May bawl?

I happened to give Exile #4 a lift up to school this morning. She was in a talkative mood and yattered on in that stream-of-consciousness way that three year-olds have, tossing in the odd revealing tidbit such as 'My Daddy drives much faster than this...'

After doing my regular library duties I drove home. It was snowing! Barely, but snow nevertheless, and we're expecting frost tonight. I hope our just-established crabapple tree makes it through the night. It's kind of sad to have the heating on again for the last day of April.

Tomorrow morning we will all get up at dawn, climb onto our roof and sing 'Summer is Icumen In' at the tops of our voices. We hope this quaint English tradition will add some colour to our neighbours' daily routines.

A little quilty thing

Quietish day. I finished a little quilt I've been making for a charity auction at school. Enjoyed lunch out with S and her charming-as-ever baby. Collected the Man from work after tea and we made a family visit to the library where our favourite librarian told us about some historic railway exhibits kept in storage at the Albany Institute of History & Art.

And that's about it. How was your day?

Robin Food

It has been a day of welcome rain, for the garden at least.

I daresay it will bring out the worms, which will be good news for the local robins. The Boy did a bird project at school recently and learnt that the American robin likes to eat 14ft of earthworms per day. That's a big plate of earthworms!

There must be a joke in there somewhere about typical US food portions, but far be it from me to be the one to make it.

Gnome from home?

After all the excitement of yesterday, we didn't have anything much planned for today, so it was a nice surprise to get a phone call inviting the kids round to play with a friend in the afternoon. The Man and I took the opportunity to sneak off and do a bit of shopping.

Oh, and we did also manage a family trip to a local garden center/re, not much different from UK ones but with free popcorn and rather more impressive lawnmowers.

The children reckon we should invest in a garden gnome. What do the rest of you think?

Take 5

Take 5 girls, some toys (mostly cuddly), music, snacks and a cake and what do you have...?

A belated birthday party for the Girl today. It took hours of planning and preparation, but the event itself required very little parental involvement. The kids all disappeared into the basement, leaving the adults to drink tea and chat - very civilized, and a welcome break.

They did surface briefly, for a frantic treasure hunt in the yard. In the middle of the treasure hunt, this UFO appeared. Can anyone help identify it?

Later, as the party was nearing an end, our neighbour appeared with a small crabapple tree in a wheelbarrow, so we planted that.

It looked rather peaky from the shock of being dug up, but we're watering it in and it seems to be coming round.

And it was 'snowing' today, at least that's what the children screamed as they ran outside and danced in a blizzard of falling cherry blossom petals.

Entertainment USA

Today's Friday assembly at school was a belated celebration of Earth Day, so the four year olds joined the Boy's class in singing a Native American-inspired song about 'Mother Earth' (the Boy stood like a statue throughout. Didn't like the song, apparently).

Then some sixth graders demonstrated the wind turbines they'd built in Science. Never mind that the electric fan needed to get them going used a whole lot more energy than the windmills generated, it was still a good effort.

Finally, because Earth equals energy, and dancing can be energetic, someone put on Chubby Checker and we all did the Twist. (Again. Like we didn't last summer.)

Evidently I can't get enough of this sort of entertainment, because this evening the kids persuaded me back to school to watch the student "Talent Show". Music, dance, skits, comedy trombones - the lot. There were a couple of stand-out performances, although many were somewhat reminiscent of shows I've watched from time to time in my own sitting room...

Too much B or not too much B?

As she was poking around in my mouth the other day the dentist recommended that I start taking multi-vitamins. "Let's just face it," she said, "the American diet doesn't provide all the nutrients you need. Vitamins will help you with stress - your tongue looks red, that's a sign of stress. And your mouth seems very dry - stress again - is it always like that?"

I said, "Oh-i eh ai ah uh eh'ih."

(Only when I'm at the dentist.)

Anyway, I thought I'd give multivitamins a whirl, so I bought a pot called Ultimate Vegetarian Multi. It's only since I started taking them that I've properly studied the packet and checked the Daily Value percentages of each tablet: eg iron - 56% (sounds good); folic acid - 100%; selenium - 143% (bit extra just in case, eh?); vitamin E - 333% (hang on a minute); vitamin B6 - 3750% (huh??); riboflavin 4412% (you're kidding me?); thiamin - 5000%....

