Happy New Year Everyone! 2026 is Here.

Btw, this is the normal blog post cover.

So… yeah, it’s been a while since I made a blog post. November 26th was the last one. I know, I know — I haven’t been doing very well keeping up with this. In my defense, I got the flu, so I was sick for a few weeks. I still have a little bit of a cough, but nothing major.

Christmas was great. Unfortunately, I didn’t write much over break. I’m stuck in writer’s block. Again. I really did try to write, but in the end, most of my time was spent staring blankly at my document screens.

I’ve been off work for two glorious weeks. No obnoxious parents, no screaming kids, and no wanting to go underwater for the whole class because the children won’t stop talking. Hehe. I suppose that’s just part of being an instructor. Classes start up tomorrow (hurray ;-;) and I’m praying the kids will be great — not annoying again. Can’t win them all, I suppose. But that’s okay.

My friend is back from Austria!! Axolotl came back a few weeks ago, and it’s been nice. I’ve gone back to messaging her daily with the most random stuff. I need to be more random and unpredictable. Maybe send her some six-seven memes. Though, being the unc she is, she may not get it. Old child not hip with the kids. I’M JOKING, AXOLOTL — LOVE YOU ToT.

2026 is going to be my year. I know it. I’m doing way better than I have in the last two years, I’m going to driveee (...it may or may not be illegally, YOU’LL NEVER KNOW EHEHEHE), and I’m going to publish By the Dolphins as a physical copy. I’ll get lifeguard certified, pick up a bunch of shifts in the summer because this girl needs money, and I will hopefully get at least halfway done with the third book. Maybe even finish it before the end of the year.

And no, I did not make a resolution, because I knew I’d fail it in an hour. The options I considered were: no sugar for the year, working out daily, and stopping teasing my friends. Yeaaaahh, I failed all of those already.

OH, GUESS WHAT! I went to the mall for the first time by myself with just friends. That was also my first time going to a mall with friends. I got food. And other stuff. But mostly food. Starbucks, Auntie Anne’s, and some boba. I was very tempted to get Chick-fil-A. Spoiler alert: I ended up having it for dinner. I bought a bunch of Harry Potter stuff as well, a Bill Cipher FunkoPop (I’m obsessed with Gravity Falls, okay? I don’t care that it’s a kids’ show. There’s humor for older people too), and a Monsters University shirt. Ace, Cowgirl, Book, Kpop, and Bubbles went :P.

OH, OH, I SAW THIS SHIRT THAT I SHOULD’VE GRABBED BECAUSE THERE WAS ONLY ONE LEFT. IT SAID: “Steve Harrington. The hair.” WITH STEVE ON ITTTTT. I COULDN’T. IT WAS BEAUTIFUL. GLORIOUS. STUNNING. But yeah. I was too slow. Someone took it.

Flame. I have two words for you: SIX SEVEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEN.

Mkay. Moving on. Phoenix and I were unfortunately unable to meet up this year. Curse him for living in a different state. He’s still one of my best friends, though, and we talk every day. I would never let him hear the end of it if he didn’t text me one day. The nerve that boy would have — tsk tsk.

Anyway, this one is kind of short because I don’t have work/swim/school updates for you, really. And it’s not going to follow the normal blog post format, so I’m skipping the Under the Surface section as well. I just wanted to wish everyone a Happy New Year and hope you all had a wonderful Christmas.

Let’s hope 2026 is good to us 🙏🙏🙏🙏.