Posts from — April 2010

Phew!  Tons of stuff to do this weekend again!  And beautiful weather!  Woo, hoo!

If you like to use the Tulip Festival for photo ops with your adorable children, All Over Albany says to go now.  The tulips are ready early.  Maybe I’ll get a new header photo?

It’s also Pottery Fest at the Shaker Heritage Society on Saturday & Sunday from 10 am to 4 pm.  Lots of art, pottery demonstrations, tours, and music.  $5/person, kids 12 and under free.

And don’t forget that the farmers’ markets are moving outside this weekend!

Saturday, May 1st

• It’s Free Comic Day!
• There’s a free Children’s Fishing Tournament in Ballston Spa from 7-11 am.  There’s also a 4H breakfast.  Check out the TU Blog for details.
• If you’re up for a drive, admission is free to the Hudson Children’s Book Festival in Hudson, NY.  It’s from 10 am to 4 pm.  The website’s got a list of authors scheduled to appear, including Emily Arnold McCully, author of one of my favorites:  Mirette on the High Wire.
• At Cook Park in Colonie, there’s an American Cancer Society Bark for Life dog-and-their-humans walk.  Even if you don’t register for an event, if you’ve got a dog-lovin’ little kid, what a beautiful day to check out the dogs and play at the playground there.
• Kmart‘s doing a Family Fun Fair including games and a bounce house from 10 am to 4 pm.  It’s at the Clifton Park Kmart today.
• At 11 am, take Time Out for Tales at the Bethlehem Public Library.  It’s for kids under 6 with their families.
• From noon to 4 pm, it’s Living History Day, the annual season-opening  event at Ten Broeck Mansion.  Tours, music, food, pony rides, petting zoo, and, they say, MORE!  Cost isn’t stated, but admission is generally $5/adult, $3/kid 12 and under.
• Do some flower crafts between 1 and 2:30 pm at the Albany Pine Bush.  $2/person, $5/family, children under 5 free.  Pre-registration required.
• Take a Tree Hike from 1-3 pm at Moreau Lake State Park.
• It’s Art for All at the Albany Institute of History & Art.  From 1-4 pm, free with admission.
• One of our readers suggested a May Day political rally at the State Capitol from 1-4 pm.  It’s for those who lean left, but you can check the link for details.  Hey, it’s an easy walk over from the art museum, right?
• Elementary-school kids and their families are invited to a Poetry Slam at the Bethlehem Public Library that starts at 2:30 pm.
• Clinton’s Ditch is still playing at Steamer 10 Theatre at 3 and 7 pm today.
• There’s a Teen Anime Convention from 5-10 pm at William K. Sanford (Colonie) Library.  It’s free, but you must have a ticket.  There’s also a Japanese meal for $12.
• At 7 pm, it’s Jammie Time with Cookie Mouse at the Saratoga Springs Barnes & Noble.  That’s right:  a costumed character who will share some cookies and milk with you.  The rational part of me realizes that this is a pleasant, easy little event for you if you’re nearby and have little kids.  Yet somehow I think that if I actually attended this event I might feel like throwing myself off a bridge because it’s such a world away from a hip, fun, pre-kids Saturday night I used to enjoy.  Maybe the solution is to bring a flask of something to mix into your Starbucks?

Sunday, May 2nd

• Kmart‘s doing a Family Fun Fair including games and a bounce house from 10 am to 4 pm.  It’s at the Albany  Kmart today.
• EMPAC at RPI is having a weekend-long animation festival called onedotzero. They particularly recommend the noon screening of sprites, and it’s free for kids and their adult escorts.  Maybe you could stick around for the concert at 2 (see below)?
• From 12-4 pm, there’s an Albany History Fair at Historic Cherry Hill (yeah, I know that their website doesn’t mention it, but I’ve got my sources).  In addition to tours and an historic game, there will be music and Paul Rosenberg of Homespun will be calling dances when there are willing dancers.
• It’s Sheep to Shawl Family Day at the Brookside Museum in Ballston Spa.  $2/person or $5/family.
• It’s India Day from 1-3:30 pm at the National Museum of Dance.  Food, music, sari-wrapping demonstrations, and dancing, including a Bollywood demonstration.  They want you to RSVP via internet, and it’s $5/grown-up, kids free.  Have I mentioned that J and I love-love-love to do the Bollywood Dance Workout together?  So fun!
• At 2 pm, the Albany Institute of History & Art has a family program called Point of Contact: An Interactive Look at Native American Culture.  Historical re-enactors will explain about all sorts of artifacts, which kids will be able to touch stuff, including weapons.  Which, they helpfully explain, will be “rendered inert for safety”.  Umm, good!
• At 2 pm, there’s a free Symphonic Band and Percussion Ensemble Concert at EMPAC at RPI 2 pm.  (Maybe go to the movie at noon first, listed above?)
• At 2 pm, there’s a Spring Nature Walk at Landis Arboretum.  It’s $25/non-member families.
• From 2-4:30 pm, it’s Fair Trade Chocolate Day at Delmar Reformed Church.  Free and designed for families, it will have samples as well as games and hands-on activities.
• The Spencers Theatre of Illusion is performing at 3 pm at The Palace Theatre in Albany as part of its International Family Series.
• The Saratoga Springs Youth Orchestra will be performing at the Troy Savings Bank at 3 pm.  $10/adult and $5/student.  There’s more information on the Youth Arts TU blog.

