It’s A Real Thing!

Today is Monday, November 2nd, which means . . . it’s National Plan Your Epitaph Day! Say what? I know, right? It’s a real thing. An entire day set aside to plan your own epitaph. Kind of morbid but I guess it makes sense if you think about it. I mean, you never know what a relative or friend might put on your tombstone once you’re gone, right? Or, worse yet, they put nothing there!  Egads! The horrors!!!

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Help – I’m Stuck In A Rut And I Can’t Get Out!

Okay, the title is a little misleading. I’m not really in a rut so much as I’ve been focusing on the same thing for too long that now I can’t see the forest for the trees. Have you ever been there? It’s kind of frustrating. Here’s my problem: I need to come up with a book cover for my next book and I’ve got nothing.

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There’s Smart and Then There’s Smart

My blog today comes courtesy of YouTube (Goalcast). I didn’t have anything prepared last night so I consulted the internet for inspiration of some sort to share with you and I found this amazing video. It’s long (about 10 minutes), but so worth it.

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Toto, We’re Not In Kansas Anymore

I’ve lived in Mississippi for almost 4 years now and there are still some things that I just can’t comprehend. Mostly I love the laid back way of life and southern hospitality. I love the charming small town feel of a lot of places in this great state. Other things, I don’t get. At all.

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Horn Blowing 101

I don’t know about you, but I rarely use my car horn. I mean, seriously, hardly ever. And usually when I do, I have to press around on the steering wheel a bit to get the exact spot for sound to come out. I just don’t have an up-close and personal relationship with my car horn.

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Crowd Walking For Dummies

How many of you have ever found yourself in a situation where you have to walk with the masses, maybe with your elbows squeezed against your sides so don’t accidentally hook arms, bump elbows or whatnot?

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Yummy Yummy In The Tummy

Let’s talk about food today shall we? Here in the south people like to fry stuff. My husband and I often joke that if someone fried shoelaces, people would eat them. If you go to a restaurant and you want shrimp or chicken on your salad you MUST specify that you want it grilled NOT fried, because otherwise, you’re getting the fried version. And every restaurant serves fried chicken and fried catfish. Every. Single. One. Fried chicken. Fried catfish.

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The Mysterious Case of the Early Morning Creeper

Owning a bed and breakfast joint may seem glamorous to some, like a lot of work to others, and downright stupid to another group. Let me tell you, it’s all of those things.

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Do You Ever Wonder?

A week or so ago I was watching one of those crime shows on TV, you know the ones where they have an agent/detective go “undercover” and spy on someone? In this show, the gal was sitting on a park bench with ear buds, bopping along to some unheard tune when this jogger stops and plants himself on the bench next to her and starts up a conversation. Now, this gal didn’t want to converse, yet neither did she want to appear as though she were spying on someone. So, she provided the occasional nod or “um hm” while continuing to watch her target from the corner of her eye.

That scene got me to thinking – which can be a scary thing I’ll admit. I wondered if this had ever happened to me. I mean, I’ve been known to strike up a conversation with a totally random stranger if the mood hits me. Yet I wondered, have I ever intruded in a clandestine spying operation? Have I ever encountered a completely random person, who appeared to be sitting/standing idly, yet was really annoyed because I was distracting them from their bad guy’s activities with mindless chit chat?

Seriously, how many of those mornings at Starbucks or the gas station or the grocery store have I talked to an undercover law enforcement person doing their surveillance job?

That in turn got me to wondering other oddball things. Like, have I ever had in my possession counterfeit money? Have I ever spent counterfeit money passed on to me from some other source?

Have I ever happened upon a drug deal without even being aware it was happening in my presence?

Has a late night sting operation ever had to be aborted because I happened along for a snack at a convenience store? Gosh, I hope not. And yet . . . hmmmm?

How many people do I talk to every single day are hiding concealed weapons? Being from Mississippi I’m sure that number is quite high.

There are just so many things that could be happening right in front of my nose. I know that from now on everyone is going to look suspicious to me. How about you?

Have you ever been in the wrong place at the wrong – or maybe right – time? What sorts of clandestine things have you interrupted? Come on – please share. Have you ever wondered if you’ve thwarted a crime just by showing up some place? Surely this isn’t just me.

Word of the day: Ididem

Fun fact about me: I’m tap dancing again.

Original post by Jansen Schmidt, October 2017. Photos courtesy Google Images.

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The Baer House Guide of What Not To Do At A Wedding

The Baer-Williams House was the scene of a very lovely afternoon garden wedding a couple of weeks ago. Bride and groom wanted to keep things low-key and stress-free. We were expecting about 30 guests for a 4:00 ceremony on a gorgeous Saturday afternoon.

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