Posted in April, Baer House Inn, beach, Birthdays, dessert, desserts, eating, Family, food, friends, Holidays, humor, innkeeping, Jansen Schmidt, laughter, spring break, travel, vacation, Valentine's Day, Vicksburg, weather, writing, tagged appetizers, cold, freezing, freezing temperatures, gross foods, Groundhog, ice, ice storm, icy roads, main course, meals, snow, spring, strange food, sunshine, winter on February 22, 2021| 6 Comments »
I think we can all agree that 2020 was not the year any of us expected it to be. Unless the conspiracy theorists are right and somebody did viciously release the coronavirus on purpose, then that person(s) had an epic year. But, it for sure was a pretty crappy year for the majority of the populace.
Posted in Amazon.com, authors, blogging, books, Fiction, goals, grammar, humor, Jansen Schmidt, laughter, On Common Ground, On Hallowed Ground, On Solid Ground, reading, romance, words, writers, writing, tagged big words, cover blurbs, dictionary, genre fiction, interesting, joy, joy of reading, Latin, Latin words, literary fiction, new book, pretentious, smart on February 15, 2021| 6 Comments »
I really enjoy reading. I’ve been reading almost my entire life and before I could read my mother read to me. I credit my mom for my love of books. I’ve always liked a good mystery, like Nancy Drew, the Hardy Boys and Phyllis Whitney books as I got a little older. My taste in books has expanded over the years, especially since I started writing. I still have my favorite genres, but I sometimes challenge myself to read something beyond my normal literary go-to’s.
(more…)Posted in Amazon.com, Baer House Inn, deserts, dessert, dieting, eating, Family, food, humor, innkeeping, Jansen Schmidt, laughter, writing, tagged appliances, baking, Cooking, Cuisinart, dinner, food processor, hand mixers, kitchen appliances, meal planning, meal prep, meals, mixers, smoke, warning labels, warnings on February 1, 2021| 4 Comments »
A few weeks ago, I was in a baking / cooking kind of weird mood. I don’t think I was bored exactly, just looking for a creative outlet other than writing. My hubby and I have been trying to eat sensibly so I thought that if I pre-made some meals, we could have half the portion now and freeze the other half to eat later. It was a good idea and it worked, until I stopped pre-making the meals and we ran out of the frozen stuff. Now it’s back to “what are we going to have for dinner tonight?” (sigh)
(more…)Posted in authors, Baer House Inn, blogging, breakfast, Family, food, friends, humor, innkeeping, Jansen Schmidt, laughter, redneck, success, Vicksburg, weird, writing, tagged aging, bacon, brain fart, dumb, dumb mistakes, dumb stuff, grades, honor roll, intincts, junk, losing it, not thinking, not using your brain, stupid, stupid stuff, stupidity on January 25, 2021| 10 Comments »
All through my years of schooling, I maintained consistently high grades; honor roll every year. Except for algebra my junior year of high school. That ruined my GPA for one entire year. (Stupid math.) I did redeem myself in college though. While still struggling with numbers, I managed to get a B- in algebra my last year. I had to pass that class or I wouldn’t graduate. But I did. Again, with honors. Whew. But, I digress. At present, there are many days I do some incredibly stupid, not A+ or even B- things, and certainly not honor roll things. It’s like my brain forgets to do its job. I used to be “with it.” I used to not need notes to remember things. I used to use common sense and logic to figure things out. Nowadays, not so much. Some days I don’t even recognize myself because I do some really dumb stuff.
(more…)Posted in Baer House Inn, blogging, chocolate, Christmas, dessert, desserts, eating, Family, Fiction, food, Holidays, humor, innkeeping, Jansen Schmidt, laughter, travel, tv, vacation, Vicksburg, watching tv, writing, tagged B&B, baking, Christmas, Christmas cookies, cookies, Hallmark channel, Hallmark movies, holiday baking, hot cocoa, ice skating, innkeeping, small town, snow, snow angels, snowman, tourism, winter on December 14, 2020| 12 Comments »
I don’t normally do a lot of holiday baking like some folks. Not because I don’t enjoy it, but it hardly seems worth the effort since I have no one to share the goodies with. Well, that’s not true. I have my husband, who loves sweets and baking for him is totally worth it, but you know what I mean. He’s actually really happy with plain ole peanut butter cookies most of the time anyway. I don’t have to go to the trouble of chilling and rolling out dough and letting yeast rise and chopping fruits and nuts and all that other fancy stuff. He’s not into the ornately decorated sugar cookies or gingerbread men that are so popular this time of year. So, it feels like a wasted effort to spend the entire day baking fancy holiday goodies.
(more…)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| 7 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 Autumn, blogging, Family, friends, goals, gratitude, health, humor, inspiration, Jansen Schmidt, laughter, motivation, positivity, writing, tagged aging, blessings, death, dying, grateful, gratitude, grim reaper, life, memories, opportunities, thankful on September 28, 2020| 5 Comments »
We’re all getting older whether we like it or not. Every day brings us one step closer to death. I know that sounds morbid, but it’s the truth. Reality is, our date of birth is actually the day we start dying. That’s why every single day should be considered a gift. A chance to experience life to its fullest. Every morning when we open our eyes, we are given the gift of another day. Another step toward the grave. Another opportunity to do good, to embrace the blessings around us, and to boldly walk toward the pearly gates.
(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 authors, blogging, books, Family, Fiction, goals, grammar, humor, Jansen Schmidt, laughter, On Common Ground, On Hallowed Ground, reading, short story, success, weird, words, writers, writing, tagged books, crimes, Savvy Authors, webinars, Weird Al, Weird Al Yankovic, writing crimes, writing life, writing retreat, writing webinars, writing workshops, Youtube on September 14, 2020| 4 Comments »
I’ve had a very long weekend of writing related stuff. Savvy Authors sponsored a 3-day free writing retreat that blew my mind. So many really good presenters, free mini intensive workshops, and great webinars. My brain is so full of new information and practical tips. I feel like a thief getting all of this great information for free.
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