Stop! This is stressing me out!

Toyz n the Hood

There are three trees in our front yard. Throughout the winter we didn't know what kind they were, only that they looked very pretty covered in snow or hung with icicles.


But now, after many days of summery weather (we seem to have completely skipped spring) they are revealing themselves, and very splendid they are. The first is a lime-green maple. Nearest the house is a plum tree covered in pink blossom. And most glorious of all is an ornamental cherry, absolutely covered in white blossom like a throwback to the depths of winter only buzzing with bees.

We're not the only ones who are enjoying our spectacular yard. It has become a bit of magnet for neighbours, especially kids. Seems like we only have to step outside and there's a party going on, frisbees whizzing, footballs bouncing and bikes and scooters trundling up and down the driveway. For our children it's a dream come true. And adults walking past with dogs will stop and chat, and we're getting friendly with the neighbours opposite who are retired and keen gardeners and have offered us a crabapple tree...

The community I was craving a while back seems to be right here on the doorstep - as with the blossom, it just took a little sunshine to coax us all out.

Dental breakdown (but not in front of the children)

It may be that some of you reading this have far more serious anxieties about your health than I have, and if so please forgive what will look like self-indulgence on my part, but...

For the last few days I've been trying to keep a lid on a whole lot of stress. The cause? A dental appointment. I may have mentioned before that I Don't Do Blood. Well, I Don't Do Medical, either, and I really really Don't Do Dental.

The reason is, I have a very small mouth. Tiny and childlike, apparently, which sounds delightful but dentally is a complete nightmare. I had to have several extractions as a child, all of them extremely traumatic. Since then, whenever dentists have needed to to work on my teeth they've struggled to find room to do it, and consequently the experience has been significantly unpleasant and the work has not always been good.

I have tended to put off visiting the dentist, so that when I eventually do go there's always something that needs tackling, and I chalk up yet another miserable experience.

I knew I needed to go this time, I could feel that all was not good. I was right. But the dentist is lovely and kind and reassuring and I feel confident she will look after me well. She will undoubtedly extract a painful amount of money from me in the process, but no teeth. Those she will fix. And I'm actually crying as I write this - tears of relief.

Gimme a French fries sandwich (hold the cheese)

The other day the school librarian beckoned me to one side. She'd just been reading a book by British author Jacqueline Wilson and had a couple of common-language questions. Could I please tell her what was meant by the phrase 'Bob's your uncle!'? And what exactly was a 'chip butty'?

Can you suggest any other particularly fiendish British colloquialisms with which I can fox her?

Tales of Hoffman

Yet another hot, sunny day - perfect weather to make our first ever visit to the wonderful Hoffmans Playland.

This amusement park has hardly changed since it first opened in 1952, and therein lies all its charm. The rides are small and old-fashioned and quiet - the only music comes from the carousel. There's no outrageous entrance fee, just tickets per ride, and hardly any queueing. It's a happy place for younger kids and their families.

That said, the Boy was reluctant to go on any of the rides (except for the train, obviously), until we happened to run into one of his best friends from school. Then there was no stopping him, driving roundabout fire engines and motorbikes, boats and the like. He had a great time. The Girl was even more adventurous and tried out the balloon-ride, helicopters and a tiny ferris wheel.

The mega-amusement parks - Disneyland, Legoland etc - are all well and good, but there's definitely room for little places like this: small, simple and a whole lot of fun.

Air guitars

Today we were invited to a Rock Band birthday party. The Girl helped form a band called the Purple Rockers, devised costumes and make-up, designed an album cover and finally performed The Monkees' Daydream Believer - slightly diffidently. We are told that the CD and DVD will be available soon.

Late this evening in the privacy of their own back yard, the Boy and Girl treated us to a much more vigorous Hard Rocking performance using mini inflatable guitars which they had found in their party bags.

Scorching!

