writing

This post is for the Secret Subject Swap, a monthly blog challenge. Information about the swap can be viewed at the end of this post, as well as links to all others taking part. Have a peek at some of the other bloggers and see what they had to come up with. If you are a blogger, consider joining up for future months!

My theme is “Tell us about a time when you believed in something strongly but My theme is “What do you do when it’s broiling hot out? Do you prefer to stay in air conditioning? Go to the beach? A pool? Something else? Have you made adjustments this summer?” and it was submitted by Karen.

One thing I love about living in the northeast of the United States is the changing seasons. We get to experience all four and, depending on the year, some might be longer seasons than others. 

It’s usually a good bet we’ll get a few days in the 60s in December or January. 

At the same time, you can usually plan on a good snowfall in March, April, or even May. 

There have been years where fall or spring is almost non-existent. 

As many communities in the northeast probably say – you want the weather to change? Just blink. 

But that heat. 

I’ve always said if I could stay anywhere from 40-75 degrees, without worrying about humidity or frigid temperatures, I’d be a happy guy. We know that doesn’t happen, though. And in the midst of the summer (and sometimes “spring”), the temps will go very high with a lot of humidity. 

And I hate the heat. 

I don’t mind when it’s warm out. I don’t hate the sun. But when it gets really hot out? Ugh. 

Sweating is something I loathe. Plant me in some air conditioning and I’m happier. When it’s really hot out, I still get my walks in, but I tend to go in the morning or evening to avoid the peak levels and times. 

And though I like the beach – I really don’t live that close to one. I also prefer to go in the off-season as you can walk and stop and stare and not have to worry about hundreds (or more) people. I don’t think a beach in the middle of the summer is my thing. 

It’s funny how things change from childhood to adulthood when it comes to summer. When I was a kid, I would spend all day outside. We’d play baseball. We’d go to the pool. We’d explore the woods. Splash in the creeks nearby. Heck, we used to drink out of said creeks. I’m not sure I’d do that in this day and age anymore. 

As I got older, I became way more self-conscious about things.My interests also changed. Before you know it, you’re an adult. 

Those days of going to the pool and such are long past me. And honestly? I’m OK with that. 

I know many people love the hot months. They love getting out or chilling next to their pool. Maybe floating with a drink. Others plan summer trips and vacations around the beach. I like to find some AC. Or just put my feet up in the shade somewhere. 

And if it gets too hot, I like to find any way possible to avoid it. 

I can’t say I’ve made any adjustments this summer. It actually hasn’t been too bad. We’ve had a few really hot days, but for the most part, it’s been bearable. The hardest part is not really being able to travel anywhere, but maybe next year. 

At this point, I’m ready for the fall. And hopefully … eventually … a return to normalcy.

Let me end this post with a bit of an apology. I haven’t been the best at visiting others posts over the past few months and for that, I’m sorry. I will slowly be going back, visiting, reading, and commenting. It’s been a rough few months and I’ve not had a lot of push. I need to get back into it as I know it’s helpful and I want to get back into the flow of things!

Four others have taken part in this challenge, so go check out the other posts and have some fun reading their secret subjects!

• Baking In A Tornado
• Part-time Working Hockey Mom
• Climaxed
• Wandering Web Designer

Enjoy blogging challenges? We have several that happen at A ‘lil HooHaa, and we’d love to have you join us! The Photo Blogging Challenge is one of our main ones and it runs monthly! We also have the Food Photo Challenge (current theme listed at end of post) and the Can of Corn Challenge. We’d love to see you!

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!

This post is for the Secret Subject Swap, a monthly blog challenge. Information about the swap can be viewed at the end of this post, as well as links to all others taking part. Have a peek at some of the other bloggers and see what they had to come up with. If you are a blogger, consider joining up for future months!

My theme is “Tell us about a time when you believed in something strongly but when confronted with new information that contradicted that belief, you changed your mind.” and it was submitted by Climaxed.

I’m going to take this in a bit of a different direction.

Let me explain why, though.

I’m a believer that beliefs are just that — something you believe in. That could be something religious, or a thought process about other things. But to me — and again, this is just me — beliefs are more of things that go beyond our world.

With that in mind, a belief can of course, be built on facts, or those that might not be facts at all. You might believe in a cause or a person and find out things you believed were fully wrong. Or maybe something you believed that others bashed turned out to be true.

There’s a lot of ways to look at this.

But when I look at the initial question, I don’t really have an answer. Though I might have beliefs one way or another, I don’t tend to sway. If it’s something on a larger scale, I tend to try and base it on some sort of fact (unless, of course, it’s something on more of a spiritual level).

This is also why, for the most part, I don’t discuss things like politics on a public forum, be it here or social media. Things like that can become so emotional and heated, that one’s beliefs can go on many different paths and facts become quite skewed.

There are, however, a few beliefs I have that I will not back down from and I challenge anybody to try and sway me from them. My guess is you won’t be able to. Those beliefs are as follows:

• Smile more. If you smile and people see it, it becomes contagious.
• Treat people better. If you treat those around you better, it makes the world a better place.
• Appreciate what you have and realize things can always be worse. Even in the worst of times, something could always be even worse. If you are reading this post, my guess is life can be appreciated in some way, shape or form.
• Respect others. Others will have different beliefs in many things. Respect their thoughts and opinions. If they have beliefs based on non-factual things and you can show facts … feel free. But don’t let it anger either of you or hurt a friendship.
• Think before you type — in other words, remember everything on social media is seen. Protect yourself.
• Be happy. This world is tough, rough, and cruel. But there is a lot of beauty in it. Find a way to be happy. It might not be 24/7, but make sure each day you find a way to find happiness.