Remember that I said that I was trying to do technological stuff yesterday?  Well, I’ve been working on getting a non-generic photo on the blog.  The top heading actually shuffles between photos, but thus far I’d only managed to get the cute-but-generic mom and daughters in a lovely-but-generic setting.

Thanks to C, who took lovely photos, and her delightful husband B, who helped me figure out technological stuff that I was stuck on, you might actually see a picture of me & M & J in an actual Capital District location.  It looks a little bit fake, I know.  That’s because I’m fumbling my way through Photoshop.  If you hate it, just refresh the page until it’s the old picture that you’re used to seeing.  Or if you’re seeing the same old picture, you can refresh a couple of times until you see us.

I’m hoping that I’ll gradually have a few different photos of us in various Capital District locations to switch it up a bit.  And that I’ll get better at Photoshop.  And that my butt will shrink to a size 2.  So, we’ll see how that goes. . . .

Weekend post coming soon–right now, J’s begging to cuddle.

I spent quite a bit of time today trying to figure out how to do various technical things, and ummmm. . . . no time writing.  But here’s a little bit of information to tide you over until the weekend post.  First, I’ve been trying to do more Friday evening events in the week ahead post so that you can plan even if I’m slow to posts, so just as a reminder, here are a few:

• Go on a Snipe Hunt at 7 pm at Five Rivers.
• At 7 pm, Clinton’s Ditch: the Saga of the Erie Canal will be shown at Steamer 10 Theatre.  It’s part of their Kids’ Fare series, and it continues on Saturday.
• It’s Troy Night Out.

It appears that we’re going to have a super-fabulous weather weekend, which is particularly awesome because most of the big farmers’ markets are moving outside!! Yay!  Troy Waterfront Farmers Market,   Schenectady Greenmarket, and Saratoga Farmers’ Market are all outdoors this weekend.  My local market, Schenectady, will have a rock climbing wall set up for the occasion.  But I will be too busy freaking out over the $2 Bag Sale at the Schenectady Public Library.  That’s right–this weekend is the Semi-Annual Book Sale–another one of my very favorite occasions.  Last year I arrived unprepared, and you should have seen me trying to navigate through the tables carrying armloads of fresh produce and a stack of books.  It was remarkably heavy and unwieldy, but my euphoria gave me super-strength.  This time I’m bringing some serious bags.  Bring.  it. on.

First, the request:  after all of that 4H talk, I had to add the links to my Big Ol’ List.  Which meant that I ended up adding various kid-oriented organizations.  Which reminded me, again, about Girls on the Run.   The closest local group is still too far, based out of Glens Falls.  So. . . could someone  organize a  local Girls on the Run group for the Capital District, please? Because, you know, I keep hearing about it, and the whole idea of promoting self-esteem and leadership and healthy lifestyle choices among pre-adolescent girls just sings to me.   I would very much like to participate  with my daughters, but I also can’t run anything.  Or, you know, I can run, literally (now!  yay me!), but I can’t manage or direct anything.  Because, among other things, I am spending all this time writing a freakin’ blog.  But I could help!  And, you know. . .  promote!  So will somebody please get on this?  I know that there are lovely women who run and read this blog and have daughters. . . so, you know, think about it, okay?

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As you know, I’ve recently been in an old-photo frenzy, and when I came across one picture, it made me think of a funny story.  And so I thought, for a change of pace, that I would tell you a story completely unrelated to motherhood & family.  Or, well, tangentially related to non-motherhood and the beginnings of a family in the form of nauseating coupledom.  Oh, my gosh, literally nauseating!  Well, now I’ve completely gotten ahead of myself.  So, let’s begin at the beginning, shall we?  (this is where, if I were a tv show instead of a blog, the screen would sort of shimmer and there’d be that “time passes” harp music. . . .)

