Jr. Highers alert

Today, with a van load of junior high boys in my care...I decided that if they came out of the womb around 12 years old - I want one. They were a delight all day.

A funny conversation that happened today:

8th grade boy: Hey, Ms. Dutt, I forget, do you have babies?

Me: Nope

8th grade boy: Are you going to get one?

Me: Yep, I am going to the store and getting one next week...

8th grade boy: smiled at me and laughed a bit

5 minutes pass

8th grade boy: You can't really do that, can you?

Me: ahh, no.

Ponderings:

We went to see our friend Aimee play and sing with the band Dead Pirates tonight. It was a one night deal and I miss being a Aimee groupie - she is so talented. It is also fun to go out and go to bar - because I never have been a bar fly, I romantize what being a bar fly really means....

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So we have decided that we are going one week without corn - which means no high frutose syrup and a lot of other stuff. This is all because of watching King Corn. Already, we found out that high frutose syrup is in our whole wheat bread from Sara Lee as a surprise. Watch the blog for updates on how the week goes.

Jokes and Notes

Last night I went to Jokes and Notes to see my friend Brenda Matthew's perform in their Thursday night Variety Show. They have several acts and then by vote of applause the winner is determined. Brenda was the winner last night! Yippee. She did one of my favorites of hers - He is still my son.

If you would like to hear one of Brenda's poems: check this link or here.

more stuff

Not far from my block of work and home, there is a place where folks seeking day labor congregate. It is in front of Home Depot, next to the Sam's and Food4Less that I shop at for work. My mind goes to the only story I know about day labor which is from the Bible.

However, in a time of so much excess....heck, this morning I was going to Sam's, the hell that is over abundance to shop for an excess of food for a group - I feel something special for those who need to worry about things day to day.

oh junior highers

I wrote this a few weeks ago and it didn't post- but I think it is good:

This week I have a group in town that is junior highers - the questions are great. I started writing them down.

"Did you walk here alone?"
-as we left an agency that I had arrived to pick them up - she later said that she would never be alone anywhere...that is what is great about junior highers they say profound stuff without knowing it

"Can people swim in Chicago?"
-as a 7th grader from Mississippi he was wondering where all the swimming pools were, and since he hadn't seen them in backyards - he went to believing that maybe, just maybe us Chicagoans didn't swim at all

"This soup tastes like ketchup and lime."
-overheard while eating the potato chowder I had made for Monday's supper, that didn't contain ketchup or limes, nor in the opinions of the college students around

My favorite one from several years ago
"Does Chicago have grocery stores?"
-again, he hadn't seen any so they didn't exist in his mind - but with this one I wanted to say something to the effect of no, we don't - instead see that building called the Sears Tower, it is actually a big farm that we all go to and get our food.

The most enlightening from my friend Reese came on MOnday:
"Boy, you city folks are just good at sharing. All those people share that church building, and the school building, and even those homes that are joined - you know apartments."
-I take for granted now that a church building has about 5 things going on at any certain point, and even that two schools can share the same building, and that apartments are a way of life. But Reese didn't; instead he saw the positive aspect that I rarely think about. Thanks, Reese.

Community at the Gym

So, I went to a new class tonight at Lawndale Christian Health Center. It is called Body Toning, but that isn’t important. What is important is the fact that why doing these really hard pilates moves, the teacher announces that if she sees one person stop we will start over. She said it was a community building activity – we were to encourage each other.

My first inclination was to say “Hey, this isn’t church!” But it was my decision to join a Christian Health Center…. My second inclination was to say “I don’t know any of these people, this is my first time in this class.” My third inclination was to say “Boy, I better not stop!”

I think that is the best thing about community is that challenge to be together – and the challenge to be together. I did better pilates because I knew I needed too for the sake of the class. A great example of people usually are better people as a result of being in a community.

We got through, we had to do 2 extra sets of 10, but we got through….my abs are better for it…and so am I.