Just Kidding.

My car really was sick.

The remedy... a new gas tank.

Yay.

I'm Going Under The Knife

Don't worry... I'm not getting plastic surgery or liposuction or a boob job or some other silly "body bettering" thing.

I'm parting ways with my wisdom teeth. All four of them.

Awesome.

That's right... at 8:30 tomorrow morning I'll be getting my drug induced laugh on for one final moment of painless bliss and then my gums are gonna be cut open and my slightly impacted wisdom teeth (which I swear have spent the past week trying to come out on their own) are going to be ripped from my jaws. 

Then afterwards, (from what everyone's been telling me) I'll spend a few pleasant days feeling nauseous, in tons of pain, and drooling all over myself... with cheeks that will make me look like a chipmunk that is preparing for the apocalypse to boot.

But it's cool. I'm prepared. I've been drinking water like it's my job (although not after midnight tonight) so that I'll be somewhat hydrated still when it comes time for them to stick me tomorrow morning. The doctor told me that being super hydrated would help quicken my recovery... hope he's right!

I have a monster sized bottle of ibuprofen which I plan to triple overdose on if the drugs they give me (Vicodin anyone?) make me sick. Which they probably will. 

I put two ice packs in the freezer, which my ballet teacher told me to put into the legs of a pair of tights and then tie around my face to keep them in place. Pretty sure I'll look like the coolest kid in the world. I may even start a trend.

I also am preparing a smorgasbord of chew-less food so that I won't shrivel away to nothingness when chewing causes me life ending pain. I'm saying yes please to chocolate pudding, Jello, Jello cake!, ICE CREAM, and for a little protein... yogurt.

I've also got movies and television up the wazoo to entertain myself while I'm couchbound. 

Now all I have to do is make sure that I'm better by Sunday so that I can enjoy the Pentz family Easter party. I think I would die if I missed all that yummy food... especially the apricot cookies and bread.

Wish me luck!

It's Not!

The gas cap was loose...

Why the car took 5 days to realize this and start blinking lights and stuff is beyond me.

Epic fail Melissa.

Epic fail car.

My Car...

... Is sick.

As I write this I'm sitting at the Toyota dealership waiting to hear the diagnosis on my car... My new car. The one I bought because my old one kept having issues.

The car my dad now drives and hasn't had any problems with.

The vehicle stability control light is flashing and the check engine light is on. Lame.

I hope it isn't broken!

Just Call Me Keynote Speaker Melissa

Well I did it! I gave my first keynote speech yesterday.

It went pretty darn well too, if I do say so myself.

You may remember last December when I was featured in a story on the local news about creative ways people were making money in the valley despite (or perhaps thanks to) the slowing job market. They talked about me because of Knits by Meliss (you know the hats I knit and sell).

Well, the woman in charge of organizing this conference saw that news story and thought that I looked like just the kind of inspiring person she wanted to be the keynote speaker for her conference geared towards teaching young girls the importance of rediscovering the dying arts (things like knitting and canning and baking bread and writing letters). So she asked me if I would and (with a little more than a little hesitation) said sure! Why not?

Well, writing a speech is a heck of a lot harder than I ever would have thought it would be, especially since I waited until four days before the conference to start writing it... oh the joys of procrastination. But after a very stressful Friday afternoon when I discovered that my speech was only about 7 minutes long instead of the requested 15-20, I added some more words and I got it done!

The speech making itself was pretty exciting... all the girls laughed at my jokes (mostly) and asked me a bunch of questions afterwards. I even got a few hat orders!

I was excited.

I don't anticipate having to give any more speeches any time soon, if I did, I don't think I'd mind too much.

It was kind of fun!

I posted my speech below (you'll have to click the 'read more' button) if you want to read it... It's pretty long, so you probably don't, but just in case... here it is!

Hey Noah... Can I Borrow Your Ark?

via

It's been raining allll day. Like biblical, never ending, pouring, flooding rain. It's the kind of rain that even ducks and fish dread.

Today on my way home I drove through the hardest most opaque rain storm I've ever experienced. There were times when I literally could not see out my windshield, despite the fact that my wipers were going at about 70 miles per hour and my car was only going 5. It was scary...

I definitely should have just pulled my car over to the side of the road and just danced in the rain.

They're So Adorable.

I came home from work the other day to this absolutely adorable sight. My papa and Frisk taking a mid-afternoon cat nap. I just about died from the cuteness.

(Sorry the picture is a tad blurry and not quite properly exposed... I didn't want to risk waking them up by using the flash.)

The Grass Is Always Greener...

In the Spring!

Despite the wacky weather we've been having lately (it was 80 on Monday and in the low 50s yesterday) it's finally starting to feel like spring!

The flowers are blooming and the trees are starting to leaf out, the world is starting to get beautiful again.

Today I got my first whiff of freshly mown grass. I love that smell more than anything....

except maybe Christmas trees

God's Gift to Breakfast

Remember that time about a month and a half ago that I was having a horrible day, which was made slightly better by the arrival of a certain issue of Cooking with Paula Deen that I had been struggling to get a copy of for about 3 months? Well if you don't, that's fine because it certainly wasn't one of my finer moments.

Anyhow, yesterday one of the ladies in my office brought in some banana mini-muffins that she had made using one of the quick bread recipes in that issue. They were amazing. Like beyond amazing.

So, naturally I had to make some too.

Best. Breakfast. Ever.

Banana Bread (Muffins)
Makes 1 loaf or 18 normal sized muffins or 60 mini-muffins

---

1 cup whole-wheat flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup butter, melted
2 eggs, lightly beaten
4-5 mashed ripe bananas
1/2 cup vanilla yogurt
1 tsp vanilla extract


1. Preheat oven to 350
2. In a large bowl, combine flours, sugar, baking soda, and salt.
3. In another large bowl, combine butter, eggs, bananas, yogurt, and vanilla. Whisk until smooth.
4. Combine flour and banana mixture and mix thoroughly.
5. Use a large spoon to scoop into muffin cups or pour into a buttered 9x5-inch baking pan.
6. Bake muffins for 25 minutes or bake loaf for 50 minutes. (you're on your own if you make the mini-muffins, I have no idea how long you'd cook those)


To make even yummier, add a bunch of chocolate chips!