Night 2 without the husband and I’m on my third vapid chick flick.  Wore the purple flower barrette to gymnastics and not a single person made a comment, which meant I couldn’t explain loudly that my five-year-old had done my hair.  Earlier grouchiness evolved into an intense craving for a particular chocolate chip cookie recipe. . .  I lost my hard copy and after much angst and kitchen searching and Googling I finally found it.  It’s slightly healthy for a cookie, which means you don’t start to feel really sick to your stomach until you’ve eaten about half a cup of dough and four cookies.  Or, you know, I imagine that’s about how much it would take.

So, first:  YAY!  The Schenectady Public Library‘s having a fiction book sale from Saturday to Monday: $1 a book.  Not as thrilling as the semi-annual bag sale, but not bad.  And if you think I’m being snotty, I really do find the bag sales thrilling.  Next time I swear I’m bringing a cart, because they’re always on a greenmarket day, too, so it’s a juggling extravaganza for me.

Saturday, January 23:

They’ll be making valentines for troops at Rotterdam Square Mall, along with activities for kids like face painting.

From 10 am to 12 pm, there’s a Preschool Fair at Saratoga Springs Public Library.

At the Saratoga National Historical Park, there’s a free Frost Faire from 10:30 am to 3 pm—follow the link and then click the date for more details.

At 11 am, the Bethlehem Public Library in Delmar has a story time about snow for kids 6 and under.

The Children’s Museum of Science of Technology has a program about the science of toys at 1 pm. It’s for school-aged children; you have to pre-register and pay $2.

There’s a free Family Fun Day at Clifton Park Center from 12-3 pm in conjunction with the opening of The Tooth Fairy, a new movie.

There’s a Get in the Game Video Game Workshop at the Schenectady Museum. It’s for big kids: 10 and up, and it’s $10-15. Pick one hour between 12:30 and 3:30 pm.

Sunday, January 24:

The Children’s Guide is hosting a free Winter Festival at Woodland Hill Montessori School from 11-2 pm.  Is this poster everywhere you go, too, or is it just me?

At the Albany Institute of History & Art there’s a Folklore Festival from 1-4 pm. There’s a puppet show at 2 pm.

The Schenectady JCC has a Camp Chaverim Open House from 2-4 pm. There will be free family swimming along with other activities.

Finally, I’ll sound like a broken record to the regulars, but if you’re new around here, it’s worth it to poke around in earlier posts–you can do a search for theater to find more fun stuff this weekend like Dan Zanes and Elmo, among other things.  And if you know about something fun happening this weekend, it’s only polite to share.

When my husband goes out of town, I miss him most in the morning.  He is a morning person, as is M.  Not me.  Last night, when M went to bed, I persuaded her to set the alarm for 6:15 am instead of 6 am, which she prefers.  She is a morning freak of nature–a 7-year-old who will wake up on her own, get dressed, and head downstairs.  In fact, two nights ago, there’d been a quick power outage and I didn’t realize that her alarm had gotten messed up until I heard her up and around at midnight–she was pulling her jeans on for school, looking so perky and composed that for a minute I thought that I was the one who was confused.  When my husband’s gone, I don’t want her to feel lonely, so I drag myself out of bed, but it isn’t pretty.  This morning I heard her before 6 am–she was walking around the house with a flashlight.  She’d gotten impatient waiting for the alarm.  This after my little one had gotten up and crawled into my bed in the middle of the night sobbing because she wasn’t feeling good.  Oy.

So moments ago, I was doing one of my favorite activities when I’m barely awake, which I supposed could be entitled “Do With Me What You Will”.   I remain prone and semi-conscious while a child does things like shine flashlights into my ears and nose or brushes my hair.  I’m currently sporting a large purple flower barrette.  When J had completed her masterpiece she was thrilled.  “Oh. My. Gosh. Beautiful!  Go look in the mirror!”  I’m going to look extra fabulous at gymnastics today.  Unless she calls my bluff and asks me to take it out in the car–keep your fingers crossed.

Anyway, under the category of miscellaneous, here are a couple of Friday additions that I missed in my earlier post:

• 10:30 am Drop-in story hour at the Scotia branch library. It’s for the 5-and-under set.
• The Southern Saratoga YMCA is having a free Winter Carnival that’s open to the public from 7-9 pm

And I know that this is out of town, but as the mom of 2 daughters I love the idea of Gore Mountains “Take Your Daughters to Gore Week”, which starts on Monday–free skiing and tubing for girls under 19.

I’ll have stuff for the weekend late today or tomorrow.  Actually, that’s been my habit, but is it too late for some of you?  Myself, I don’t plan too far ahead.