At the end of the day at my elementary school, if there was anything the teachers wanted to keep on the boards, they had to outline it and leave a message to the janitor: “SAVE”. This was a habit I picked up on and actually used in diary entries when I was young! My very first diary entry was when I was six years old, and I still have it.

Wednesday, December 25th, 1991
Today was a very busy day. I liked everything I got at but the (very) best thing I got at home was a “SINGER LOCK-STITCH SEWING MACHINE”. The best thing I got at Grandma K’s house was a (real) keyboard from Grandma + Grandpa K. BOTTOM PART IS FOR TOMORROW! (every day)

This habit continued on into many more entries. “Save this page” “Save next page” “Save bottom part”

Thursday, December 26, 1991
Today is the day after Christmas day. Me and my Mom tried to do my “SINGER LOCK-STITCH SEWING MACHINE” that I got yesterday, Wednesday, December 25, 1991. Me and my two sisters (MICHELLE + DEANNA) went over to my Grandma L’s and played a game called “THE NAME GAME”. Today was fun! SAVE NEXT PAGE!

I had a habit of writing in caps for some reason, too. I’m quite impressed, looking back, because everything is written in cursive and actually has proper grammar and spelling! I guess I started at an early age.

Friday, December 27, 1991
Today me and my Mom played two NINTENDO® games. No. 1: TETRIS and no. 2: BARBIE. My mom baby-sat my friends, Bonnie + DJ. DJ took a nap while me and Bonnie played with NINTENDO® + toys. We got past the PIZZA world and into the MERMAID world. SAVE PAGE!

Yes, I was a video game nerd back then, too. Also, I don’t know why but I felt the need to use the ® symbol in my entries. At least I was writing in my diary on the safe side! The next few days (I was obviously very into my diary!) talked about how I played Nintendo, spent some time with my friend Jennifer, mentioned my (then) two-year-old sister (and was very clear about how it was the first time I’d ever mentioned her!), celebrated New Year’s and watched movies. Then I returned to school. You know how some kids hate going back to school after the holidays? Not me.

Thursday, January 2, 1992.
Today was the first day back to school! It was my friend Jillian’s birthday! She invited me to her party Saturday, January 4, 1992! My birthday’s May 3, 1985! It’s a long way away. I felt sooooo HAPPY! I got to see my best friends again! Today was SOOOOO great!!!!!

Friday, January 3, 1992.
Today was Christopher Dobies’ 7th birthday! I was going to play Chris “Happy Birthday” but… my keyboard BROKE! My mom gave me a school box for keeping all my “school needs” in. We went to Red Lobster for dinner. We had lots of good food. I had crab legs, popcorn shrimp, salad, fries, popcorn shrimp and Sprite to drink.

Apparently I really had popcorn shrimp. Not once, but twice! We had a weekend (I referred to it as my week-end vacation) and talked about how I was excited to go back to school and see Miss Czenkusz and my friends again. Miss Czenkusz is almost a bit of a legend in my family. My mom had her as a teacher when she was in school - I went to the same elementary school as my mom did. My sister had her after I did. I wonder what’s happened to her since!