W and I had been pals for a bit more than a year in college, and then we became a couple, and then we were in love (if I had the technical prowess, I would draw little hearts and flowers around the phrase “in love”, but you’ll just have to imagine them).   And then, we had three months  (minus one weekend visit) of that stupid summer vacation, approximately 1,090 miles apart.   So, it was with great anticipation that I awaited the trip back to college in late August.  Alas, another item scheduled for late August was the (gala) removal of my wisdom teeth.  We’d planned it for then so that I was done with my summer job and still had a few days to recover before my flight out west.

The actual wisdom-teeth-extraction process was not too bad.  I had copious drugs and I don’t have any particular dental hang-ups.  Indeed, I’d even spent a summer working as a “spit sucker” in a dentist’s office (this was borne entirely of desperation, not any sort of interest in it as a career).  From that experience, I’d gleaned that in spite of the bad rep of root canals and wisdom teeth, the only truly horrifying dental treatment was for gum disease,  which involved burning away the rotting flesh.  You’re getting the urge to floss right this second, aren’t you? Yeah, I knew it.  Don’t worry:  it will pass!

Anyway, things went quite well until a day or two later, when I felt a slight twinge in one of the gaping holes in my jaw.  The dentist who examined it dismissed my concerns:  it looked good to him!  Well, he was wrong.  I had a dry socket.  This was painful.  Really, it was excruciating.  Having endured natural childbirth (before drugging up for #2), I’d have to say that they’re both up there on the pain hierarchy, although perhaps a dry socket is like a snake that keeps biting a single location, while childbirth is more like a python rhythmically squeezing your entire torso.  Either way:  not excellent.  And then the dentist who’d pronounced me okey-dokey was off on some vacation, and the back-up guy that my mother was able to contact actually had us come to his home, where he had set up an old rejected dentist’s chair in his basement so that he could give his family check-ups in between, you know, games of ping-pong or whatever.  In this 70s-era torture chamber, we learned that, if properly motivated, I was able to shriek with two hairy-yet-gloved hands inside my mouth.  I received a prescription for antibiotics as well as my own supply of gauze and anesthetic goo  so that I could function through a couple of days of travel.

Once we’d left the torture chamber, I felt great.  The goo tasted a little nasty, but there’s nothing like the abrupt end to excruciating pain to make you appreciate the joys of normal life.  Plus, I’d be seeing W  in mere days–yippee!  But before I left, we were having a family gathering.   With four sisters and a brother with an age range spread over decades, just getting the nuclear family in one place is an occasion.  So we were all feeling quite festive as we were enjoying the sunshine on the back deck, shucking some corn.

My big sisters and my mom and I were chatting about the recent dental horrors, when my just-older-than-me sister, J, heard the word “antibiotic” and decided to impart some unnecessary big-sisterly wisdom.   Because she knew that I was on the Pill.  Honestly, I don’t know why she knew that I was on the Pill, except that probably, she’d tried to remind me to be responsible, and I’d snapped back that I had it covered.  So, I saw her react to “antibiotic” and I knew what was going to happen, but I was powerless to stop it in those few slow-motion moments.  I fixed her with what I considered to be a very communicative look while continuing to shuck like a method actor committed to a task (which I know about because my friend Sudi talked me into taking drama with her in high school).

“Antibiotics,” J said significantly, still completely unaware of the eyeball-daggers flying at her, “You know about antibiotics, Katie, don’t you?”  “Yes, J, I know about antibiotics,” I hissed between clenched teeth.  “What?” asked my similarly oblivious mother.  “What about antibiotics?”  “And the Pill,” smartypants J answers.  “Antibiotics screw up the Pill.”  At which point I jumped in:  “Mom, I’m on the pill.  I didn’t tell you because I figured you probably don’t really want to know. . .” I said, all in a rush, while savagely shredding at my corn husks.  J appeared bewildered that everyone doesn’t tell their mother all about their sex lives, and Mom answered mildly, “Well, better safe than sorry.”  We all continued shucking corn with more attentiveness than ever before.

So I arrived in Iowa for college, and W picked me up at the airport and immediately whisked me off to a romantic destination–yep, the Iowa State Fair.  Alright, take a look at the picture.  I know:  we look like we are about 14.  Please notice the pink tie-dyed t-shirt I’m wearing.  W made it for me over the summer.  On the back, he puff-painted one of Shakespeare’s love sonnets.   Take a moment with that, will you?  Imagine my then-20-year-old boyfriend hunched over the t-shirt for what must have been hours as he struggled to maintain even pressure on the puff-paint bottle with his pink Rit-dyed hands. I mean, really.  How. Cute. Is. He.  (Sigh. . . .)

