Sunday, May 23, 2010

Day 2 AD - Ab Ripper X

If you haven't seen it in a while, you have to check my healthometer.  I had a spike today that made me do a double take when I was on the scale.  from 172 to 181 in one day??? Is that possible.  Most certainly there is something mechanically wrong with my scale.  I'll have to have it calibrated tomorrow.  Must have been all of that salad that I ate yesterday.

Saturday, May 22, 2010

Day 1 AD - Oh How the Mighty Have Fallen

My plans of not going overboard, went overboard thanks to Rob and Monika's family birthday party for their daughter Amanda.  It was a food fest and the desserts just kept coming.  This came AFTER the personal delivery of an entire box of chocolate covered strawberries from Pat (Thanks again for that Pat!) in the afternoon.  I completely gorged myself on chocolate covered strawberries - I just couldn't contain myself.  Then at the party, well, I couldn't be rude. . . with all of those homemade desserts.  It's going to be VERY interesting how my body reacts to this in the morning.

Friday, May 21, 2010

Day 40 - The Grand Finale

Here we are - at the finish line.  40 days.  I did it!  I know, I know - you're all soooo proud of me aren't you?  Well, I don't know who has really been following this (except Jen - so loyal and devoted! Thanks Jen) but for all you naysayers out there I just want to tell you that IT CAN BE DONE.  And it's not as difficult as you might think.  Here's a little recap of the challenge, a post on today and my plan for what is to come.

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Day 39 - Blue Crab Feast

Ok - so I ruined the surprise with the title.  And YES - tonight was a celebration of the first haul of Blue Crabs this season!  It couldn't have come at a better time.  Variety is the spice of life and my spice tonight was blue crab.  It was so good and so sweet and I added a little drawn butter to kick it up to the next level.  With fresh crabs you don't even need that because they are so tasty by themselves - Mmmm, so good. Day 39 was awesome!  But it didn't start out that way. . .

Day 38 - The V Brick

I was very moody and stressed today.  Mostly because of other things going on with work and banks and mortgages and slow ass computers and speeding tickets and lawyers and broken windshields and rental cars and auto body repairs - blah, blah, blah, blah blah!  You throw hunger on top of all that and you have the perfect recipe for moody and stress.  Man I could go for a peanut butter cup.

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Day 37 - Stupid, Jerky

I can tell that my mind is starting to fall out of survival mode.  There is light at the end of the tunnel and with three days left I am not being as prepared as I should for the finish.  For example, today is my long day at work and I have a lunch break in the middle of the day.  I NEED to plan ahead for Tuesdays and prepare some type of lunch or snack or meal for after work.  I totally spaced out and forgot to do that today.

Monday, May 17, 2010

Day 36 - Amazing Surf Fishing - M.B.

Not so much a Survivor report - but a great fishing report.

I was moping around today wondering what to do.  I knew I should go to the beach to check it out but I was just procrastinating.  I fished all day yesterday and felt like I wasted so much time.  And I didn't feel like suiting up in all of my gear for spearfishing.  I checked the beach-cam and it looked so beautiful - should I stay or should I go?  Well, I think I made the right choice.

The water was flat calm at the Monmouth Beach surf today at 1:00 pm.  Except for the fact that it was BOILING as far as the eye could see with HUMONGOUS fish.

Sunday, May 16, 2010

Day 35 - A Day Out With Dad

If you haven't checked back yet, the MEGABURGER post is updated - I think it's kind of funny so check it out and let me know what you think.

The weather report was a little off for today but Dad and I had planned to go out fishing so we did.  It was a long and arduous boat ride to the Shrewsbury Rocks from my house.  Took about 2 hours - remember I was complaining a while back that I can drive to the beach and jump in the water in this same location in 10 minutes??? Well, I should have done that instead.  It was really great being out in the open air with Dad but we didn't have much luck with the big bass like I had hoped.  It was too chilly to jump in the water to try any spearfishing.  We got a couple nice reads on the fishfinder but no bites.

Saturday, May 15, 2010

Day 34 - Relaxing Saturday

I have been living off megaburger for the past 2 days.  I haven't really felt hungry after eating that whole thing.  Maybe that's my body's way of regulating itself.  I've only been picking here and there on some rice and a handful of beans every so often.

Today I had to clean those two big fish that were sitting on ice.

Day 33 - The Bass Get Bigger

The weekend weather outlook is good for fishing and outdoors.  Finally.  I worked most of the day and was done around 2 so I decided to check out the Monmouth Beach Surf Cam online.  I use this frequently to see how calm or rough the ocean is.  The wind was minimal and the waves were small so I started making plans to do some fishing.  Next I checked the tide chart to see what I would be dealing with.  It was dead low tide.  Not good for surf fishing.

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Day 32 - MEGABURGER!

As you may or may not know, my reward for surviving past week 4 is a big juicy hamburger with the works.  I've been thinking about this since Monday - trying to figure out the best place to go for my "best burger ever!"  I've had some really good ones close by - Ichabods, Zacharys, Barnacle Bills, The Pour House, Where's the Beef, Mudville Pub, KJ's, etc.  All top notch by burger standards.  But how was I going to top them all?  Hmmm, where to go indeed?  And then it hit me. . .

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Day 31 - I got a little headache today - Yuck!

