New Year's Possibilities – A Fiction Short Story by Andi Leitz

Diary of Andi Leitz

January 1, 2024

New Year's ~~Resolutions~~ ~~Goals~~ Possibilities

Learn to sew.Remember when you were a kid and you stepped on a needle because it was dropped on a dark carpet in the basement?Buy sewing machine.Learn to use sewing machine.Sew a quilt for Mom for Mother's Day.How much fabric do I need for a queen-sized bed? How do you sew in the batting again?Look up quilting on YouTube. ✓Crochet scrubbies for everyone for Christmas.Buy scrubby and cotton yarn.Look up patternsGet started in July.Realize it only takes an hour to make one.Put it off until September.Remember niece turns 16 in a year and a half.Design throw blanket for her car.With every stitch, pray for strength and patience to deal with helping her learn to drive.It's gonna take a year of prayer to get through this.Open an Etsy shop... Again.Remember to pay for ads and post your shit on social media this time.~~Try to record a sample of voice for voice acting website.~~✓~~Buy microphone.~~✓~~Buy soundproofing material.~~✓~~Set up mini studio in closet.~~✓Remember that you live with your parents who are in need of hearing aids.Remember that you own cats and a dog.Remember that there is no carpeting in any of the rooms except yours.Learn that you have to turn off HVAC in order to silence your house in the middle of the night.Remember your room is sweltering in summer and freezing in winter.Stop watching self-help videos on YouTube.Except Diary of a CEO or anything with Simon Sinek.~~Follow weight loss videos on YouTube.~~Lose ~~weight~~ self-consciousness about body issues.~~Stop eating chocolate.~~ Switch to dark chocolate.Don't eat the whole bar in one sitting. There are nutrition facts on the label for a reason.Stop drinking caffeine.Yes, that Venti Peppermint Mocha Frappuccino you downed yesterday. Just walk away.Drink mint ginger tea instead.Add orange peel for a little kick.It's also good hot.Learn to cook your favorite Asian meals.Ooh, make Japchae again. That was delicious.And Teokbeokki.And Jjajangmyeon.And Sushi.Take up photography.Buy a digital camera with a telephoto lens.Go for a hike. Take pictures of birds and flowers.Post pictures on Instagram.Pay no attention to the number of followers you don't have.Set a reading goal for the year.Will 200 books be enough? 300? Does the first volume of a manga count as one book? What about ACOTAR? That's... what?... five books long? I've already read it, but whatever.Set a writing goal for the year. Every word counts!~~Stop using your friends as guinea pigs for your stories.~~They're freaking hilarious, though!Restart that blog you started three years ago and dropped because you couldn't figure out what to write about.Write about ghost stories and fairy tales. You love those!Remember to finish writing storyline for family D&D night.Remember to give them treasures as well as traps.All right, but traps are more fun.Figure out how to make cousins' characters die... again.*Devil horns emoji and maniacal laughter gifStop binge-watching TV shows! Except K-dramas. You know you can't give that shit up.Remember to contact the local manga shop to sign up to work anime convention circuit.Ask your cousin's friend for shop owner's name.Ask sister if you can take niece to conventions with you now that she's a teenager.Tell niece to behave herself so sister will say yes.Look up prices for hotel rooms in Atlanta for Labor Day weekend.Maybe I should have done that back in October.Remember to go to Band every week.Practice clarinet more.Those high notes are no joke.Take yoga classes at local YMCA.While you're there, take a swim.Schedule a check-up with chiropractor.Find ~~my soulmate~~ happiness within myself first.~~Make a five year plan.~~ Yeah, like that's going to happen!Think about opening up your own bookshop with a cafe.Maybe sister would be interested in helping run it!Research commercial properties in the area.Get a ~~new job.~~ BETTER JOB!!!Look into job opening given to you by friend.It's an hour north of here.Browse Zillow for houses under $100,000 that are worth living in. Make sure they are located in areas close to work, family, and friends.Save money for better house.Pray for cousin who has ALS and is in hospice.Pray for aunt with cancer of the mouth and throat.Learn to let go of things out of my control.Go back to church?Research churches in the area.Download a daily Bible verse app on phone.✓Pray more.Go back to school????Learn a new language. Es ist möglich! 화이팅!~~Get translator certificate.~~ Maybe next year.Become pen pals with best friend's brother. He knows Japanese! Don't think about how cute he is. His sister already told you don't date him.Call my friends more.Schedule a weekend vacation at a spa.Take Mom and sister with you.And niece. You know she'll pitch a fit if you don't.Download dating app... for the third time in as many years.Actually go out on dates, instead of swiping left just because the guy can't use proper grammar.Maybe he just has big fingers. He might be a genius in disguise. You don't know!Stop wasting your energy on finding the right one.Focus on finding the best one.Work on communicating better.Research colon health and collagen and other vitamins and minerals you need, woman.You're not getting any younger, you know.Buy something to wear other than jeans and t-shirts and hippie skirts.Actually schedule a time to get your ears pierced again with your niece.Remember it's the thing you do together and she's been wanting this for a long time.While we're on the subject of body changes, think about that tattoo you've been wanting to get since you were in college.Get over fear of needles.Go to bed at a decent hour.Wake up early in the morning.Go for a walk.Smell the roses.Turn up the music.Dance like no one's watching.Because no one is.Don't worry about tomorrow.For tomorrow will worry about itself.Live like today is going to be your last.

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