He sent it to me sometime over the summer, and my sisters insisted that I had to wear it to meet him, and I did so against my better judgment.  When he realized that I was wearing it at the airport, he looked mildly appalled.  I think that it was always intended to be a sort of museum piece.  Luckily, I don’t think we ran into any guy-friends at the fair.

We wandered there for quite a while.  We had to see the butter cow, of course, and the baby piglets, and eat some food on a stick.  And every few steps we were kissing.  You, know, a lot.  It had been a long time.  Or, as it turns out, I was just kissing him.  Because after several hours of intermittent kissing, W broke down and told me what he’d been trying to hide all day:  the dry socket anesthetic goo was making him ill, and while in theory he would enjoy kissing me, in practice, he feared that if he had to do it one more time, he might actually throw up. Poor thing!  I was impressed that he’d held out for as long as he had.  Luckily, I also enjoy being kissed on the neck.

I have both girls home sick with me (strep and ear infection), which has completely thrown me off.  M is pathetic and deeply angry.  She didn’t want to go to the doctor, said she was fine, stamped out to the car, and then when I was (in my opinion) vindicated by a treatable diagnosis, she just became more enraged, as if my taking her to the doctor is what actually caused her illness.  Meanwhile J is like, Sure!  I get to drink gallons of juice from a sippy cup on the living room sofa while watching instant Scooby Netflix?  This is the best day ever!

You would think that with all this tv watching I’d be super-productive, but instead I am sulking.  J was home yesterday, they’ll both be home tomorrow, and I’m completely thrown off my game.  I haven’t been completely useless (washed the kitchen floor, did a load of laundry. . .), but I thought about working out, and instead I poured myself a little bowl of chocolate chips and uploaded a gajillion old photos onto Facebook with my new scanning toy.  This is especially pathetic because I generally do this thing where I don’t “get” to take a shower until after I’ve exercised in some way.  But because I’ve been a slacker for a day or two, I was becoming something of a public health and hygiene hazard.  So when I realized that we’d have to go to the doctor, I was forced to take a shower even though I’d done absolutely nothing to “deserve” it (umm, is this sounding freakish?  Would you believe that in college I was such a geek that I would drink pints of coffee and then only allow myself to go to the bathroom after I’d written a certain number of paragraphs for a paper?).  Anyway, now, frankly, there is no motivation.  Luckily I got sucked into trying out a Zumba class tomorrow, so I’ll absolutely have to break the Cycle of Lethargy by then.

Okay, but enough whining!  Back to my regularly-scheduled post!

Generally, if I hear someone mention 4H, it conjures up images of kids raising livestock at the Iowa State Fair or, more locally, the Altamont Fair.  But, you know, you don’t actually have to have a barn to be involved in all sorts of cool activities.  So here are a few things 4H folks can do around here:

• From June 3rd to July 10th, there’s a 5-week gardening program called Little Diggers (it’s on page 9 if you follow this link) for preschoolers and their caregivers at Central Park.  It’s from 10-11:15 am and it costs $50.  There’s a limit of only ten kids, so if you’re interested, contact them right away.
• 4H runs Environmental Education Workshops for 4th & 5th graders.  At these field trips, students learn about a variety of topics, such as native plants.  It’s $1/child.  4H also visits schools and afterschool programs, including many Y programs.
• Each year, students can participate in a Vegetable Marketing program.  In March, the Golub Corporation donates seeds to participants so that they can grow vegetables in their own gardens.  Once they’ve harvested, gardeners can take their produce and sell it to their local Price Chopper, getting the same rates that the big vegetable distributors do.   So your kids can support efforts to buy local and have a summer job.   All of the seeds for this year are likely to be gone, although you can call your local county 4H to check.
• Various groups work on a variety of projects  all year, from Cloverbuds, who are kids in kindergarten to 2nd grade just beginning to learn about nature, up to teenagers, who visit Cornell to do career path workshops and visit the State Capitol to meet with legislators.
• Family 4H is available anywhere.  Even if you don’t have a group that’s convenient for you time- or place-wise, a parent can train in an orientation to be a leader, and you’ll have access to a wide-ranging supply of information and materials appropriate for kindergarten through high school.

Phew!  I had no idea.  Seriously, I am thinking that it would be cool to at least do the Family 4H thing.  I would be all over the Vegetable Marketing thing if I weren’t so demoralized from last year’s tomato blight.  I mean it–that was heartbreaking, wasn’t it?

