Off The Mark: Sick Fest 2018

By Mark Mathis

​Like many others in the area I think I’m finally hitting the off ramp from Sick Fest 2018.  It was a long week, but what a great time!  

I think it started one glorious day in Elementary School when I got sick and had to stay home.  By the time the Price is Right’s Bob Barker had reached that celebrated spinning wheel I came to the realization that there were worse things in life than being sick.  Toss in perfect spin and a showcase win and the deal was sealed.  Pure daytime TV magic.  

As an adult I’ve had the good fortune of being healthy.  So healthy that I generally skip flu shots with the hope of getting sick every couple years or so.  I guess great luck visited my doorstep recently when my daughter got the flu.  

I got ill too.  I was functional enough to make some great homemade chicken noodle soup, clean the house, and take the dog around the woods. I managed to sleep what appeared to be random hours.  Nothing like an afternoon nap that lasts 4 hours.
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I’m a “collector," squirreling away items on my DVR with the hopes of someday watching them. The same for my email inbox.  And my book collection.  And the recipes I need to try.  Sick Fest 2018 beckoned for some progress on these fronts.  

So I cleared my calendar and went to work on stuff of very little importance.  I started out with the high-brow stuff.  I watched “Sully," “42," and “To Joey with Love.”  (The latter was the most inspirational story of faith, love, and loss I’ve ever seen.)  

I digressed to nearly a half season of season of WWE’s Total Divas, Amy Poehler’s Spring Breakdown, Rocky IV, some episodes of the Family Feud, and talking heads discussing the State of the Union. By this point I knew I needed to get better quickly.   
I felt a bit like Rocky at the end of one of those training scenes — letting out a big guttural yell when I had to move across the room and grab the remote.  But I overcame.  I started working on things of greater importance than my DVR.

I’m proud to say my multi-year streak of 10,000+ steps daily survived intact, even if my workout streak took a beating.  I’ve got the official “not contagious” blessing and have headed back into the real world.  
Right after wiping every surface down in the house 3x.  

I’m not sure the flu this year was quite as fun as that magical two days when I was a kid.    Next year I’m getting a flu shot and planning the weekend of January 11-13 as Health Fest 2019… a very special time to do all kinds of “sick stuff” while healthy.    

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