EEWWW — and no, not exactly….

I had never heard the expression “Eat the Frog” until a few weeks ago. It was advice offered to me when I was somewhat emotionally paralyzed by looking at the numbers coming out of Italy, knowing they were coming here, and my inability to “find Waldo” (and I’ll circle back to that, it’s not what you think….)

The idea is that a frog is slimy and yucky and you don’t want to eat a frog. But if you eat a frog, everything else is easy. Therefore, find YOUR “frog” and the rest of the day will be easy. So — today, when you read this, do ONE THING that you don’t want to do. Maybe fill out the Census, or find your forms for filing taxes, or clean your toilet, or tackle that piece from your work project that you’ve been putting off. Just ONE THING.

If you do this, your day starts out successful. Here are two of MY frogs that I’ve done over the past week (and I’ve been “in” a lot longer than you….):

• Washed out the coffee maker with vinegar — this is a process as you’ve got to run the vinegar, and then water, water, water, until everything is free of the vinegar smell — I also took the parts out and cleaned them too.
• Cleaned the living room by actually moving the furniture and vacuuming under the sofa and chairs, then I did all the baseboards.
• Today, I am going to make a phone call I don’t want to make…

Of course, your mileage will vary — I’m a TERRIBLE housekeeper, and live by the sign in my kitchen “I can’t clean house and save the world at the same time.” But I’m not out saving the world, since I’m here…you get it!

And as for “Finding Waldo” — on 20 January, the first US coronavirus patient was diagnosed and hospitalized in Everett, Washington. I tracked him and his treatment protocol. He recovered. And then he fell off the stats. I kept wondering what had happened to him, and what, if any, relationship existed between him and the outbreak in the Washington nursing homes. I looked for information every day, and yesterday, I found the answers (in a Chinese publication, go figure.)

So that’s today’s tip — tomorrow, I’m going to cover a form of face palming you’ve never heard of before.

Now — go wash your hands, love your people, and stay safe and home — and THANK YOU to the medical personnel, the people at the markets and drugstores, and the other essential people out there putting themselves in harm’s way so the rest of us can be safe.