Okay, I have to tell you that the websites are not always super-clear and helpful, but these will at least give you a jumping-off point if you want to look  into any of these programs a bit more.  I’ll be putting them on the Big Ol’ List as well.

• 4H in Schenectady
• 4H in Albany
• 4H in Rensselaer

Anybody reading been involved in 4H around here?  And if you’re wondering what the 4 Hs stand for, you can click on the first link of this post.  Because I was wondering, too.

Wasn’t Saturday beautiful? The girls spent practically the entire day outside while W and I puttered–he had to finish his picnic table for the auction, and I washed windows and filed and did other boring tasks.  There were some neighbor children around, but by far the most exciting attraction outdoors was the oh-so-close-to-us yard sale.

While J was still at dance class in the morning, M begged to visit, and I let her walk over by herself.  She came home soon with a fabulous parasol that she’d bought with loose change.

She’d also purchased a small token item for J, which was very thoughtful of her.  Still, the parasol was approximately one billion times more exciting, so I handed M a couple of quarters and sent her back to grab something else for J before all the “good stuff” was gone.

Umm, yeah, this was a mistake.  I did not need to send her back.  I didn’t realize that the yard sale would drag on for hours, singing its siren song to my children for the entire day.  Of course when J got home, she wanted to browse.  I mean, I knew that would happen.  And she had her own ideas about what was valuable.

Between bouts of freeze tag and sidewalk chalking, whenever there was a lull, the yard sale beckoned them again. Friends from school and other neighbors were spotted there, people with interesting-looking dogs would loiter. . . it was like our own very small carnival.

Eventually, I told them that they could walk over to browse, but, “No more buying anything!”   It was only after a couple more trips that I realized that my neighbor was giving the crap away.  “You are?” I called from my front yard,  “Wow.”  I’m none too pleased.  “You’re wel–COME!” my neighbor sang, with that exact same facial expression you see on a  mommy as she hands the baby who smells like poopy diaper to its daddy.

Sometimes, when things are free, you realize that items that you’d never even known about before are actually essential to your continued happiness and well-being.  Can I predict now that we will never actually use this appliance?  I mean, if I had to estimate the number of actual crayons already in my home today, I’d have to say 150.  I so needed a messy, crafty burn hazard.

Clearly, I was not sufficiently attentive. I was busy enjoying the fact that the girls were peacefully occupied in the great outdoors so that I could get some things done around the house.  As the evening ended, I began to realize the magnitude of the accumulation.  I wish that I could say that these photographs included everything that they got.  Alas, no.  These are merely the highlights.  Oh, which reminds me, should I be concerned that perhaps someone offered my children drugs to induce them to choose this item?

Tiny Lowe's/NASCAR themed storage container. . . which is broken

The girls themselves seemed a bit baffled by their previous ardor for items that, upon reflection, were junk.  J proposed that we hold our own yard sale the next day.  We even started a little pile.

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So, evening came, and it was the parents’ turn for acquisitiveness run amok as we went to our Nursery School Silent Auction.  Now, because I’m cheap, I tend not to win too terribly much at the auction.  I do many, many opening bids to “get the ball rolling”, so to speak.  It’s all for charity, after all.  In fact, if it looks like a couple of people want something pretty bad, I’ll outbid them just for sport, so that the nursery school and Double H Ranch get more.  Then, pretty soon, everyone outbids me.

On Saturday night, we’d been at the auction for a while when I decided to take an after-dinner stroll and check out which items were neglected.  One was a little photo scanner.  No one had even placed an opening bid.  So I did.  When someone actually raised on me, I realized that I was not just motivated by altruism.  I wanted that thing! And I got it!  For less than half price!  So now I can show you adorable pictures of me as a toddler—ta da!

Will there be some sort of crazy nostalgia-photo storm on my personal Facebook account later?  Oh, yes–I believe that there will be!  So, that turned out to be my favorite auction acquisition.

But it wasn’t all a complete success.  Another neglected item was tickets to The Egg.  It was a Saturday night performance of something that I’d never heard of–Jalala.   Well, I thought.  A Saturday night at The Egg can’t suck, right?  And it sounded vaguely exotic, like perhaps there would be drums or something.  So I went for it.  Ummm, I was completely wrong.  Not exotic:  it’s three broads crooning Johnny Mercer.  Many people might enjoy this.  I would not.  We would not.   As my dad says, concerning taste there can be no argument.  W suggested Mary, but I happen to know that she refuses to go to The Egg on principle because she was so appalled by the construction of the Empire State Plaza  in the 1970s.  I only hope that I can remain so steadfast in my principles whenever they finally manage to put stores on the old Ingersoll land.

