A New Old Friend

Hello future readers,

This past Sunday, we had some company over for dinner. My mom's old high school friend Carla Pierce, her husband Jeff and their daughter Kim came over. Kim is my age. They just moved to Springfield from New York City. My mom told them that Springfield is a great place to raise kids. Kim was adopted from a Vietnam orphanage when she was just a year old. Right after she came to the United States, my mom took me (when I was a year old) to New York City to visit them. She said Kim and I played together, took a bath together, and tried to share a bottle together, but I don't remember any of that. Neither did Kim. But since our parents are friends, they thought it would be great if we were friends, too. That's alright with me, if it's alright with Kim.

When dinner was ready, the grown-ups went into the dining room to talk about grown-up stuff, while Kim and I ate our dinner in the kitchen. We had spaghetti with meatballs and garlic bread. My favorite! Yummy!

While we ate, Kim and I talked about what life was like in New York City, and what was different here in Springfield. She said she'd miss her friends, her old school, Central Park, the museums, the Hayden Planetarium, and going to see Santa at Macy's. But she wouldn't miss the pollution, the crime, and living in a tiny apartment. I told her that since Springfield is a small town, you could go all over the place  by yourself, and your parents would know you were safe. She thought that was pretty groovy!

We had strawberry ice-cream and sugar cookies for dessert. I told Kim about school, Miss LaSalle, and who my friends were. She said they sounded really far out!

After dinner, we went to my room to play. Kim loved it! She said my room was much bigger than her old one in New York. As soon as she sat down, Boomer jumped on her lap. He just loves it when company comes over. She stroked his fur and scratched his ears. Kim said they didn't allow pets in her building in New York. I just knew she was gonna love it here!

I took out a couple of my Barbies and we played for awhile. Kim can make up the funniest voices! She made her doll sound like Natasha from the Bullwinkle cartoon, and did a funny southern accent too! I was laughing so hard, I cried!

Then I got out my record player and records. She loved my record collection. All of her stuff was still packed, but we had some of the same records. She really likes Foster Sylvers, and The DeFranco Family. It was gonna be outta site swapping records with her! We were dancing all around my room! It was so much fun!

Kim told me her mom was going to register her for school right after the Thanksgiving holiday. I hoped she'd be in my class. My mom said Kim would be staying with us for awhile until her parents got most of the big things unpacked, and that her family would spend Thanksgiving with us! As JJ on "Good Times" says, "DYN-O-MITE!!" ( Good Times is a TV show). I knew my mom invited some of my friends who would be in town over, and I couldn't wait for Kim to meet them! This was really gonna be a groovy holiday!

Until next time, future readers,
Your friend,
Julie Newman

Snail Hopscotch

Hello future readers,

Even though it's November, it's been really warm here in Springfield, almost like Springtime! On Saturday, I decided to try playing a new way to play Hopscotch that I saw in a "Zoom" book I checked out of the school library. "Zoom" is one of my favorite television shows. It has kids in it, doing all kinds of groovy things like songs, games, cooking, and kids can even send things in! I sent in a poem once, but I don't think they got it. I guess lotsa kids send stuff in. Anyway, when I saw this book, it had a bunch of outta site things in it, just like the show, and one of them is "Snail Hopscotch". I got out my chalk and started to draw a snail on the sidewalk.

It's not easy to draw a good snail for hopscotch. Some of the boxes come out bigger than others, but I did my best. I thought it came out pretty good.

Here's how you play: You draw a snail as big as you want and add lines to make boxes. One every third space you write the word "rest". The object is to hop on one foot all the way around the snail and back again without touching the lines. You can put both feet down on the "rest" boxes. If you make it, you can write your name in any box you want. That becomes your own rest spot. Only you can use it. If you don't make it and touch a line, then your turn is over. Whoever has their name the most times on the snail is the winner.

Just as I finished, I saw Susan coming down the block.

Of course she wanted to know what I was doing. After I told her and explained the rules, I asked her if she wanted to play. I knew she would. Susan is a really good hopscotch player, but this was something different. I let her go first.

She made it all the way around the snail and back, so she picked a box and wrote her name.

Then it was my turn. I found out that it wasn't as easy as it looked. I was glad for those rest spaces!

*whew!* I made it! Now I could write my name in a box.

We kept on playing like that for awhile, it was really fun!

I messed up a few times. Susan got her name on the snail more times than I did, so she was the winner.

I wasn't surprised. I told you, she's a pretty good hopscotch player. Even though I didn't win, I still had a groovy time. It's fun playing new games. But I'm gonna practice, so I can get better and win!

Do kids still play hopscotch in the future? If you do, maybe you can try playing "Snail Hopscotch" with some of your friends. Have fun!

Until next time, future readers,
Your friend,
Julie Newman