Out with the Cold, In with the Flu - Sunday, January 7, 2018

2018 has not been kind to Bob. First, we had four days when the temperature did not go above freezing. I had a very mild cold with only a runny nose and cough, but no sore throat. It was gone within a couple of days leaving only a cough behind for the past week. 

Bob, on the other hand, came down with a fever, achy muscles, and a severe headache on Dec. 30. A number of people at his work had the flu, and he contracted it as well. He was very miserable. 

We had both planned to do two Volksmarches in Fredericksburg, Texas, but he was in no shape to go walk in sub-freezing conditions. He stayed home to take care of himself and to avoid infecting other people.

Last Wednesday, Bob had an appointment for outpatient surgery and had a good-sized chunk of skin cancer taken out of his back. On Thursday, he saw his dermatologist and had maintenance freezing of skin cancer done to a number of spots. And Friday, he had a routine colonoscopy. All this while he was definitely still under the weather. (All of these appointments had been made months ago.) Poor guy.

For the past eight days, he has done minimal work at the office. He did go in to pick up his work computer so he could work from home. The flu has really kicked his butt. Today is the best he's felt since Dec. 30. It's not like him to be sick.

Because of the New Year holiday and an extra paid day off by Sun Communities, I worked two days last week and got paid for four. Very nice! Thank you,  Sun Communities!

On January 2, my friend Susan and I went to see "The Greatest Showman." Both of us loved it. The movie tells the story of P.T. Barnum's early career and how he came to organize his circus. This movie is definitely a musical. Almost the whole movie is singing. A lot of the music was composed by the musicians who created music for "La La Land." I particularly enjoyed the parts of the movie that dealt with his love for his wife and girls. He took a few missteps along the way but generally did right by the people who were in his show.

After the movie, we went to Susan's house to work on a 1,000 piece jigsaw puzzle of vintage posters. That was a fun puzzle! She got that one, and some others, from Half-price Books.

Vintage Posters - a 1,000 piece
Eurographics© jigsaw puzzle

After working two days, I drove Bob to his colonoscopy appointment on Friday, January 5, and waited for him in the waiting room. All went well. They found two small polyps that the doctor sent off for biopsy. The doc thought they looked benign. 

On Saturday morning, January 6, I was up bright and early to volunteer from 8-10 a.m. at the first checkpoint on the Alamo Quarry walk (6k and 10k walks available). Two walks were scheduled and my checkpoint was not the well-attended one. I had about 16 people come by my checkpoint before 10 a.m., with a total of only 35 on that walk for the day. 

A second walk started from the same place (Corner Bakery at Quarry Marketplace) which over 100 people did--it was the walk that went to Barney Smith's Toilet Seat Museum and Olmos Basin Park. My friend Susan volunteered at that checkpoint and they were busy all morning.

When our volunteer shifts were over, Susan and I met at Corner Bakery to do the 10k Museum Walk. Unlike last year at this walk, when the temperatures were in the 20s with a wind chill making it even colder, today's temperature started out in the high 40s and moderated to mid-50s by early afternoon. It was cloudy and downright balmy after our sub-freezing temps around New Year's Day. (We did not have any rain. Always a plus.)

Walkers registering

Special thanks to our volunteers!

The walk started with a loop around some beautiful homes in Alamo Heights (Paddington Way/Haverhill Way), and then we headed through more beautiful neighborhoods on our way to Olmos Park. 

We then did a loop around the soccer/football/softball fields at Olmos Park Basin, then headed east toward Barney Smith's Toilet Seat Museum. The museum is unique and kitschy, but you've gotta love Barney Smith and all the work he has put into his collection (which he made). Volksmarchers have been walking to his museum for years, and every year we have signed our names to toilet seats. Barney is now 96 years old and in great spirits. He greets us each year. His wife passed away about four years ago.

Mardi Gras and Fiesta toilet seat art

Each year Volksmarchers sign the toilet seats.

Randolph Roadrunners 2013 toilet seat

Randolph Roadrunners 2018 toilet seat

Barney Smith and me in his museum

Barney was a plumber for many years. Below are the pieces of silverware he removed from sink traps.

Gray around the photo is ash from
Mt. St. Helens

State quarter collection

Below, Susan Medlin, our Regional Director, is talking to Barney Smith's neighbors about Volksmarching.

Volunteer Audrey - thank you!

From the Toilet Seat Museum, we walked back to Olmos Basin Park and finished our walk back to Corner Bakery. 

Bike path from Olmos Basin to Quarry Marketplace

Quarry Marketplace used to be an actual quarry

And here we are, back at our start point. After a 10k (6.2 mile) walk, we are ready to eat. The Corner Bakery has wonderful food. We enjoyed our lunch very much. 

After lunch, we went to Susan's house to start a new jigsaw puzzle. It was a wonderful day, but we missed Bob!

Today, January 7, Susan and I did a 10k walk at Leon Creek from Bandera Rd. to Culebra Road. After our walk, we headed to Simi Indian Restaurant for their Sunday buffet. They opened at 11:0 a.m. It was so good. 

We had to hurry and eat because we were heading to Wonderland Mall's Santikos Bijou Theater to see "The Shape of Water." I have to admit this movie was not my cup of tea. It's a sci-fi love story that takes place in 1962. A merman is in custody at a top-secret government facility. Two housekeepers at the facility find him and want to get him away. To me, this movie had way too much gruesome violence. It had a nice love story, but that's not enough to save the movie. 

The rest of the day, I took it easy. Bob is feeling better today. I hope he continues to improve because this flu has not been easy on him. 

That's all for this week. Enjoy 2018!