I’m sure somewhere in life I changed a belief based on facts being thrown at me. I’m in my mid-40s and I can’t believe anybody can go through life without ever changing a belief. But I don’t remember one that sticks out on a large level.

I hope everybody stays healthy and happy — that’s a belief in which I will not waver!

Five others have taken part in this challenge, so go check out the other posts and have some fun reading their secret subjects!

• Baking In A Tornado
• Part-time Working Hockey Mom
• Climaxed
• Wandering Web Designer
• The Crazy Mama Llama

Enjoy blogging challenges? We have several that happen at A ‘lil HooHaa, and we’d love to have you join us! The Photo Blogging Challenge is one of our main ones and it runs monthly! We also have the Food Photo Challenge (current theme listed at end of post) and the Can of Corn Challenge. We’d love to see you!

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!

This post is for the Secret Subject Swap, a monthly blog challenge. Information about the swap can be viewed at the end of this post, as well as links to all others taking part. Have a peek at some of the other bloggers and see what they had to come up with. If you are a blogger, consider joining up for future months!

My theme is “It’s just the way the story goes” and it was submitted by Part-time Working Hockey Mom.

I’m tired.

That can be normal for me at times, but especially now. The whole COVID-19 situation has really taken a toll on me.

For those who don’t know, I work in public relations. And for it, I work in two school districts.

Yeah. Two.

So that means doubling up a lot of things I do. Though it always seems I am behind, the things I am doing now because of the pandemic has amplified it. And I’m beat.

Schools are doing all they can to honor students and the Class of 2020. Graduations are going virtual to a point, and the way the two schools I work at are doing it… it puts me deep into video and video editing. It’s tiring and long.

I don’t know anything about this “work from home,” that’s for sure. I’ve done a few of those days, but after the first several weeks, I was basically always in the office.

I’m sure when things are done, I’ll look back and be really proud of all that was accomplished. That doesn’t take away with how stressed and tired I am!

I need a vacation. The problem is… if I went on one, where would I go?

Maybe just to bed. I can say once July is here, I will definitely be looking to take a week or two off, if even just to let my body rest a little.

Now, allow me to say this. I’m happy to have a good job with good benefits. Being salary, at a time like this, isn’t the most fun, but I’m always trying to look at the bright side of things.

As things are now, well, it’s just the way the story goes.

Be good to one another. Try and smile. Listen. Talk. Understand. One day, we will be out of the situations we’re in. Hopefully, for the better. Stay safe and stay healthy.

Five others have taken part in this challenge, so go check out the other posts and have some fun reading their secret subjects!

• Baking In A Tornado
• Spatulas on Parade
• Part-time Working Hockey Mom
• Climaxed
• Wandering Web Designer

Enjoy blogging challenges? We have several that happen at A ‘lil HooHaa, and we’d love to have you join us! The Photo Blogging Challenge is one of our main ones and it runs monthly! We also have the Food Photo Challenge (current theme listed at end of post) and the Can of Corn Challenge. We’d love to see you!

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!

This post is for the Secret Subject Swap, a monthly blog challenge. Information about the swap can be viewed at the end of this post, as well as links to all others taking part. Have a peek at some of the other bloggers and see what they had to come up with. If you are a blogger, consider joining up for future months!

My theme is “Have you ever had a glitch in the matrix moment? If so what was it?” and it was submitted by Climaxed.

I had to Google to see what this even means. But from my searching it seems it means “deja vu.”

So my short answer is, yes, I have experienced these moments. Several times. Thing is, once they happen, they leave my mind. I can’t think of an actual moment where it happened.

I know I’ve experienced it and I know it’s always a wild feeling. But outside of that, I have no memory of the actual moment. But that got me thinking about the word “matrix.”

Have you ever seen Ferris Bueller? The scene with the one teacher that has the slow words, and then speeds up a little?

“Anywaaaaaaaay…”

Yeah, when I was first in college at a two-year school, I had a sociology teacher that talked like that. It would put you to sleep. And most of the class wasn’t about sociology.

It was about the learning process. And I’m not kidding.

He had this thing he called a learning matrix. For the life of me, I can’t remember the whole thing behind it (we’re talking 25 or so years ago), but it was all … how to learn.

Every.

Class.

He would start by drawing something on the board and would go over the matrix for 3/4 of class. Then he’d do a quick lesson, assign homework and call it a day.

Rinse. Repeat.

And it was tough to stomach. Think about a whole college semester. A M/W/F class. About the learning matrix. I mean, I guess to a point it got drilled into me because I still remember it all these years later.

Though I don’t remember the actual matrix.

Maybe I’m experiencing a matrix moment every time I think about it? Knowing I’ve seen it before.

When all said and done, I think it was his way of trying to help us find a way to learn. I had another class with him that wasn’t a 101 and he barely even touched on it.

No matter what though, I always think of that when I hear “matrix” and it always brings me back.

Six others have taken part in this challenge, so go check out the other posts and have some fun reading their secret subjects!

• Baking In A Tornado
• Spatulas on Parade
• Part-time Working Hockey Mom
• Climaxed
• Wandering Web Designer
• Southern Belle Charm

Enjoy blogging challenges? We have several that happen at A ‘lil HooHaa, and we’d love to have you join us! The Photo Blogging Challenge is one of our main ones and it runs monthly! We also have the Food Photo Challenge (current theme listed at end of post) and the Can of Corn Challenge. We’d love to see you!

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!