over the weekend and it will turn cooler.

SPANISH WORD THE DAY
This one comes courtesy of Spanish teacher Adriana Gutierrez--Thanksgiving Day is Día de Gracias, pronounced DEE-ah day grah-SEE-ahs. I hope everyone has a happy, yummy, and safe Día de Gracias. Be sure to check out Adriana's web site at http://myspanishlessons.com/.

It is now less than a month until Christmas. But never fear, you can order our award winning DVD 24/7 with no breaks for holidays. Give the youngsters in your world the gift of language and entertainment in one package--order Volume 1 of Let's Learn Spanish with Frank and Paco. If you order from our web site, www.frankandpaco.com, we guarantee shipping with 24 hours. You can also order from www.venturaes.com, www.dololanguages.com, www.carlexonline.com,www.thecuriousmindstore.com, www.amazon.com, www.bestbuy.com, and http://www.barnesandnoble.com/. Special note: I've got a really great deal going on teachers pay teachers: http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/.

AND MORE
Don't forget to vote in our poll--only 2 days left to say how your spending for this holiday season will compare to your spending from last year.

We checked out Fun-Tiki today. It is different from Chuck-e-Cheese because it offers go carts and miniature golf. Like Chuck-e-Cheese, you are not required to buy food. It does not have tokens. You use a game care which you load up (like at Incredible Pizza). It is different from Incredible Pizza in that the go carts are and miniature golf are outside. I thought the miniatur golf course was very nice...very clean too. We had a good time. Some of the games were different from the other 2 spots. And, they even had a Ms. Pacman...brings back memories.

Last but definitely not least, some very happy news just in time for Thanksgiving...my cousin (whom I mentioned was in a horrible car accident) was released from the trauma center and allowed to return home today to her home in San Antonio. She still needs lots of prayers as she continues to work on her recovery and tries to get all of her memory back. Please continue to pray for all of the families involved.

Have a wonderful, fun-filled Thanksgiving everyone!
Cecilia Sinclair
Wonder Weather Woman

Travel and Thanksgiving Forecast/Weather Channel Firings

HURRICANES AND WEATHER
Little change from yesterday as far as trouble spots are concerned. There are various winter weather advisories and warnings across the northeast, Great Lakes and Appalachians as well as in the Sierra Nevada. Flood watches and warnings continue to be issued along the southern coast of California.

Some of the changes include some rain for Phoenix and strong onshore winds potentially causing coastal flooding for northern New England. It will be chilly for the northern 2 tiers of states with highs in the 40s and 30s (coldest around Great Lakes and the northeast).

Houston, you are in for another pleasant day...starting out chilly--in the 40s and ending up in the 70s. Thursday, Thanksgiving Day, will be muggy with a few showers during the 2nd half of the day. Look for rain on and off through Tuesday as a fairly persistent upper trough will keep us in a wet mid to upper level flow. It will be chilly on Sunday with highs in the 50s.

I haven't mentioned it, but there has been a persistent area of disturbed weather in the southwest Caribbean. It should start moving westward soon and that means there will be some very heavy rain for Nicaragua and Panama and probably Honduras.

SPANISH WORD OF THE DAY
The word is zoo or zoo, pronounced zoo. Ha...too easy huh? How about zoology or zoología, pronounced zoo-low-HEE-ah. When I went to school, I studied meteorology, but I think it would be very interesting to study zoología.

You know it is easy to study something that you find interesting. And there is no doubt that kids find other languages fascinating and fun, especially when you present it to them like we do in our award winning DVD, Volume 1 of Let's Learn Spanish with Frank and Paco. If you order from our web site, www.frankandpaco.com, we guarantee shipping with 24 hours. You can also order from www.venturaes.com, www.dololanguages.com, www.carlexonline.com,www.thecuriousmindstore.com, www.amazon.com, www.bestbuy.com, and http://www.barnesandnoble.com/. Special note: I've got a really great deal going on teachers pay teachers: http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/.