Wanted! Answers to the name of "Tufty"

A busy old day to end the vacation week: friends to play and lunch, then off to see other friends performing in their end-of-circus-camp show, followed by a trampolining playdate. This evening the Girl and I joined the Exiles and crowd for their fortnightly Rock Band session, though we didn't exactly participate - I was comparing Spring Break experiences with Exile #2 and the Girl curled up on a couch with a stack of books.

The other day I hung up a little cage containing a slab of suet for the birds. Of course the squirrels came along and took what they could of it but I almost forgave them because they were pretty enterprising, shimmying up the pole it hangs from. But this morning there was just a chain - the suet cage had been yanked down in the night. I saw it on the grass, but when I went out a bit later to pick it up and fix it, it had completely gone. Pesky varmint squirrels - just rats with fluffy-tail disguises if you ask me.

Four Go Adventuring Underground

Every time we've gone anywhere beyond the immediate capital district, no matter in which direction, we have encountered huge signs telling us we should visit Howe Caverns. This advertising strategy has worked because for quite a while I've been thinking, 'Hm, really should go and see those Caverns...' even though I have no particular interest in caves.

Anyway, today that's where we went - about a 45 minute trip from home. We sold it to the kids as a Famous Five type adventure (I say! A secret underground passage! Who'd have thought we'd find one of those in an Enid Blyton book?).

In the end the children found the 80-minute long tour of the caverns a bit too much, though the Man and I quite enjoyed it. We were being shepherded round with about 20 other people, and our guide was giving her third tour of the day and it sounded like it, so that rather detracted from the subterranean atmosphere, but nevertheless the caves are impressive. Highlights were the short underground boat trip and a natural labyrinthine 'winding way'. We also viewed the 'bridal altar', where five hundred odd (I use the expression advisedly) couples have tied the knot.

The Girl and Boy much preferred the above-ground experience of 'gem mining'. We bought a bag of grey sand in the shop, tipped it into panning sieves and lo and behold - gems! Very satisfactory.

You can see here how hot it was today when we were outside. Not in the caverns though, where it was a chilly 52 degrees. It's cold in them thar hills.

Chrome cooking

We picked up the Man from work this evening and went out to eat at an alluringly retro shiny chrome diner in town. There was food there to suit most customers, including those who consider that a variety-pack box of dry Rice Krispies constitutes a gourmet meal.

My dinner was a tasty dish of pasta with fresh vegetables and garlic sauce. Here it is. I should add that here it is after I'd eaten so much of it that I was feeling just a little bit nauseous and had had to undo the button on my trousers. Seriously, and I barely made a dent in it. The waitress forgot to bring the accompanying side salad - thank goodness.

Bubblicious

The kids were keen to go back to the Saratoga Children's Museum today (second day of their Spring Break), so off we went. I think we'd have got more out of it if we'd thought ahead and arranged to go with friends, as second visits to museums are never quite as exciting as the first time unless you are able to bring some new element to it.

So saying, the Girl got a lot of fun out of a 'new' exhibit (it was under repair back in November): a huge bubble making contraption. You stood within a hoop resting in a trough of bubble liquid. By means of a pulley you then raised the hoop, which brought an enormous 'bubble' with it. By crouching down you could be completely inside the cylinder of bubble before it burst. Very cool.

'L' of a day

I was saying the other day how all the Americans I've been meeting have a great sense of humour. Ha! Not the one I met today. No sense of humour at all. Not a jot. Not one iota.

We finally took our driving tests - the last stage in the long process of becoming New Yorkers. All the other Britons we know had told us what a doddle it was. You turn up, the tester is some guy who just wants to talk about tennis while you drive round the block with him a couple of times. Piece of cake.

Just our luck, then, to get some grim-faced woman with (did I mention this?) no sense of humour. Because right at the start of the test I suddenly got a fit of nerves and couldn't remember how to start the car. 'Hm, only been driving 25 years...' I quipped. As in 'This isn't really the first time I've ever driven a car! Ha ha!' I was being self-deprecating, for crying out loud. But I guess she thought I was acting cocky, as in 'Don't know why the hell I have to take your silly test, I'm such an experienced driver...'