So, would anyone like to have these tickets? Or, to be more accurate, a voucher that you would take to the box office to redeem for two tickets?  If so, please comment before 10 pm on Tuesday, and I’ll choose someone randomly and contact you via email.

Another week, another bunch of things to do.  Don’t forget all those regularly scheduled events on What about TODAY?

Monday, April 26th

• Get a free pretzel at Philly Soft Pretzel Factory in Clifton Park to celebrate National Pretzel Day (you know, before you go to your special pretzel party and exchange gifts and all.  Hey, does anyone else feel a Laurie Berkner song coming on?)
• At 3:30 pm it’s Teen Fun at the Mont Pleasant Branch Library.
• There’s a free Klezmer Music Concert at 7 pm at the Colonie Public Library.
• It’s Pajamarama at the Bethlehem Public Library at 7 pm.  For kids up to 6 and families.

Tuesday, April 27th

• Take a Potter’s Point Hike at Moreau Lake State Park at 1 pm.  Call for details.
• It’s Family Story Time at 6:30 pm at the Niskayuna Branch Library.

Wednesday, April 28th

• It’s Katie’s Kitchen at the Children’s Museum at Saratoga at 11 am.  $15/non-member.
• At 6:30 pm there’s a Teen Movie for grades 6 and up at Bethlehem Public Library.
• At 7 pm take a Sounds Sensation Full Moon Hike at Dyken Pond. It’s free.
• Take a Full Moon Hike at Moreau Lake State Park at 7 pm.
• At 7 pm at the Guilderland Public Library, there’s a program on the College Application Process.

Thursday, April 29th

• At 10 am, take a Red Oak Ridge hike at Moreau Lake State Park.
• At 4 pm, there’s Kitchen Chemistry for kids in grades 3 to 5 at Clifton Park-Halfmoon Library.  Pre-registration is required.
• At the Duane Branch Library, there’s Teen Fun at 3:30 pm, and After School Fun at 4:15 pm.
• It’s Teen Book Group at 4 pm at East Greenbush Library.
• There’s a Baby Massage class at 6 pm at the Bethlehem Public Library.  Prior sign-up is required.
• At 6:30 pm at the Rensselaer Public Library, learn how to help feral cats at Every Kitty, Every City.
• Albany High School students will be performing Into the Woods at 7 pm tonight and through the weekend.  $15/adult, $5/student.

Friday, April 30th

• Wiggle and Giggle at the Children’s Museum at Saratoga from 10-11:30 am.  Free with admission.
• From 2-3:30 pm, drop in and do a self-guided Arbor Day Tree Exploration at the Children’s Museum at Saratoga.
• Go on a Snipe Hunt at 7 pm at Five Rivers.
• At 7 pm, Clinton’s Ditch: the Saga of the Erie Canal will be shown at Steamer 10 Theatre.  It’s part of their Kids’ Fare series, and it continues on Saturday.
• It’s Troy Night Out.

Years and years ago, when my cute husband and I had oodles of kid-free leisure time, we decided to take some swing dancing classes.  At the time, I worked in a building near Astor Place in Manhattan, and when I looked into  lessons, I was surprised to learn that there was a place in the same building.  Clearly, it was meant to be.  So one day after work we rode the elevator up.  We were amazed.  There were hundreds of people dancing like maniacs to very loud music, and I’d never been aware of any of them.

I love stumbling on these little subcultures.  Go to a history museum on a re-enactment day and you’ll find people who spend hours sewing their authentic-looking clothes, or click a stray link on a website and you’ll read a passionate discussion about something–like, say, elimination communication– that you’ve never thought about for more than one minute.  It can be a little bit intimidating to encounter these groups, but their enthusiasm is frequently quite contagious.  They love what they’re doing, and they’re pretty sure you’d love it, too, if you gave it a try.

So if you’ve got little kids and you’re just looking to watch something, or if you’ve got a teenager who has no interest in being on any of  their high school teams, here are some local wacky sports that you might want to know about.

• Bike Polo: Collar City Bike Polo plays in Troy every Sunday at 1 pm.  BikeAlbany also schedules occasional Bike Polo games.
• Cricket: The  Tri-City Cricket Club plays May to October near Steinmetz Park in Schenectady.
• Curling: Did you realize that there’s both an Albany Curling Club and a Schenectady Curling Club?  It’s off-season, now, of course.
• Disc Golf: All over Albany did a post last summer about disc golf.  There’s a course in Joralemon Park in Coeymans, and soon there will be a completed course in Schenectady’s Central Park.
• Dodgeball: Remember the recent attempt for a world record?  Albany Dodgeball players play at the Washington Armory.
• Roller Derby: Not only do we have a home team, but the Albany All Stars have a bout tonight.
• Stickball: There are organized games of Stickball in Troy on Sunday and Monday nights in the summer.

