Another Week in Georgia Gone By...

The big bass I caught.  Boyfriend battered and fried it gluten free. num num

Weekend:
It was a small showing for the drawing class I teach at Hobby Lobby but my Marine finally had a Saturday off so he took me to a late lunch at Uncle Maddio's where we both ordered personal custom gluten free pizzas.  Later we got fro-yo at  Yogli Mogli where they have the allergens listed right on the flavor signs (I like salted caramel, peanut butter and mint- I prefer the milk-based yogurts, but, like many celiacs, I do need to chew up a Lactaid tablet with my first bite) and well-contained toppings (gluten free include Butterfinger crumbles, M&Ms, whipped cream, sauces, and fruit).
Sunday, I caught a BIG FISH!
When you're with a military man, there are strict grooming standards by which he must abide.  This means he gets his hair cut (with a razor fade) every 6 or 7 days (thank goodness it's tax deductible).  Inevitably, his barber becomes a good buddy.  In our case, a fishing buddy.  We went fishing with the barber, aka "Uncle Steve" for the second time this weekend at Lake Lanier and it was chilly but fun.

The piranha electric fillet knife made easy work of the gutting.

Uncle Steve, a "good ol' Southern boy", and his buddy taught us how to "shoot" the rubber lure by pulling it toward our bellies (bending the pole dramatically toward us), and then letting go, like a SLINGSHOT so the bait would propel under the dock where the fish are gathered.  Uncle Steve is pretty serious about fishing.  The boat has GPS to locate schools of fish!
We each caught four smallish crappie and I got the big bass, over a foot long, 2.5 lbs.  Last time the barber and I caught several fish, while the Marine only got one.  Uncle Steve filleted the fish quickly with his new electric knife called the piranha.  I know bass aren't known for "good eatin'", but since Mama caught the biggest fish, it was up to Daddy to fry it up in the pan!   My bf was intimidated by the task at first, but he found a simple recipe on Allrecipes and battered all the fish in a mix of Pamela's Gluten Free Baking Mix , spices, and corn meal.  We rarely eat fried food, so it was extra tasty.  The bass was the most substantial and not a fishy flavor, beating out the crappie that had too many bones for the speedy eating boyfriend.

I'm wearing the Norwegian flag headband.  My Marine ordered it- the same one  Norwegians wore in the Winter Olympic Games.

Mandag (Monday):  I am learning more conversational sentences with my Norwegian instructor.  I can do future words and am using memrise.com to practice adding vocabulary.  Flott (wonderful)!
Did you know only Danish and Norwegian use the ø?  It sounds like "eu".  So the word bjørn (bear, the animal) sounds like be-yeurn' or be-yearn'.

Tirsdag:  After a couple weeks of putting it off, I got my Marine to do some planning (reserving the movers, choosing dates) for the pcs move to California.  This used to be achieved via an office appointment at a nearby military base.  It's our first time using the website move.mil and we did not have the very first item required on the form (ugh!), but worked through the rest of it.  After I lost patience about him not knowing anything about the mystery number, I politely emailed the Sergeant Major.  The next morning, voila!
It can be embarrassing for the Marine when a significant other emails the Sergeant Major, and he was not enthused about it.  But after waiting weeks for my Marine to find time to begin this process, I needed to make progress.  The email worked and afterwards the boyfriend said it did not actually bother him because the number was not on any paperwork he had been given, so he was not at fault.

Tasty, light textured carrot cake gluten free cupcake at Cupcakelicious in Woodstock, GA.

Onsdag:  Fourteen members of the HIKING group met at the Old Rope Park in Woodstock, GA,  and hiked 3.5 miles (in under 2 hours) and then went to lunch.  It was a lovely, breezy day and the company and conversation was fun.
The lunch was at J. Alexanders (a breakfast & lunch place) that has several locations around here.  I have never been there before, and there was no GLUTEN FREE menu.  Online gluten free searching did not help, so I ordered grits, bacon (after the waitress assuring me they don't soak it on bread to drain the grease), and fruit.  Afterward, I hopped across the street in the quaint dining district to Cupcakelicious and was lucky enough to find a carrot cake gluten free cupcake.  It was light in texture and flavor, although a bit heavy on frosting, a lovely snack.  The friendly,chatty guy at the counter explained they have one different gluten free flavor each day.
Tersdag (Literally Thor's Day.  I had a grandfather named Thor.  I'm SO Norwegian!!):
I was disappointed to discover I had overlooked an email delivered Sunday asking me to work as an "extra" on a VINCE VAUGHN MOVIE being shot here in Georgia.  They needed me Thursday and Friday, so it was too late at this point.  I guess my email inbox was too clogged and I hadn't seen it.  Not meant to be, but a note to self to clean the emails out better so the good ones are more visible.  I can sort it on my laptop, but not as easy to sort on the phone.

At the gym (I've been going 4 to 5 times per week, yay!), there was an obnoxious-sounding sub teacher for my "Flirty Girl" fitness dance class so I joined the swim class instead.  It was such a sunny and lovely day, the class was in the outside POOL this time.  If you think water class is easy, I have two words for you:  Water. Resistance.  G.I. JANE is what they call the move that is like a belly crawl across the top of the water from one side to the other that I hope tones as much as it feels like it should.  My instant reward was to relax at the pool while getting bronzed (and absorbing Vitamin D, since I've moved here the Dr. said I'm deficient!).

Fredag:  My second attempt at the über-challenging "FITNESS QUEST" class.  This time I made it through, but felt dizzy and headachy from all the up, down:  overhead press squats, then down for mountainclimbers, etc.  Not sure how often I'll do that one.
I plan on advertising my art class more in hopes for a bigger showing tomorrow.   The Dogwood (beautiful trees) festival is this weekend as well as a big field meet with 500 poolees (future Marines), running and flipping tractor tires, etc.  I also plan on enjoying my latest gluten free find:  Blue Bell All Natural Fruit Bars 70 calories and bits of real fruit in there.  Super yummy.   I'll bid you adieu with a crafty creative Easter favorite of mine.  Deviled eggs that look like chicks emerging from eggshells.
Enjoy your weekend!

Here are the deviled eggs I made one Easter.  Some of the whites are jagged like shells.  It's easier (and turns out less messy-looking) when you have time to chill the mixture before stuffing the egg shells.