The Community Center

Hello future readers,

This past Saturday, Raychel called me and told me that the Community Center was having a movie day. Every 2 months, they show a free movie!  Sometimes, they show older Disney movies, or nature films. The boys like it when they show the old black and white monster movies. Since it was movie day, I knew most of my friends would be at the Community Center, so I told Raychel I'd go.

I know I've talked about the Community Center before. Since Springfield is so small, we haven't had it very long. Shante's dad, Mr. Crawford is the director. It's open every day, except Sunday from 11a.m. to 6 p.m. They rent their meeting rooms to businesses that have workshops or other events earlier in the day on weekdays, and then after school or on Saturdays it's mostly for kids. Sometimes they open at night for church suppers or ice-cream socials. Some of my friends take classes there. I don't really go a lot, but I sure dig free movies!

When we got there, some of the kids were in the game room.

The game room kinda reminds me of the Rec Hall at camp, except it has a soda machine and a bigger pool table than the boys' camp,

We decided not to go in, 'cos we wanted to get good seats for the movie.  We passed by the Dance Hall, and we could see Cheryl and Bridget at the barre in their Ballet class.

Further down the hall, we could hear all kinds of yelling! That was in the room they call a "dojo" and Kyle was in his Karate class.

I was pretty sure after it was over, Kyle would change clothes and join the boys in the game room.

Anyway, we passed the Music room and saw Kerry giving Susan and Kim a guitar lesson.

Kim told me that Kerry couldn't do the lesson on Tuesday next week, 'cos she had 2 big tests to study for, so she offered to give Kim and Susan their lesson on Saturday instead. Wasn't that nice of her?

I looked up at the clock in the hallway. We needed to hurry and get our snacks, the movie was gonna start soon! Even though the movie was free, we still had to pay for snacks. For 35 cents, we could get a soda, a candy bar and a small bag of chips. Some of the kids from the game room were coming in to join us, so we got our snacks and sat down on one of the large benches. I wondered what movie they were showing that day.Then Raychel pointed out the sign on the wall.

Ha! Now I know why the boys weren't here. They would rather shoot pool, than watch some movie about fairy tales. That was fine with me. This way they wouldn't be booing and making dumb noises. So we all settled down to watch the movie.

They showed Little Red Riding Hood, Hansel and Gretel, The Princess and the Pea and Sleeping Beauty. They were all really groovy. The only part I didn't like is when the woodcutter, cut open the wolf's stomach with his axe to get Grandma and Red Riding Hood out. Yuck! It wasn't bloody or anything, but sitll, that part is just creepy!

It was a super way to spend a lazy Saturday afternoon. Are there still Community Centers in the future? If there are, can you see free movies there? I bet kids in the future never get bored. I bet you have all kinds of neat things to do like beam over to fun places with transporters like on "Star Trek". If I had a transporter, I'd beam myself to Disneyland, and Hawaii and all sorts of far out places! But maybe only at special times, like Christmas, or summer vacation. Oh well, maybe someday.....

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

Baby Katie

Hello future readers,

Yesterday after the Saturday morning cartoons were over, Robyn and I went over to Lisa's house to see if she wanted to play with us. But guess who else we found there?

Lisa's Aunt Jeanine, (who she got her middle name from) and her baby cousin Katie were visiting.

When we came in, Lisa was reading a story to Katie. Awwww...she's so cute!

Lisa couldn't come out and play because her mom and aunt went to the grocery store. Her dad was at work, and her grandma was taking a nap. So we decided to keep Lisa company and help her look after the baby for a little while, until the grown-ups got back.

Lisa told us that Katie was only 7 months old. She was too young to walk, and wasn't really crawling yet, but sometimes she would get on her hands and knees and rock herself back and forth. That means she'll be crawling pretty soon. Lisa asked if we wanted to hold her. Robyn was too scared. She thought she would break the baby. But I said I would. It reminded me of when I was in West Virginia in February and held my friend Betta's baby brother, Little G. Katie was smaller than Little G, but I wasn't worried. I knew how to hold babies now. So I sat on Lisa's fold-out bed, and she put Baby Katie in my arms.

She wiggled and squirmed and made funny noises while she drooled. And she smelled good like vanilla and baby powder. Lisa said her aunt changed her before they went to the store. Robyn wanted to play with the baby too, so Lisa put her blanket on the floor and laid her down on it. Robyn and I talked baby talk to her and shook her toys in front of her to see which one she wanted. She kicked her feet and giggled and grabbed at both of her toys.  She was so adorable!

After a while, Katie started rubbing her eyes and crying a little. Lisa said that meant she was getting sleepy and needed a nap. Lisa picked her up and put her in her travel bed. She gave a little yawn and stuck her thumb in her mouth. 'Night-night, Katie!

We sat around and rapped (really quietly), until Lisa's mom and aunt came home.

Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to have a baby brother or sister. Babies are really cute, but they also cry and poop a lot! It's different when you play with a doll, because you can just put them back in your toybox or on the shelf when you're tired of playing with them. You can't do that to a baby! I don't know how cute I would think a baby brother or sister was if they cried a lot, had messy diapers and spit up on me! I guess I'll just stick to playing with other people's babies! Hee!

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