Anyway, she spent the entire rest of the test being mean to me. At one point she actually said (word for word quote), 'Just because you're not 16, don't imagine I can't fail you!' To which I replied, 'Just because I'm older than you, don't think you're obliged to patronize me!'

No, of course I didn't.

So we complete the course and she says, 'I'd have failed you, but I know you have a foreign license and you'd just keep driving anyway, so what would be the point?'

At which I screamed, 'So. Why the hell did I have to take this test at all then!!!'

I didn't. I did wind down the window as we drove off and shouted 'More fool you! Did I mention that I drive the wrong way up interstates?'

No. I didn't do that either. Wish I had though. She was really nasty. And she wasn't just having a bad day. She's always like that, I could tell. Mean. Mean to the core.

The Man passed too, by the way.

Ruff day

Just can't get enough of that Schenectady Museum. Though it's more that there's not a lot else to do with kids in Schenectady this time of year (as far as I can find out) and we were up there today on an errand.

Anyway, it happened to be the inaugral weekend of the Fetchlab at the Museum. 'Fetch' is a pretty good TV show where teams of kids have to do challenges of one kind and another. It is hosted by a wise-cracking cartoon dog called Ruff Ruffman. Ruff was there in person (or should that be, a person was there in Ruff?), and there were tables set up on which kids could try out various 'experiments'.

We weren't desperately impressed, to be honest, mainly because there was little explanation of what you were meant to learn from the experiments (hooking things out of jars of water, stacking plastic cups, picking up birdseed with tweezers etc). Fun after a fashion, but somewhat aimless. The real highlight, especially for the Girl, was getting to watch a whole episode of Fetch on a screen. Telly! Yeah!

The Girl had a successful sleepover party last night, by the way - albeit that sleep was predictably lacking. The Man and Boy had their own mini sleepfest though - I went through to see them after writing yesterday's blog and they had both conked out together on the sofa. Ahh.

Scorchio!

The weather forecasters were completely wrong. After some morning rain we've had a beautiful day today. 'Scorching!' said the Girl, and liking the sound of that said it some more - 'Scorching! Absolutely scorching!'


We enjoyed the sunshine in our own back yard, and even got a bit of gardening done.







The Girl's out tonight at a sleepover party. Let's hope it's not a repeat of the last one. I chatted briefly with a couple of moms when I dropped her off. Addressing the host's mom one mother deadpanned - 'So you won't actually be sleeping with my son? He usually likes to snuggle down between his parents...' And the host's mom, without missing a beat, replied, 'Ah, no. But he'll be fine. We'll make sure all the doors and windows are locked - my husband and I are going out for the night. Didn't we make that clear on the invitation?'

I knew the kids were planning to watch Home Alone this evening, but didn't think they'd be using it as a training video...

But there, who says Americans have no sense of irony? It's just not true. The ones I've been meeting all have it in spades.

Fund-raising furore

Like many schools, ours holds commercial Book Fairs from time to time. The kids get to pick from a selection of books and some of the proceeds go towards the school library. Like most parents I support these events, but somewhat through gritted teeth as the range of books isn't great (and my kids, like many, tend to home in on the TV tie-in rubbish rather than the few better quality choices), plus the books are supplemented by plastic toys and gew-gaws and we have quite enough of that kind of thing in our lives already thank you very much.

Anyway, a multiple-recipient email came my way today seeking volunteers to man the next book fair stall. It was soon followed by a strongly worded message from an irate parent who for a host of good reasons can stand this event no longer. There has subsequently been quite a blizzard of email activity as other parents (including the sender of the original volunteer-seeking message!) have chipped in with their own pent-up-for-years feelings of dissatisfaction with the whole book fair thing.

The upshot is there will be a meeting next month to explore the concept of 'ethical fund-raising'. I shall be there (surprise surprise - just call me 'Mrs Fund-Raising of Linton'), though if ethics are going to enter into it I'm afraid my little tombola is already dead in the water.

Slow news day

Well, first off I'm happy to report that yesterday's child-with-a-hurt-finger turned out to be just badly bruised. Not good, of course, but I'm glad it was nothing worse.