AND MORE
You may remember we mentioned our new English teaching version for Spanish speakers, Aprendamos Inglés con Frank y Paco. Well, I was getting these very strange characters around the é and then finally Amazon technical support emailed me that Amazon does not support such special characters. Well, that is so amazing, especially since they sell Spanish titles. I changed it to just a plain old e, but that really bothers me. Anyway, I don't think this is a very good venue for our new product. Does anyone have any suggestions for an on line store for Spanish consumers? Would appreciate any tips.

NBC has fired a bunch of The Weather Channel folks...2 on air ones I respected are Dave Schwarz and Cheryl Lemke. I loved Dave's story which was a lot like Robert Smith's. He worked his way to on camera from a very low level behind the scenes position. I also enjoyed his joking around. I just recently saw him at the annual National Weather Association meeting. And Cheryl was on The Weather Channel from the beginning. She had such a great, clear way of presenting the weather. What a shame! Special thanks to Dave Gorham for emailing me about this.

Sarah got to go to the zoo today while Mommy took care of some special chores. She and her friend had a great time at the petting zoo but apparently there was a chinchilla and Sarah wanted no part of petting that animal. I never saw a chincilla there. I'll make a point to search it out next visit. Wednesday should be another nice day for the zoo.

Correction: The new exhibit at The Children's Museum is Flow Works. I inadvertently called it Water Works--probably because Sarah got so wet there.

Safe travels and Happy Thanksgiving week everyone!

Cecilia Sinclair
Wonder Weather Woman

Thanksgiving Forecast/New Exhibit at Children's Museum

HURRICANES AND WEATHER
It was such a nice day in Houston! Yes...we had a very, very brief line of showers pass through in the morning. But then it was sunshine and a nice breeze!!!

It will not be a good travel day for the northeast, southern California or the southern Sierra Nevada on Tuesday. There are all kinds of winter weather type warnings and advisories from the Appalachians of West Virginia up into northern New England. There are also winter weather warnings in the southern Sierra Nevada. And there are flood warnings for the coastal sections of southern California. It will be cold on Tuesday for the northern plains and northeast with highs in the 30s. The northwest will be in the 40s and 50s. The southern states will be mild.

Houston's weather on Tuesday will be perfect for outdoor activities like the zoo. Lows will be in the 40s warming quickly to highs in the 70s. Don't forget the sunscreen. Wednesday will also be pleasant in Houston, although more humid. Look for mild temperatures on Thanksgiving Day with a few showers. Best chance for rain is Friday. But there could be rain on and off through the weekend before a decent cool down early in the coming week.

SPANISH WORD OF THE DAY
The word is musuem or museo, pronounced moo-SAY-oh. The kids are off from school...so why not head to the museo.

Even when your kids are away from school, they can still be educated and entertained at the same time. Try our award winning DVD, Volume 1 of Let's Learn Spanish with Frank and Paco. If you order from our web site, www.frankandpaco.com, we guarantee shipping with 24 hours. You can also order from www.venturaes.com, www.dololanguages.com, www.carlexonline.com,www.thecuriousmindstore.com, www.amazon.com, www.bestbuy.com, and http://www.barnesandnoble.com/. Special note: I've got a really great deal going on teachers pay teachers: http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/.

AND MORE
Sarah has no school this week although I know some schools won't get out until Wednesday. The Children's Museum of Houston is usually not open on Mondays. But during special weeks, they make an exception. So we headed there today. Just yesterday, they opened a new outdoor exhibit called Water Works. Sarah and her friend loved it and didn't want to leave. There is a lot of water projecting type equipment. Sarah's friend did not get wet, but Sarah sure did. So, have a change of clothes with you just in case. There are several new exhibits, including upstairs. They also had several chicken eggs which looked like they might hatch soon. That is my favorite thing to see there. And, I heard that Santa will be there on Friday. Also, in case you didn't know, there are many days of the week they are now open until 6 pm. I love that too!!!

Whatever you are doing this week, be safe and have fun!
Cecilia Sinclair
Wonder Weather Woman