A 'lil HooHaa

Messing with the blogging world since 2005

challenges

20 Days of Chill: Well, that was embarrassing (Day 6)

I’m sure I’ve had plenty of embarrassing moments in my life.

But it’s funny when it comes to life – that my mind tends to block those things out shortly after they happen. I’m sure they are embarrassing at the time and I probably am quite red faced.

Then they are gone.

That might be a good thing. I don’t dwell on those moments that I’d rather crawl into a hole instead of reliving.

The funny thing, though, is that every once in a while, something will come to mind. It might be something  that triggers a memory; it might be seeing one of the people involved in the memory; it might come to me in a dream …

It just happens.

I’ve tried and tried to think of what I could come up with here. I mean, there are the times where I mistakenly addressed somebody as another person.

Here’s the kicker to this though – I knew all about these themes well in advance. Just like everybody else – the themes have been out there.

This one was part of it.

And for weeks I’ve thought about this theme and nothing has come up. I said to myself – goodness, I have to have something I can lean on with this theme.

But nothing.

Not.

One.

Thing.

This is a challenge I run and I can’t even come up with something good for the theme.

Well, that was embarrassing …

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This post is part of the 2018 20 Days of Chill Writing Challenge hosted by A ‘lil HooHaa. Please check out the link if you’d like to see others or join in. You don’t have to do every theme if you don’t want! And for those participating, take a moment and check out the other participants! This is also part of the 2018 HooHaa Blogging Challenge. 

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog@gmail.com. Also, please “Like” A ‘lil HooHaa on Facebook! You can also follow me on Twitter @softball29!

20 Days of Chill: #Hashtag (Day 5)

#Hashtags are a way of life anymore, it seems.

#Apparently, they are quite important when it comes to social media. I understand what they are all about, but sometimes they get annoying when people make up different ones.

#So when people do that, it can often be something silly and such. It often it meant to be funny.

#However, it’s often not funny. And in the end, it can be something so silly that the person looks like they are jumping on the bandwagon, rather than using a tag that people can click on to find posts and such from people with like-minded ideas.

#Today, I come to those of you who like to overuse these tags and ask you to start thinking about what you are doing. It’s not helping society for you to make up tags that lead to nowhere, rather confuse people who might want to know more!

#Also, by doing this, you are doing a disservice to social media! Many of us would rather have those tags lead to something! Why confuse so many of us?

#Go ahead and join this revolution of making sure hashtags are used how they are meant to be used!

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This post is part of the 2018 20 Days of Chill Writing Challenge hosted by A ‘lil HooHaa. Please check out the link if you’d like to see others or join in. You don’t have to do every theme if you don’t want! And for those participating, take a moment and check out the other participants! This is also part of the 2018 HooHaa Blogging Challenge. 

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog@gmail.com. Also, please “Like” A ‘lil HooHaa on Facebook! You can also follow me on Twitter @softball29!

20 Days of Chill: Win or lose (Day 4)

Life takes some interesting paths.

The old saying of sometimes you win, sometimes you lose often comes to play in this crazy world we live in. When I grew up, you learned winning and losing as a kid. It wasn’t the end of the world. As you got into high school, if you played sports and such, you were in high competition and aimed to win.

Once you got into adulthood, winning and losing took a new look. There’s the job market, or adult sports, or other things.

But it was all a progression.

Now, it seems reversed.

The vast amount of youth sports has changed the scenery. Winning is a massive thing. I think of the youth baseball camps in my area. Teams spend thousands and thousands of dollars for one week of play. They also recruit kids to play for them. It’s very competitive.

Parents have made it harder, too. So many think their kids are the next big thing and are one step away from a Division I scholarship. Or their kids are the next big pro athlete.

Reality is – they likely won’t be.

Winning is prevalent in schools still, but not just for sports. Scholarships and things like that are very competitive.

But then it changes a little bit in adulthood.

Winning and losing is still there. Jobs are competitive. We still play sports and try and win. But, at least to me, you work hard and do what you can to win but, sometimes, you lose.

And life goes on.

Ten years ago, I would flip over losing an adult softball game or something like that. I’m very competitive. And we win a lot.

But, life goes on still.

After losses in recent years (now, to be fair, in the past four years, we’ve won championships), you shrug your shoulders and move on. It’s not life or death. You go play hard, do your best, and be happy you can still get out there and actually play at a decent level.

For me, I’ve had a different look on things. The only winning and losing is life. I do my best to live life to the fullest and make positive decisions. For as long as I play softball – and it’s not for much longer – I will always try to win, but it’s not the end of the world when you lose. I work as hard as I can at my job and try to be the best and I push myself with my health to get better and better.

I also realize that life is a lot of steps pushed together, so it takes time.

This world is a tough place. Whether it is financial, or politics, or real work issues, it’s a tough place. So I do my best to have enjoy life as much as I can.

Find the little things that make you happy – not everything is win or lose.

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This post is part of the 2018 20 Days of Chill Writing Challenge hosted by A ‘lil HooHaa. Please check out the link if you’d like to see others or join in. You don’t have to do every theme if you don’t want! And for those participating, take a moment and check out the other participants! This is also part of the 2018 HooHaa Blogging Challenge. 

