Making up is hard to do...sort of

Hello future readers!

On Saturday afternoon, I went over to Robyn's house, so we could practice our baton routines. She has the records of the songs we were using, and she was glad I suggested practicing together.

A few minutes after I got there, the doorbell rang. It was Jennifer. Robyn had invited her to practice with us.

I wasn't really happy about that. But Robyn said if we're gonna be in the same baton club, we'd have to get it together and talk things out. Good ole Robyn...she doesn't mess around. She gets right to the point. So before we did any practicing, we sat on Robyn's bed and rapped awhile.

Jennifer told me she was sorry she had been so rotten to me. She explained that she was really popular at her old school, and hated moving away from all of her friends. She saw how popular I was at the playground and in school, and it made her kinda jealous. She wanted to get noticed and picking on me was the only way she could think of to do that. I told her that I was the one who introduced myself and would have been her friend anyway; and she didn't need to get mean to get attention. She told me she realized what a turkey she was being after Danny sounded off at Sam's Snack Shack. And she said she was REALLY sorry about teasing me about not having a dad. Her mom and dad almost got a divorce last year, and she knew what it was like not to have a dad around. I told her that I forgive her. (well, it had to happen some time, didn't it?) I also mentioned that if she wants to unload and get something off her chest, that it was okay to come to one of us, even Danny. Good friends are always there for each other. She was surprised I wanted to be her friend after the way she acted. I told her we could start all over again, and just forget the last month ever happened. We slapped each other some five, and that was the end of it. I was glad. I had been pretty uptight about this whole thing, and was glad it was OVER.

So then it was time to practice. Robyn put "Dancing Machine" by the Jackson Five, (her favorite group!), and we went through the steps.

Not bad. Jennifer dropped her baton once, and I handed it back. She smiled, and we went through the routine again. We got all the way through it without a mistake! Then we tried "Boogie Fever" by the Sylvers.

That routine is a little easier. Mrs. Taylor told us that we should always practice the harder one first. If we can do that one, the rest is a piece of cake. And she was right!

After we practiced. I checked out Robyn's record collection. She got some really outta site sounds! We chose a record to play and then Robyn got out her new board game: Trouble! I love that game!

We played records and played Trouble until it was time to go home to dinner. I had a lot of fun, and I'm glad Jennifer and I are friends now. Sometimes, I wonder what life would be like without emotions getting in the way. On Star Trek, Mr. Spock's race, the Vulcans got rid of emotions, and said they were all better because of that. Life might be "logical", but it sure wouldn't be much fun. It would be a drag if you couldn't laugh or cry or love. But even though he didn't feel emotions, he was always there for his friend, Captain Kirk. And isn't that what it's really all about?

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

School Photos

Hello future readers,

We just got our school photos back. I think they look pretty groovy. Do you have school photos in the future? I still think you take your classes at home on a television screen, so maybe you don't have photo day. But it's fun to get all dressed up and take pictures. Anyway, here's what our photos look like:

We took the pictures in the auditorium. This is our class picture.  Starting from the left is Miss LaSalle, Lisa, Stephanie, me, Danny and Sunny. I think we all look pretty groovy in our good clothes. Danny complained all day about wearing that suit. He likes t-shirts, jeans and sneakers better. But I think he looked pretty cool. Now here are the photos of each of us:

Yep, that's me. My mom loves this picture. She ordered a bunch of wallet sizes to send to my aunties and uncles.

Here's Lisa. I think she looks outta site in pigtails!

Here's Sunny. I love the way her photo came out. She's very pretty.

This is Danny. I think he takes a pretty good picture... for a boy, I mean.

And here's Stephanie. I just love her green eyes. They're so sparkly!

Well, that's it. School photo day was fun. Even though there may not be any school photos in the future, I hope you still get all dressed up sometimes and take pictures, just because.

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

Baton Club tryouts

Hello future readers,

Today at school, our Art teacher, Mrs. Taylor, held tryouts for the new Baton Club in the school auditorium. In case there are no batons in the future, I'll fill you in. These are long metal sticks with rubber tips that you twirl really fast while you march or dance. In our Baton Club, we were gonna twirl and dance. The girls trying out were me, Stephanie, Robyn, Sunny and...uh...Jennifer. I was wondering how that was gonna go since she had been ducking me since the scene in Sam's Snack Shack. But she barely even looked at me.

Mrs. Taylor said the first thing we had to know was how to walk on beat. Keeping the beat was really important when learning the dance moves. So she put on a record and called us one at a time to walk to the music. Sunny was first.

She didn't do that well. Maybe it was her platform shoes, maybe she was nervous. Whatever it was, I felt bad for her.  I was next. I took a deep breath and stepped up in front.

I think I did OK. I spend a lot of time in my room dancing to my David Cassidy records, so maybe that helped. Stephanie was up next.

She didn't do too badly, but she tripped over her feet towards the end. Next was Robyn.

Pretty good. She even added a little finger snapping. Last but not least was Jennifer.

As much as I hate to admit it, she did pretty well. She stayed on the beat, and looked like she was having fun. Mrs. Taylor thanked Sunny and Stephanie for trying, but there were only 3 spots available, and maybe they could try again next year. Wow, what a bummer. I wished we could have all been in this together.

Now it was just me, Robyn, and Jennifer. Now we each had to walk and twirl the baton at the same time. I've fooled around with my cousin Ruby's baton. I know how to twirl it, but I'm not super great or anything. But the true test was both walking on the beat and twirling without dropping the baton.