We've had another day of blue skies and sunshine, but we're expecting the cold weather back again tonight and for the next few days. Even so, there are enough substantial signs of spring now (daffodils, catkins, leaf buds on every tree) to satisfy me that winter proper is behind us at last. Hooray!

I drove some of the Girl's class to CMOST today, but forewent the opportunity of another snooze in the planetarium and snuck off for a coffee instead.

A propos of nothing, a flurry of comments please in response to this plea for your Inconsequential Brushes with Famous People. My all time favourite (known to many of you I'm sure): Gordon Brown once rang me at home. Big Ben was bonging in the background. There now.

Teacher Appreciation Day

...is a well-established tradition in the US. I don't know what form it takes at other schools, but at ours today it involved parents sending in food offerings so that all the staff could sit down and have lunch together. The children, meanwhile, were supervised by a team of volunteer parents.

Also in need of temporary supervision was the front desk, and for some reason that role fell to me. I was a little daunted at having to fill the shoes of our receptionist, who is something of an iconic figure. Not that she's what you'd call briskly efficient, but she has unique and wonderful qualities that make her beloved by teachers, students and parents alike. No way could I be an adequate substitute.

I managed ok with the phone (only 4 calls in an hour, and one of those a wrong number). But as a comfort to the wounded (our receptionist's signature role) I was far from successful. Child comes with trodden-on finger - looks ok to me, I send her away with a pat on the head. Fifteen minutes later, child returns, finger still hurting. Still looks fine and the finger seems to move. Another pat on the head.

As the receptionist returned, so did the child, this time with finger visibly swelling. After a spell with an ice-pack she ended up being collected by a parent and taken to the doctors. I'm sorry, small child! I got my cosmic come-uppance later though, picking up a massive splinter in my own finger and ending up in the medical room myself, trying not to wince too much.

Sound hearing

I spent much of today painting the dining room. As I painted, National Public Radio was broadcasting, 'gavel to gavel', the testimony of General Petraeus and the US Ambassador to Iraq to two Senate committees. Hours and hours of discussion on the current situation and future of Iraq. Not exactly entertainment - yet I found it somehow heartening. Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker came across as intelligent and humane individuals (a description which my Democrat/progressive friends may baulk at, but I honestly don't think they are bad men). The Senators who questioned them appeared, for the most part, to be serious and thoughtful. There seemed to be mutual respect and some genuine dialogue going on.

It was an interesting exercise to listen in on, and I for one felt better informed as a result. We rely so much on the media to edit for us and deliver the 'important' or 'newsworthy' aspects of a story, political or otherwise. But perhaps what's really important is the duller stuff - people just talking to each other, and at best maybe even listening to each other.

Spring into action

I have spent the past few weeks glaring at bare trees and willing them to sprout leaves. No success yet, but there are definitely buds on a couple of trees at the front of our house. It can't be long now - we just need a few more warm days like today...

So though I'm not really a get-up-and-go kinda gal (more of a sit-down-and-twiddle-my-thumbs one, really), with these signs of spring at hand I was moved to grab a rake and give the front yard a once-over.

I was inspired by all the neighbours (and the Exile) who had spent the weekend scraping up leaves left over from the fall, and gathering up branches and twigs that had scattered themselves about during the winter. They'd left them in neat bundles and heaps by the roadside for the municipal garden-waste collectors to pick up.

Of course by the time I got my act together the collectors had been and gone, but I daresay they'll be back - though by then I expect my little pile of leaves and moss and dried grass will have blown back all over the lawn. Ah well.

Learning something new every day

We had a lazy morning at home. In the afternoon the Girl was invited to a swimming party, so she had a fun time splashing around with most of her classmates, and I enjoyed hanging out with the other parents - an entertaining and informative bunch of people. Among many interesting facts, I was told that there are real dinosaur footprints in Massachusetts. Also that if you entirely fill your mouth with squirty cream you won't be able to swallow.

If you have similarly vital information to share, please feel free to add a comment.

All together again

So last night we went for a run. Well actually it was billed as a dance in the school gym, but once the kids had downed their sno-cones (ice chippings covered with lurid syrup) they just RAN, round and round. Mainly it was the Boy in the lead, pusued by a pack of girls. Read into that whatever you will.