Anybody know about some other ones?  Anybody ever tried these out?

Oh, and by the way, we’ve still got about four or five good swing dance moves to break out at weddings.  Maybe we’ll acquire a few more in ten or twelve years.

Hey!  I’m having a splendid day!  Check out this weather, you guys!  Awesome!

I woke up and noticed that my five-year-old had once again made her own bed and tidied up her room.  Then I walked downstairs to find the two girls cuddling and giggling together on the couch.  And then I laughed out loud when I saw how W was preparing for our nursery school’s Silent Auction.   When I was packing lunch, M decided that she’d rather have two carrots instead of Easter candy for the last compartment in her lunch box.  Driving J to school, I spotted a nice, sturdy table at a yard sale, perfect for my screened porch area, and on the way home I nabbed that baby for $5!  Yes! I was going to show you a picture of the newly adorable-ized porch, but it really needs flowers in the window first, so we’ll get to that later.  Then I took a run without getting lost and went 5K.  So, I’m ready to go!  And then, I discovered a way to enjoy a new vegetable which almost rivaled my Roasted Cauliflower Revelation.  I mean, this is like the Day of Awesome.

Pickled Daikons & Carrots

Except, that I am shivering and starving at this moment, because I wanted to get this post done so that I could have a relaxing and enjoyable lunch.  So, as soon as I click publish, it’s right back to Awesome.  Okay, are you ready?

All Weekend

• Don’t forget that the Riverway Storytelling Festival continues through the weekend.  There are plenty of opportunities to hear some great stories at a variety of different locations.  Click the link for the schedule–it’s all free.
• New York State Theatre Institute is still showing Orphan Train.
• Washington County has its annual Farm & Fiber Tour.  There are a variety of locations, so check the link for details.

Friday, April 23rd

• There’s another Wild, Wacky Woodcock Watch at 6:30 pm at the Albany Pine Bush.  Pre-registration required, and it’s $2/person, $5/person.
• Do a Spring Peeper (frogs)  Survey at Five Rivers at 7 pm.  Bring a flashlight and wear your galoshes!
• They’re showing The Princess and the Frog at Schuylerville Public Library at 7 pm.

Saturday, April 24th

• Downtown Troy has an Earth Day Clean Up.  Folks are meeting at 8:30 am at the municipal parking lot on 1st Street between State & Broadway.
• Take a Woods Walk with children’s activities at Dyken Pond from 8:30 am to noon.  $15 fee to support the programs.  Or volunteer to help clear the trails between 1:30 and 4 pm.
• Or take a Spring Overlook Hike at Moreau Lake State Park at 9 am.  Short but sometimes steep hike.  Call for details.
• At Thacher Nature Center at 10 am, they’ll have two short films, a craft, and a snack suitable for ages 8 and up. Please pre-register, and it’s $3/person.
• There’s a Mardi Gras Festival from 11 am to 4 pm in Saratoga.  There’s a parade at noon, a street fair, and plenty of food, including Cajun food from the folks who will be opening   Cafe Nola in the next month or so on lower Union Street in Schenectady.
• The New York State Museum’s celebrating Earth Day from 11 am to 4 pm, plus it’s Creative Art Day from 1-3 pm.  Free.
• Learn about cryptology at Crypto-Clue Finders at the Troy Public Library at 11 am.  For ages 8 and up.
• The Saratoga Springs Barnes & Noble has a storytime devoted to Fancy Nancy: Poet Extraordinaire at 11 am.
• Take Time Out for Tales at the Bethlehem Public Library at 11 am.  For preschoolers and family.
• There’s a Guided Kayak Trip at Moreau Lake.  It’s from 1-3 pm.  BYOB or rent a kayak for $15.  Call to pre-register.
• Learn about Turtles at the Albany Pine Bush at 1 pm.  Pre-register.  It’s $2/person, $5/family.
• It’s Astronomy Day from 1-4 pm at the Schenectady Museum.  $4 + admission.
• There’s a Family History Hunt at Historic Cherry Hill at 1 pm.  $2/adult, $1/child aged 6-11.  Okay, can I say, I just went for more information on their Facebook page, and they’re having a fabulous time there?  They have a Curatorial Curiosities Series–they post pictures of various doo-hickeys from the collection and people try to guess what they are.
• Wilton Wildlife Preserve is hosting a free Earth Field Day from 1-4 pm.  Compare your talents and abilities to those of local wildlife.
• The Albany Institute of History & Art has Art for All from 1-4 pm.  Free with museum admission.
• They’re having an Earth Day Festival from 1-4 pm at Five Rivers.
• At 2 pm, there’s a lecture about Clothing through the Dutch and then English colonial periods at Crailo State Historic Site in Rensselaer.  Free.
• Park Playhouse Kidz presents Cupcakes and Cabaret, favorite Disney songs performed by 10- to 13-year-old kids at 4:30 pm at the Delmar Reformed Church  It’s $4/adult, $2/kid, pre-order tickets via email: delmardesignsquad@gmail.com
• 518Fever.com is putting on United4Thacher in support of Thacher Park at Proctors.  Kids activities include clowns, puppets, face painting, and more.Free entry, but of course you’ll want to donate to the cause.
• Smuckers Stars on Ice is at the Times Union Center at 7:30 pm.