While I was at work one of my co-workers spilled a bottle of monomer on the floor.  For those who don't know what that is, it's a liquid that we mix with powder to make hard acrylic.  It is very caustic and I am very sensitive to the odor - which permeates the entire office when it is spilled.

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Day 30 - Wow! 30 days so far.

I am 75% done with this challenge.  It actually goes pretty fast once you get into a groove.  I have to admit, the fantastic striped bass season (so far) has been a HUGE help.  I have not felt hungry yet.  Many times it is not hunger but just the desire for something different or sweet or savory that is difficult for me.

Monday, May 10, 2010

Day 29 - Just another manic Monday

I think I'm starting to grow gills and fins.  Fish fish fish fish fish.  That's all I eat.  And some rice and an occasional handful of beans.  It's time to go picking some dandelion greens again too.  I am having trouble finding the violet greens, which I like MUCH better, because I've eaten all of the flowers in the yard and I can't find the greens very easily without the flowers.  Funny huh. 

Sunday, May 9, 2010

Day 28 - Feeling ill?

Nope.  I slept well, woke easy and didn't gain a pound (see healthometer).  The weather was total crap today - cold and windy.  I spent a while cleaning the bass I shot on Friday.  They were sitting nicely in an icy cooler and cleaned up quite well - sashimi style. 

Saturday, May 8, 2010

Day 27 - Special Occasion Reward Day

Today was Carly's communion and we were also planning to go to the Trump Country Club for a brunch celebration afterward.  As per my rules, I traded in my week 3 reward for this special occasion reward and put the challenge on hold this afternoon.  I indulged my sweet tooth and caught up on some much missed greens and veggies.  All in all I did a pretty good job at not going over the top crazy - I think.

Friday, May 7, 2010

Day 26 - A Successful Hunt!



The hunter in me came out today and I was on the prowl.  Fortunately for me, I was successful.  Unfortunately, it was still fish that I was hunting - rather than the turkey, goose or rabbit that I have been thinking about lately.  I dusted off my wetsuit this afternoon and got all of my gear ready for spearfishing.  It's been a couple of years since I have tried this (unsuccessfully) in New Jersey so I really wasn't too optimistic.  However, with all of the striped bass activity lately off the beach, I thought it was worth a try.  My hunch paid off.

Thursday, May 6, 2010

Day 25 - More boring crap

I need to liven this challenge up a bit.  I wouldn't read it if I were you.  Early start to today.  I didn't have the desire to cook at 5:30 am so I just stuffed a bunch of pre-cooked beans and rice in a lunch container and brought it to work.  I sprinkled a little salt on it for flavor.  Man - that salt is lasting a long time - that was a great idea to make the salt the first week.  I use a tiny bit on almost everything.

I paid the price from lack of preparation at work today because all I had was. . .

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Day 24 - What to do when the Challenge is over?

Sorry to be a boring blogger but when you're at work from the early morning until 6 pm, then go to photography class from 7 to 9, there's not much to report.  As much as everyone likes to hear about other people getting root canals, I'm not going to go there (yet).

I was smart this morning - cooked up a nice bass fillet with some salt, pepper, rice.  Added some smoked bass and packaged it up to take to work.  I snacked on it a little on the car ride,

Day 23 - Reflection

Nothing significant to report today.  Fish, rice, fish, rice, some greens here and there, some wild garlic and onions.  Bad breath.  And an occasional sweet treat of frozen pineapple.  I do have some observations that I have been meaning to write about.  It's just been so busy lately with the past few reports and photos that I haven't shared some other insightful things that I have discovered during this experience.  I think you may find it interesting. . .

Monday, May 3, 2010

Day 22 - Lucky Mr Turkey

I dropped off the kids at school today and in addition to the normal resident geese that I usually see on the school grounds, there was a wild turkey.  The kids were very excited and wanted me to just go out and "get that turkey."  I told them that turkeys don't want to be gotten and it wouldn't be as easy as inviting him over for dinner.  Turkeys are really fast!  Ty wanted me to go right back home and get the wrist rocket and some marbles and take some shots at this bird.  I have to be honest, I really wanted to do the same thing.  A wild turkey would make a fantastic meal and is just the variety I have been searching for.

Sunday, May 2, 2010

Day 21 - Marathon Day

Don't misunderstand, this was not a marathon day for the Survivor Challenge - it was the actual NJ Marathon and the route was planned to go right past our front lawn.  What a neat experience.  Thousands of runners went by from 9 am until 1pm.  It was a hot 85 degree day and these people were sweating.  We moved our sprinkler to the front lawn and pointed it into the street so the runners could go by and get a quick sprinkle of water.  They were really appreciative and overall they were very nice people. 

Saturday, May 1, 2010

Day 20 - Half way home!

Here we are at the halfway point - Day 20 - and still going strong!  In a couple days I will have completed my third week and the reward for week three is some fruit (a pineapple, orange and lemon).  Debbie picked them up at Whole Foods today so that the pineapple would be ripe (hopefully) by Monday.  This fruit is going to taste really good - especially the sweetness of the pineapple.  I skipped my last weekly challenge reward because I am going to trade it for an upcoming special occasion reward. 

Day 19 - Great day for fishing!

I had asked several people to go fishing with me this morning - you know who you are!  And ALL of them bailed out at the last minute or came up with some type of excuse - work, weather, doctors apt, communion preparation, etc.  It was almost enough to make me not go.  But all I can say right now is YOU ALL MISSED OUT.