There was an open day at the Man's work today so we went and took a look around. I learnt a little bit more about what the Man and his colleagues do and the children had a chance to practise some essential office skills such as buying drinks from the vending machine, writing messages on the whiteboard and twirling on chairs.

Reach for the sky

The Man writes...As it turned out my journey home from Jena lasted longer (52 hours) than my time there. It started with a 300km car ride across Southern Germany, memorable only for a toilet stop. This cost 50 cents, but a machine on the turnstile dispensed a special shiny voucher to claim this back if you bought food or drink. Remarkably, the urinals lit up with adverts when...er...liquid passed through them.

The bad luck started yesterday at Frankfurt airport when, after our plane had pushed away from the gate, one of the engines wouldn't start. We ended up spending 6 hours on the plane at a forgotten corner of the airfield. A great way to start a 9 hour flight! This led inevitably to missed connections and another unscheduled night at a Newark airport hotel.

Unbelievably, when we pushed away from our gate today for the short flight to Albany the same thing happened! Fortunately this time the delay was 'only' an hour. Unfortunately, the flight started with the girl in front of me being extremely sick all over herself and her mother and - as I later found out - over my rucksack, which had been neatly placed under her seat.

It cannot be said however that the Airline has not compensated me for taking almost a full day out of my work week. They have give me a voucher for a free wine/beer or a free headset (normally retails for $1) or $15 off onboard duty free purchases of $75 or more. Can't say fairer than that!

All singing, all dancing

The main event today was the 'Spring Sing', an annual all-school concert. It featured quite a range of musical styles: jazz, blues, folk, ballad, rock 'n' roll, Amazing Grace, chorus of yapping puppies... you name it, really. As ever, what the show lacked in slickness it made up for in jollity.

My favourite bit was the school 'band' (an odd assortment of trombones and clarinets, mostly) playing the theme tune to the Addams Family. Genius choice! My school orchestra experiences always seemed to involve the slow torture of Mozart or Haydn, painful for players and listeners alike. But you can pretty much do what you like to the Addams Family - if anything the odd bum note actually enhances the performance.

The poor Man, with his usual rotten travel luck, got stuck on the runway in Frankfurt for five hours and missed his onward connection from Newark to Albany. Knowing he wouldn't be back tonight, the rest of us went round to see our friends the Exiles after dinner and the kids had fun watching Toy Story before creating a wildly exuberant dance routine to Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue. A musical end to a musical day.

The gr8 day arrives

Eagerly awaited for days and weeks, nay months - well, let's just call it a year - the Girl's birthday finally arrived. It seems to have been a good one.

I had a moment of panic first thing this morning when my dear daughter reminded me how much she was hoping to have a card with an '8 today!' badge on it so she could wear it at school. Oh lumme, forgot to buy one of those... But I invoked the Emergency Mum Muse and was inspired to grab cardboard, scissors, glue and sequins - and ta-dah, one sparkly number 8. I stuck a safety pin on the back and we were in business. The Girl spent the rest of the day shedding sequins wherever she went, but I don't suppose anyone minded.

After school there was a visit to Build-a-Bear. We now have a very well-dressed bunny in the family, and I have issued a moratorium on further cuddly toy accumulation.

Eight, though. It seems like only yesterday I was in the delivery room, completely high on gas and air, shouting 'That's my baby!'

Brief from Germany

The Man writes... I write from the historic town of Jena, former home of Goethe and Schiller (pictured right) and many famous physicists from Abbe to Zeiss. It took me 23 hours' travelling to get here. I was assured on arrival that the invitation had not been an April Fool's joke. Who even knew that they had "April Fools" here?

It's been a real pleasure for the last two evenings to wander the charming town centre, with its cobbled squares, medieval buildings and numerous attractive restaurants, in the company of my proud hosts. The town looks a lot more prosperous than it did when I was last here five years ago, as if it is finally throwing off the decline and neglect of the GDR years.

Sadly I shall miss The Girl's birthday tomorrow. Happy birthday, Girl! I'm so sorry not to be there, but I shall be thinking of you.