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog@gmail.com. Also, please “Like” A ‘lil HooHaa on Facebook! You can also follow me on Twitter @softball29!

20 Days of Chill: Toilet paper on your shoe (Day 3)

Earl is still a work of fiction – kind of. I haven’t seen the other two guys involved in many years, but because this is a … work of fiction … their first names are used so as not to protect the innocent. Please read previous Earl posts for the back story of how he came to be.

It’s hard waiting inside some out-of-the-way donut shop for Earl to show.

It had been a while since Earl was around, and three of us had made the journey to see him. Me, the Big Easy and Jay were there on time – but we knew Earl wouldn’t be. He never is.

And why would he be? He never seems to have a care in the world and just kind of goes along life with each passing moment like there is never anything else happening.

That’s Earl.

For the nearly 20 years we’ve known Earl, this is how he’s been.

And now, it’s time to wait and see what the hell Earl will do. Heck, he might have even stood us up. We were prepared and everything – a dozen donuts on the table waiting.

Jay reached in and grabbed one.

“I’m not waiting any longer. I’m hungry,” he said, biting into a jelly donut.

And then … it happened

“Wooooooooooooooo weeeeeeeeeeee” somebody yelled, not far away. Instantly, I knew it was Earl. He had a disgusted look on his face as he slowly strolled out of the public restroom at the donut shop.

The other three or four people there looked over as well.

“The coffee here is potent today,” he said as he waltzed out, a smirk running across his face as he saw the three of us.

Turns out Earl actually was on time, but he was … blowing up the bathroom. The counter staff people looked at Earl as if he’d gone mad and then turn their heads in disgust.

He slowly made his way over to us and we couldn’t seem to stop looking at his feet.

He reached in and grabbed a donut … and we all quickly turned to see if he touched more than that one. After all, who knows if Earl actually washed his hands after his pit stop.

“How you boys doing?” Earl asked, louder than needed.

I couldn’t help but to keep staring at his feet, though. Especially when he crossed his leg as dangling from the bottom of his shoe was a long piece of toilet paper.

And Earl seemed absolutely oblivious to that piece of toilet paper as he kept munching away on his donut.

Eventually he noticed all three of us staring at his shoe and he looked down. What followed was a belly laugh and he reached down, and pulled the toilet paper off his shoe, then used both hands to crinkle it up. Finally, he tossed it in a nearby garbage can, before reaching in – without cleaning his hands – for another donut.

“You guys not in the mood for these sweet donuts?” Earl asked as he bit into his glazed donut.

“No,” I said, as I pushed the box of donuts in front of him. “They are all yours.”

There’s no telling where that toilet paper came from, but it didn’t seem to bother Earl. Then again, not much ever seemed to bother him, which is probably why he could keep chomping away at his donuts after yanking the TP off his shoe.

That’s Earl for you, though. Donuts and toilet paper … obviously mix so well!

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This post is part of the 2018 20 Days of Chill Writing Challenge hosted by A ‘lil HooHaa. Please check out the link if you’d like to see others or join in. You don’t have to do every theme if you don’t want! And for those participating, take a moment and check out the other participants! This is also part of the 2018 HooHaa Blogging Challenge. 

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog@gmail.com. Also, please “Like” A ‘lil HooHaa on Facebook! You can also follow me on Twitter @softball29!

20 Days of Chill: Mac and cheese (Day 2)

Cheese pretty much makes anything better.

I mean, cheese is great on sandwiches. Or many meals. It can be something on a burger, hot dog, or a salad.

Cheese and bacon? Yes, please.

I pretty much like all kinds of cheese, too. And if you get a good sharp cheddar and put it on a peanut butter sandwich? Outstanding.

Don’t judge. If you haven’t tried it – do it.

But cheese. God I love cheese.

One thing cheese is amazing on, though, is macaroni. I haven’t come across many people who tell me they don’t like mac and cheese.

In college, I always had the Kraft microwave ones on hand. Goodness, it hit the spot. Homemade mac and cheese is incredible.

I’ve even had it on hot dogs, during a baseball trip a couple of years ago.

I guess it’s not really pasta, but I had this three-cheese gnocchi at one place near a baseball stadium I go to often … and it’s incredible.

Homemade mac and cheese is the best, though. Get that cheese a little crispy on top. Goodness, I’m making myself hungry just thinking about it.

Back to the hot dog part, though.

I do love me some mac and cheese. I really do. It seems popular at some ballparks, too. But … for me, no. I ended up just eating it separate, which works.

But on top of the hot dog?

No thanks. I’ll keep things traditional.

How about you? What’s your mac and cheese story?

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This post is part of the 2018 20 Days of Chill Writing Challenge hosted by A ‘lil HooHaa. Please check out the link if you’d like to see others or join in. You don’t have to do every theme if you don’t want! And for those participating, take a moment and check out the other participants! This is also part of the 2018 HooHaa Blogging Challenge. 

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog@gmail.com. Also, please “Like” A ‘lil HooHaa on Facebook! You can also follow me on Twitter @softball29!