it's been a pleasantly busy few days Chez Dragon, full of work and Arabic food and snuggle time. i skyped with J and helped her build her baby registry, rolled out hot stone massage at work, and last night i saw my hockey hero - in the flesh - coaching a boys' team AT THE RINK NOT A MILE FROM MY HOUSE!!!!!!!

*fangirl moment*

*ahem*

*it's not stalking if you don't take pictures and post them for the world to see*

it turns out that he also runs a hockey academy, including skills clinics, and there are unconfirmed reports that he can be booked for private lessons. so, i have a whole new reason for hitting the gym (and juggling, and getting back on the ice ASAP) - i absolutely need instruction on being the best goalie i can be, but i am not going to book time with my hero until i am back in top shape. he'll know my form needs work, but he won't doubt my physical conditioning, lol! to this end, i have done sit-ups and t-squats today, and will be going running after work. (i've never had a "Bucket List", per se, but if I did, training with my only sports idol ever would definitely be Item Number One!)

i slept in a little today, but am being fairly productive! in addition to the exercise, i've also fished my rogue juggling ball out from under the dresser and started laundry. oh, and i started batch #2 of homemade laundry detergent:

 this is one large bar of fels-naptha soap, cut into chunks and added to two cups of water. it'll sit for a few days (i've still got plenty of batch #1), and then get blended with hot water, borax, and washing soda. the recipe is here, and i heartily recommend trying it! the detergent works great, leaves clothes scent-free when dried, and doesn't irritate E's skin at all. plus, i get to use my thrifted immersion blender to make it, and it's pretty much impossible to not have fun when you're using an immersion blender. (good thing it's for clothes-washing, though, because i did end up wearing some of it.)

and this is the shark-in-progress:

 

 specifically, this is the nose-and-mouth end of the shark. i'm working from a pattern for a shark pouch with a zipper mouth...it had the look i was hoping for, but the mouth will be modified so that the shark can chomp things. don't ask me how, lol - i haven't made it that far, but i'm confident it will turn out just fine. 

ok, time to play with yarn and have some lunch - baked potatoes (ermagherd, berked perderders!!) with broccoli and cheddar cheese, nomnomnomnomnom!