First Journal Entry Ever Recorded - June 18, 2000

     Has anything ever happened to you that makes you feel maddened (A/N: is that even a word?), but you want to laugh, at the same time?  Well, that happened to me today.
     You see, today is the day that my Granny & Grandpa Landers, my dad, and me left at 7:30 am from Winter Haven, Florida, to go to Winston-Salem, North Carolina, IN A CAR TOGETHER!  I knew it would be bad, but not this bad, but Mom said I had to go.  Grrrrr.
     So, I tried to use optimism, but that was soon crushed about 5 minutes after we left.
     Granny had to stop every hour to go to the bathroom, and both of my grandparents kept asking me questions and talking to themselves or to me.  I know dad is trying to put on a good front, but I can tell he's getting impatient.
     Here's how the trip went: air for tires, had to stop 3 minutes after we left; gas, had to stop 2 minutes later; bathroom, had to stop 1 hour later; switch seats; gas 3 hours later (bathroom too).
     11:30 - started looking for a restaurant to eat at.
     12:10 - found KFC.  Before we left, used bathroom.
     1:00 - switched seats, one the road again, finally!
     (sigh)  I haven't gone to the bathroom yet, and I don't have to.  Granny's the one who's making us stop every time.  You see, she has a bladder problem.  I had no idea until today when Cliff told me.  (A/N: apparently I was obsessed with bathroom breaks and also prejudiced against old people.  Real mature, 12-year-old me.)
     Right now it's 1:30, traffic is getting heavy, and we aren't even in Savannah yet.  Arrrgh!  But it's worth it.  I love dad more than ever (A/N: didn't take much back then.), and I'm going to see my family soon.  I'm staying with Paul, Sheila, Uncle David & Aunt Kathryn, and Uncle Robert's family (Jennifer, Elizabeth, Rebecca, Rachel, Aunt Carolyn, Uncle Robert, and Seth!)!
     1:45 - started to rain.  Dad had to go to the bathroom.  I don't! (A/N: seriously, so obsessed.)
     2:45 - lost.  We have to find out what city we're in so we know when to turn off.  Granny keeps talking about Cliff, and not paying any attention; Dad is having to yell at her every few seconds.  Sound familiar?  (A/N: no...should it?  Who was I even talking to?)
     We are caught in a rain storm with thunder and lightning less than 1 mile away!  Ahhhh!  I don't wanna die!  I wanna live.  Please let me live.  (A/N: obviously, I had already developed a healthy response to danger at such a young age...)
     It's now 4:45; we've only stopped once since Dad's stop.  Granny and the driver, Dad, have agreed we will be at Bonnie's in about 2 hours.  The rain is coming down HARD now.  I hope it doesn't rain this hard any of this week.  Oh man!  It's so loud that I can almost imagine they're bullets instead of raindrops.  Pow!  Pow!  Pow!  (A/N: good use of onomatopoeias, 12-year-old me.)
     I bet Mom wants this kind of rain at home.  I'd rather it be there than here.  Well, we made it through the rain, and I'm at Paul and Sheila's house on Monday morning.  What happened after we got out of the rain was we got lost.  Then, dad had to call Uncle Greg for directions.  That night, we spent the night at the Mungers.  Then, the next morning, we went to church.  Then, lunch was served at Paul's, so we all met there.  Everyone there was family, except for two girls: Leanna, Katlynn.  They are here because their mom is in Canada.  Then, we went to the evening service and ate supper.  Goodnight!
     It's Monday morning!  Robert's family is here and we're all eating breakfast.  After breakfast, the teenagers and adults were ready, but the twins weren't.

....(A/N: that's the end of that entry.  I wasn't so good at finishing them, was I? haha)