Have you ever had to see this face before? I hope not because it is the worst thing that ever happened an iPod.

Well... as it turns out, that face turned up on my iPod the other day. This is not good, considering the McNeil family has had some serious iPod trouble lately. My sister, MG, left all of her windows (and sunroof) down in her car and it stormed very badly. Water poured into her car and her poor iPod died from water damage (it was in a cup holder immersed in water).
ANYWAYS....
So, I have a sad face, MG has a water damaged one, and Ivy had one that had a busted screen (she had already gotten a replacement, however). After searching tutorials and videos we cracked open the iPods and tried to replace hard drives and screens in the hopes that one would work.

No such luck.

Here is the logic of what came next:
We are going to throw them in the trash, right? Right.
Why not have some fun with them before they go to the landfill, right? Right.

As you know, the McNeils also love a good beatin'.


Here is what Ivy's iPod looks like after we beat it with a baseball bat. Look, I didn't say it was going to be pretty.

So, I had the bright idea of beating them to pieces. It's not like we were going to be USING them anytime soon.

I got our trusty bat, we took the three iPod out in the backyard and we let them have it. It was a good feeling.

Not a dull moment in the McNeil house!

Wow.... Memorial Day has been eventful, hasn't it?
I guess I will start with a little pre-Memorial Day stuff.

Want to see the view from my office?

It's not much but, hey, I am easily entertained. And it really gets spicy when....

You can see kids skating at Swell. I know, I said I was easily amused.

Funny story for ya:
As you know, I have this lovely, adorable pug named Spike. He's cute as beans. I have to admit, he has a scratching, licking, drive-me-crazy-I-don't-know-what-to-do-with-him problem. So the other day my mom and I were in the kitchen talking about how we wish we could put a cone on Spike so he would stop. My mom jokingly said, "Let's make it out of plates."

My mom should know better than that by now.


The sad thing is.... HE LIKES IT. Maybe even borderline loving it. Oh lord...

I have so many more stories from the weekend but I will save them for another day. We don't want to have all the fun at once.

I've been puzzling over this for the past few seconds and maybe I am one for gloating, so...

I am really excited that I just had my first article printed in the JFP.
You can read it here.

Anyways, I am proud of it. I will be having more come out in the future. I actually wrote what they call a "blurb," a small 300-350 word story, for the Summer Arts Preview issue that comes out next week. Be on the lookout!

While I was at work, avoiding doing anything the pertained to work, I took pictures of the office and the kids skating on the half pipe at Swell. Look forward to that excitement soon...

Busy Busy Busy

I know Kurt Vonnegut said this, but I am going to say it too... "Busy, busy, busy."
That's me. Probably you too (I mean, why should I assume that you sit at your computer waiting to eat up every word I read?)

I'd like to talk about something really important to me.


My dog.
Spike.
He's the cutest thing on the face of the earth to me. Seriously.
Ok. Done.

Here are some photos I have taken lately, maybe it will describe (or totally confuse) what I have been doing lately.

This guy, Royce Smith, Jr., is a very nice man that I interviewed for the TALK section of JFP. It was an interesting part of town near JSU that has been plagued with crime. He started a petition to get more police presence in the area.


Primo's gumbo. Yum. One of my best friends, Sital, decided that she wanted cake and she wanted to eat it too. RIGHT THEN. Well, where do you go in Jackson for a good slice of cake? Definitely, Primo's. I'm sorry I don't have a picture of the gorgeous slice of Red Velvet Cake that I ate. It was eaten in an earth shattering 20 seconds. And it was FINE.


My sister's cat, Pepper (who I affectionately call Pepper Ann, which my sister hates) who drives me crazy.

Oh this wonderful life...

I've Missed You

What is it about starting work makes you forget about your blog?

Ok, blog, I haven't truly forgotten about you. I've thought about you a lot. I have taken pictures of all of my animals and thought of how I would thoughtfully lay it out and talk about my pets. See, I haven't forgotten.

More soon.

I have work to do.

I'm a Believer!

Have you heard of the Ped Egg? Have you tried the Ped Egg?
Until today, I had heard of it, but neglected to try it. Let me tell you, that is no more. I am a firm believer in the awesome powers of the Ped Egg. My hooves.... I mean, heels, will never been the same!

Go out and get one NOW!

This post is not in any way sponsored by Ped Egg.

Mother's Day

I love camping. I really do. While everyone else would rather be skiing in the mountains or sitting at home... I am camping. Mother's Day would be one of those days we go camping. Ever since I can remember it has been a tradition.

This year, however, was a little different.

After consideration, we decided to sleep in a (gasp) cabin. It was a rustic cabin, I promise.

I honestly have to say I prefer it better. We had tons of fun and it seemed so much easier.

I hope you enjoy a few photos I have from the trip!

Pffeww

Studying and finishing projects gets tiring!

I have been studying for a couple of hours for Editing. Who knew there were so many picky things you had to know? Headlines? Points? Decks? Captions? Lead-ins? WHAT?

I also spend four hours (8:30 to 12:30) in the darkroom finishing my photo essay. I honestly think my essay could have been better. I had the problem of losing three rolls of film because they stuck together on the reels when I was trying to develop the negatives. This has probably been the most interesting/fun class but the most frustrating ever. I wish I could find a scanner to scan my photos so everyone can see. I have tried my scanner at home and in the Printz office and both have not worked! Ahh! I am going to go to the library tomorrow and hope I can find one. Who thought this would be so hard?

Less than 48 hours I will be free for the summer!

School's Out for Summer

Right about now is when I really really wish that school was out of summer. Right now.

I only have a few more days before freedom... until I start work on Monday. I am excited. Really excited.

Just like I am excited about this recipe. It's so good you will think about slapping your mama (because we would never ACTUALLY slap our mom).

Sausage Cream Cheese Breakfast Casserole (aka Spectacular, Spectacular)

Cast of Characters: 2 cans of crescent rolls, 1 lb. of breakfast sausage, 8 oz. package of cream cheese.

I didn't say this was going to be good for your health.

First, take the sausage and break apart and start to brown in a pan. Make sure it is good and brown!

Secondly, look at the booger I had to put up with when making this. Pepper likes to get into EVERYTHING.

Now, once your sausage has browned, drain ALL of the grease out of the pan. In the original recipe it suggested putting water over it to get all of the grease out. That worked pretty well.

After that, put in your cream cheese with your sausage so it melts.

It should look something like this:


While that is warming up, open up one of the cans of crescent rolls.

Get a 13x9 pan (or whatever you prefer) and line the bottom of the pan with the rolls. Make sure all of the seams are not open. Pinch them together!


By this time, the cheese should be good and gooey and you can just mix it all together.

This is looking good...

Now take the mixture and pour it onto the rolls. Take the other can of crescent rolls and put on top of mixture following the same instructions.

Pop it into a 350 degree oven for about 20 minutes or until the top is golden brown.


How good does that look?? Amazing, I know. I first had this at sunday school and fell in love with it. The other day I decided to search it and find a recipe. I am so glad that I found it. Next time I am going to try reduced fat crescent rolls, and fat free cream cheese to cut down the calories. I was scared at first that taking away fat would hinder the taste but I think it would be fine.

More later!

Chocolate Heaven

I think I just died and went to heaven. Just maybe.

Why?

Because Pioneer Woman's Chocolate Sheet Cake is the best thing I have ever made and put in my mouth.

All of you must try it. Seriously.

NOW.