Posted in Autumn, blogging, breakfast, cars, Christmas, eating, Family, food, Holidays, humor, Jansen Schmidt, laughter, sports, success, toys, words, writers, writing, tagged auto mechanics, batteries, Black Friday, food, food packaging, good old days, key fobs, keys, mechanics, medicine, packaging, reminiscing, safety, safety seals, Shopping, technology, Thanksgiving on November 16, 2020| 5 Comments »
I want to go back. Back to the good old days. Not that I want to be younger or actually GO back in time, but rather I want things to stop changing. I like stuff the way it currently is or used to be. Some things nowadays are designed to make our lives easier, but they just make it harder. And when things break down, it takes a skilled technician, two weeks and a thousand dollars to fix them.
(more…)Posted in authors, blogging, breakfast, driving, eating, food, friends, humor, innkeeping, Jansen Schmidt, success, trivia, weird, writers, writing, tagged being prepared, crash dummies, do better, doing better, Edwards Air Force Base, excellence, experiments, failure, internet, Murphy's Law, not working, overpacking, random, volunteers, weird, wrong on November 9, 2020| 6 Comments »
We’ve all heard of Murphy’s Law. We’ve all probably made reference to it at least once in our lifetime. If you’re not familiar with the expression, basically it means everything that can go wrong will go wrong. But I bet you didn’t know that time has distorted the law’s intended meaning entirely. It’s quite the opposite of the commonly used version.
(more…)Posted in authors, Baer House Inn, blogging, breakfast, eating, Family, Fiction, food, humor, innkeeping, Jansen Schmidt, tv, watching tv, writers, writing, tagged breakfast, check-in, chores, coke, differences, knock-offs, Louisiana hot sauce, not the same thing, opinions, options, Pepsi, substitutions, sugar, sweet tea, switches, switching, Tabasco on October 19, 2020| 8 Comments »
Have you ever tried to pass something off as something else? I don’t mean outright lying about something, but like buying a knock-off brand name item hoping others will think you have the real thing? My mom used to tell me that the cheap sneakers I got at K-Mart were the same as the expensive name brand shoes (Puma’s was my choice back then). My mom would say, “They’re the same thing.” In my adolescent mind I’d scream back, “No they’re not.” Notice I said in my mind. Arguing with my mother always resulted in me sulking and my mom telling me to stop sulking. (God, I miss my mom.)
(more…)Posted in Autumn, Baer House Inn, breakfast, dogs, eating, Family, food, friends, innkeeping, Jansen Schmidt, pets, positivity, resolutions, sports, travel, vacation, Vicksburg, weather, writing, tagged B&B, bed and breakfast, breathe, fresh air, inns, Mississippi, no masks, normal, open, open for business, opening up, precautions, regular, respectful, sunshine, travel on October 5, 2020| 14 Comments »
I knew it was going to happen. At some point it was bound to. But, I wasn’t really ready for it to happen quite so quickly. Slowly the country is phasing back into normal operating procedures. We’ve been getting a few more reservations over the past few weeks. But, I don’t know what happened the last three weekends. BAM! Full houses every Friday and Saturday night. Just like that. No warning. The phone kept ringing and the I kept saying “come on.”
(more…)Posted in Baer House Inn, blogging, breakfast, drinks, eating, Family, food, humor, innkeeping, Jansen Schmidt, laughter, love, romance, social media, toys, travel, underwear, vacation, weird, weird facts, tagged B&Bs, bed & breakfast, bed and breakfast, disrespectful, forgotten, forgotten items, innkeeper, innkeepers, innkeeping, left behind, lost and found, normal, purple, weird, weird people on September 21, 2020| 11 Comments »
I’ve been in the innkeeping business for a little over 5 years now and I am still amazed at how many times something totally new and unexpected happens. Just about the time I’m sure I’ve seen everything, along comes something completely new and – dare I say it – more weird.
(more…)Posted in Baer House Inn, blogging, breakfast, eating, Family, food, humor, innkeeping, Jansen Schmidt, positivity, resolutions, short story, success, travel, words, tagged call back, history, listening, messages, phone messages, phones, questions, repeating, repeating yourself, stories, story, text messages, texting, texts, voicemail on September 7, 2020| 10 Comments »
Let me begin this post by saying WordPress automatically “upgraded” my software and I find myself floundering a wee bit while trying to get this blog ready. I apologize in advance for any wonky parts. Please bear with me while this old dog learns some new tricks.
I’m not overly fond of repeating myself. I never knew this about myself until I owned an inn. I have the same spiel memorized that I tell every guest at check-in. It’s not bad if there are only 1 or 2 rooms checking in, but when we have a full house and everyone checks in at different times, I’m forced to repeat the spiel several times a day.
(more…)Posted in Baer House Inn, blogging, breakfast, eating, Family, food, friends, gratitude, innkeeping, Jansen Schmidt, On Common Ground, On Hallowed Ground, positivity, travel, vacation, Vicksburg, writing, tagged adapting, B&Bs, bed & breakfast, discounts, get-away, house tours, incentives, inns, Mississippi, money, normal hours, overnight, pancakes, pandemic, special offer, specials, travel, we're open on August 10, 2020| 8 Comments »
Folks it’s been slim pickings here at Casa Baer. I’ve been trying to keep my chin up throughout this pandemic but some days it’s really hard to find the silver lining. Since the beginning of March we’ve only taken in just a smidge over six thousand dollars. Usually we bring in double that each and every month, especially this time of year. We’re heading into our second busiest time of the year and are still getting more cancellations than reservations coming in. It’s heart breaking. (more…)
Posted in authors, beach, blogging, blooms, books, breakfast, chocolate, dancing, eating, Family, food, friends, inspiration, Jansen Schmidt, laughter, love, motivation, pets, positivity, reading, resolutions, travel, watching tv, writing, tagged anxiety, change, crisis fatigue, crisis fatigue syndrome, different, enjoy life, fatigue, good health, health, life, life lessons, mental health, motivation, social media, stress, syndrome on August 3, 2020| 5 Comments »
So many people are reeling, angry, and despairing these days. It’s no wonder. We’ve all been thrown into a situation that we’ve never been in before. It’s extremely disorienting, confusing and challenging in many ways. In the face of intense and prolonged stress, this new syndrome has emerged. But don’t despair, there’s a cure and hope. (more…)
Posted in Baer House Inn, blogging, breakfast, dessert, desserts, dieting, drinks, eating, Family, food, goals, health, humor, innkeeping, Jansen Schmidt, laughter, motivation, positivity, resolutions, writing, tagged aqua zumba, dieting, exercise, gym, hormones, Nutrisystem, pants, salt, salty snacks, shorts, snacks, waist, waistband, weight loss, zumba on June 22, 2020| 8 Comments »
Over the past few months, like so many other people, I’ve been doing a lot of extra eating. Mostly stress eating. I’m sometimes careful with my food choices, but usually I don’t give a fig how much butter, sugar, carbohydrates and chemical preservatives are in the food. Hand me a bag of chips and that’s the last you’ll see of them. Give me a can of cashews, those babies will be gone. Dill pickles are devoured like candy. I guess you see the trend here – salt! It’s all about the salt. (more…)