Well, we were all pretty good. We all kept the beat, and no one dropped their baton. So Mrs. Taylor put on a different record, and we walked together as a group.

I think we grooved pretty well together. Mrs. Taylor was satisfied and said we'd practice every Tuesday and Thursday in May so we could perform at the last school assembly in June before school let out. The songs she chose were Jackson 5's "Dancing Machine" and The Sylvers "Boogie Fever". Far out! Those are dynamite songs, and I know Robyn has those albums so we could practice together.

I didn't know if Jennifer had those records. I was wondering if maybe I should invite her to practice with us. I was still pretty mad for all those mean things she did and said to me. But I guess I gotta forgive her some time. But I don't think I'm ready to yet. Does that sound mean? I guess I'll talk to my mom and my friends, and see what they think. Speaking of my mom she was really proud of me for making the tryout. She fixed my favorite spaghetti dinner to celebrate! Yum! Well I gotta do my math homework now, (ugh!), so I gotta go now.

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

Who wants to watch a Monster Movie?

Hello future readers,

I sat down to watch television, and was looking through the TV Guide. I saw that on Saturday night, "Dr. Shock's Monster Movie" was going to be on.

 Now, monster movies aren't really my scene, but I had been trying to think of a way to thank Danny and Sunny for sticking up for me with Jennifer. I know a lot of my friends like monster movies, so I thought I could have another pajama party, complete with junk food and Dr. Shock! So I asked my mom and she said yes, (have I mentioned how far out my mom is?), and I got on the phone and called all my friends.

I was in luck. That "Father/Daughter Dance" was on Sunday night, so everyone said they would be here! Outta site!

The next night, I popped some corn, put out some cookies and candy, and got into my jammies. At 7:30 my friends started to arrive.

We spread out the blankets and pillows, got out the junk food and camped out by the television.

I had never watched Dr. Shock, and I don't mind telling you he was more than a little creepy!

Tonight's movie was called "The Monster Who Wouldn't Die".  Here are some scenes:

Wow, was that monster scary! Wendy screamed twice, Robyn kept hiding under the blankets, and Danny ate almost 2 pans of Jiffy Pop! I'm still not all that wild about monster movies, but getting together with my friends is always a groove.

Are there monster movies in the future? Stephanie thinks that people in the future will be too smart to believe in monsters, and Danny thinks they'll be machines that can make people into projections so they'll actually be in the movie whenever they want! I don't know about any of that, you'd know better than me. I do know that even though I'm nine and I know there are no such things as real monsters, these movies still sometimes scare me. But I'll never get tired of pajama parties!

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

It's good to have friends!

Hello future readers!

This past Friday we had a half day of school, because the teachers are getting ready for our annual "Open School" night. That's where the parents come to our school, sit at our desks, talk to our teachers and check out all of our work. When we get to start the weekend early, it's time to celebrate! So Danny, Sunny and I went to Sam's Snack Shack after school. If you're a kid, this is the best place in town to eat! Since Springfield is a small town, we don't have places like McDonald's, but we think Sam's is much better! Not only do they have hamburgers, french-fries, sodas, and shakes, but they have pizza, corn dogs, and ice-cream, too! You even get to eat free on your birthday! Sam is super-groovy to us kids, and that makes coming here fun. So we all ordered ice-cream cones; Danny had chocolate, Sunny had Tutti-Frutti, and I had pistachio.

Well, we were eating our cones, and talking about what we were gonna do over the weekend, when Jennifer walked over to our table. (groan!)

She said hi to all of us, and asked what kind of cones we were eating. She said that she was eating strawberry, 'cos it was her favorite flavor. I knew she didn't come over here to talk about ice-cream. I was just waiting for the bomb to drop. Then she started jabbering about "Open School" night, and that she knew she was doing well in class, 'cos Mrs. Alden said so. (groan again!) Then she asked if Sunny was going to the "Father/Daughter Dance" at the Springfield Hotel next weekend. Sunny said she wasn't sure. Then she looks me straight in the eye and said wasn't it ashame I didn't have a father or I could go too!

Boy, has she got some nerve! I was just about to open my mouth to tell her off, when Danny jumped outta his chair! I thought he was gonna punch her out, or something. But he told Jennifer that was a crummy thing to say and why did she have to be so mean to me all the time!

I've never seen him so mad! He kept yelling at her, and saying that I was one of the nicest girls he knew, and that I had parties and sleepovers all the time at my house, and if she didn't act so creepy, she would probably get invited to some of them!

Then Sunny told her that if she didn't knock it off, she'd tell every girl in the 4th grade not to talk to her ever again! And they'd probably listen, 'cos Sunny is pretty popular.

Well, I guess Jennifer felt pretty embarrassed, 'cos everyone in the place (including Sam) was giving her the "stink-eye". She said she was sorry, and she wouldn't be mean to me anymore. Then she took her strawberry ice-cream cone and left. Wow! I never knew my friends cared so much. If Danny weren't a boy, I would've kissed him! Instead I just smiled and thanked both him and Sunny. They said it was no big deal, but it was a long time coming. They told me that they didn't say anything before, because they thought after awhile, Jennifer would probably just cool it and get along like the rest of us. They didn't think she'd keep hasseling me. Well, I don't know if Jennifer and I will ever be buddies, but at least she knows the score, now. But who knows? Maybe someday, she may learn what a dynamite thing it is to be a good friend and to have good friends.

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