I’m worried about Mother Nature. She doesn’t seem to be able to stay on track with the weather this spring. I don’t know if I should peel off my furry coat or put my tail over my nose, from one day to the next. And hey, Mom Nature, where are the April showers?

The Friends of the C.H. Booth Library are eager to help you with your spring cleaning. A special Book Donation Day will take place Sunday, April 29, from noon to 5 pm, in the rear parking lot of the library. Books, CDs, DVDs, and LPs that you no longer need will be embraced by the group, and you can get a tax receipt, as well.

A delegation with the Newtown International Center for Education (NICE) left to visit Newtown sister schools in Liaocheng, in the Shandong Province of China, last Thursday, April 12. The delegation includes 16 Newtown High School students, staff and faculty from NHS, Newtown Middle School, and Reed Intermediate School, Newtown’s Director of Economic and Community Development Elizabeth Stocker, and First Selectman Pat Llodra. The trip was still ongoing this week, and the delegation has been posting updates to NHS Principal Charles Dumais’s blog, http://dumais.us/newtown/blog/, in case you are as curious as I am. And it seems no matter how far she goes, First Selectman Llodra cannot escape the media. One photo posted to the blog shows Mrs Llodra being interviewed by local reporters.

I’ll be making a visit to the WestConn campus during one of my lunch breaks, I think, to take a peek at some young artists’ works, including that of Ryan Greene. Ryan, of Sandy Hook, a senior and a graphic design major at Western Connecticut State University, is one of 37 students whose work is included in the 2012 WCSU Senior Thesis Exhibition. The senior thesis exhibition is the capstone experience for WCSU art majors who will be graduating in May with a Bachelor of Arts degree. There are four areas of concentration within the arts program, each featured in the exhibition: graphic design, illustration, photography and studio art. The 2012 collection went on view this week in the gallery of Higgins Hall, on the university’s midtown campus at 181 White Street (Route 6), and can be visited Monday through Friday, between noon and 4 pm. Congratulations to Ryan on being included in the exhibition and your impending graduation!

A reminder this week that The Yale Alley Cats will return to Newtown for a performance at Trinity Episcopal Church, Saturday, April 28, a date rescheduled from this weekend. The concert by the 17-member all-male a cappella group begins at 7 pm, and Trinity Choristers will offer a prelude to the concert. Music @ Trinity sponsors the event. Admission is free, but freewill offerings are welcomed. For additional information call 203-426-9070.

This leaves music lovers with a tough choice: the new date for the Alley Cats is the same night of the Newtown Choral Society’s annual spring concert. This year’s program, “Phobias, the Music,” explores the world of phobias, from the fear of snakes (thanks to a performance of Matthew Harris’s “You Spotted Snake”) and clowns (Stephen Sondheim’s “Send in The Clowns”) to rivers (Simon & Garfunkel’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water”) and even dancing (Abba’s “Dancing Queen” and Loggins & Messina’s “Your Mama Don’t Dance”). The concert is at Newtown Meeting House, Saturday, April 28, at 7:30 pm. Tickets are $10, or $8 for seniors and students, and will be available at the door. Contact Laura Lerman, lel-choirs2@se-ltd.com or 203-426-3769, if you fear you haven’t enough information about this concert.

Congratulations to Newtown residents and musicians Jim Allyn and Rick Brodsky, who have joined Jonathan Edwards a local mini tour. Jim and Rick are both members of the Flagpole Radio Café Orchestra. They met Edwards in September 2011 when he was the featured guest during the 2011-12 season opener of Flagpole Radio Café. Edwards recently reached out to Jim and Rick, and invited them to join him for this local tour of his. Jim and Rick will be catching up with The JE Band at Infinity Music Hall in Norfolk this Saturday night (tickets are $40 and $55 [and are nearly gone]. Call 866-666-6306 or visit InfinityHall.ticket.com) and then on Sunday the group will be at Mohegan Sun’s Wolf Den in Uncasville, where shows are always free. Showtime for Sunday is 7 pm, and doors open at 5:30; call 860-862-3405 for details. Just a reminder: no one under 21 is admitted into Wolf Den shows.

If you and the kids are looking for something cool to do, Ice Cream Heaven, 10 Glen Road, is holding a Kids’ Craft Table every Saturday during April and May, from 3 to 5 pm. Children ages 5 to 10 are invited to create a hanging “flower” for their mom in celebration of Mother’s Day, for instance. For more info, call 203-903-7277.

If that’s not enough fun for you, join the Sandy Hook Organization for Prosperity and Candlewood Valley Trout Unlimited for a great Earth Day project focused on cleaning up the Pootatuck River and its riverbanks, this Sunday, April 22. Meet behind St John’s Episcopal Church on Washington Avenue at 11:30, rain or shine. Don’t forget your boots and gloves, and be prepared to get a little wet. It’s all for a good cause, though.

It’s not even summer yet, but Debbie Stakel has already started planning for the 2012 edition of Newtown United Methodist Church’s Annual Fall Arts and Crafts Fair. This year’s event will be on Saturday, October 20, indoors at Reed Intermediate School, and Debbie would like everyone to know that applications for the juried fair are now being accepted. Booths are 9 by 12 feet, and fees range from $90 to $140. All work must be handmade. Complete details are available online at numc.us/the-fair-2012 or you can contact Debbie at 203-426-2336 or send her an email at thefair@numc.us.

It used to be called Secretaries Day, but now the unofficial holiday is called Administrative Professionals Day, and this year it takes place on Wednesday, April 25. This is a day to thank all of the office workers whose efforts make the workday go smoothly. I have found in the past that a dead mouse dropped at the front desk is not considered adequate or appropriate thanks, so I guess this year I will opt for the always-appreciated bouquet of flowers. I would suggest you do the same.

Just knowing I’m spreading the good news is enough thanks for me, so be sure next week to… Read me again.