Sunday, April 25th

• Downtown Albany Restaurant Week begins today.
• The Baby Expo is at The Desmond Hotel today from 11 am to 4 pm.
• It’s Doggie Earth Day at Saratoga Spa State Park.  Bring your dog along to a park clean up from 11 am to 1 pm.
• There’s the 2nd Annual Clearwater Fundraiser from noon to 7 pm at 28 Stone House Hill Road in Coeymans, NY.   There will be barn dancing from 1-2:30 pm, barbecue for dinner, music jams, and a silent auction.  There’s no cover for this event, but of course you’d want to donate.  It’s being advertised as child-friendly.  I couldn’t find a good link for further info. on the event, but I’ve got it in my email if anyone wants more details.
• The Albany Institute of History & Art has a special Art for All from 1-4 pm.  It’s an Iroquois Beadworking Workshop. Free with museum admission.
• If you still haven’t managed to Discover it yet, go to the Albany Pine Bush at 1 pm.  Pre-register.  It’s $2/person, $5/family.
• Schenectady Theater for Children presents The Mermaid of Edam at Stillwater Community Center at 2 pm.  Neither organization lists it on their website, but I swear I’ve seen it listed in muliple places!
• At the National Museum of Dance’s School, there’s a New York City Ballet audition for girls 8 to 13.
• There’s a classical concert at Schuyler Mansion at 3 pm.  It’s $25/adult, $15/student.
• From 5-7 pm at Proctors, there’s dinner and a music program put together by the Empty Bowls Project of Schenectady.  This is a fundraiser to alleviate hunger, and it’s $20/person at the door or $15/person ahead of time.

I just heard that tonight there’s going to be a Family Dance and Scholastic Bookfair at New Scotland Elementary School.  It’s an Earth Day celebration with dances called by Paul Rosenberg.  It’s open to the public and it starts at 6:30 pm.

I’ve been watching Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution on Hulu, and one thing that’s killing me is the commercials.  His whole deal is teaching people how to cook and eat real food instead of processed and packaged junk, and the episodes that I watched in the last day or two included commercials for Carnation Instant Breakfast Essentials, Gerber Infant Formula, and frozen Lean Cuisine meals.  I mean, okay, I’ll grant you that it’s better than the deep fried donuts with chocolate icing that that poor mom was making, but I still don’t think Jamie would be all that psyched up about kids drinking chocolate vitamin milkshakes for breakfast.

A friend sent me a link to this list of great children’s novels.  It includes many of my very favorites from all time (#2 and #79, among others), but the exciting thing for me is that I’ve probably only read about half of them, so there are so many more to go!  I am a freakishly habitual reader.  I cannot sleep without reading (and it must be either fiction or non-contemporary non-fiction–if I try to read a magazine or read about parenting or current events it just makes me fret the night away).  I also read while brushing my teeth and blow-drying my hair.  This came up with the stylist at my last haircut, and she was amazed and appalled that I did this.  Clearly, the woman takes hair much more seriously than I do.  But, anyway, even though I must read all the time, sometimes my brain hurts, and one lovely solution is to read children’s novels, which are really good but potentially less challenging and faster to read.   In fact, I only recently read #9, #60, & #93.  And I was like, where have I been all these years?  Caddie Woodlawn completely kicks ass. I mean, you know that I love the Little House books (and tv series), but I get the feeling that Caddie could wipe the floor with Laura if there were some sort of pioneer-girl celebrity death match.

Enjoy the weather, everybody!