Cases worldwide sit at 2,323,759, with cases in the U.S. at 736,052. Deaths worldwide are close to 160,000 with U.S. deaths at about 39,000.  Even though those numbers are giant, it seems like things in the US are starting to level off. New York, which unsurprisingly is our epicenter, saw the fewest daily deaths yesterday since April 1st. There’s discussion about lifting some of the bans and re-opening some businesses in the next couple of weeks.

Now inevitably, as people do in our world today, there’s debate about who’s to blame and disagreement about whether all the closed schools, closed businesses and social distancing were really necessary. Unemployment is going crazy and businesses all over the world are losing money hand over fist. I dunno. The flu kills more people than this every year (like 300,000). But here’s the thing, we’re going to have 300,000 deaths from COVID19 EVEN WITH ALL of these extra measures. I’m not sure how anyone can look at what’s happened in New York and think that these measures weren’t necessary. And make no mistake, all the numbers of cases and deaths are all WAY less than reality because there aren’t enough tests, and there are a lot of people that are asymptomatic or with mild symptoms that are never tested. So, life goes on.

When the world does start up again, I expect it will be a very odd place. Americans walking around wearing masks, baseball games with no fans in the stands and more of us working from home. (Hopefully that last part includes us. Working at home is awesome!) I have been working out every day. I am paying particular attention to my arms. I would love to have strong-looking, toned arms. I’m working on it. I’ve lost another few pounds and am six pound away from my new goal weight.

Today S & I jogged. We came home and he cut the grass. (Our grass is like a lush carpet of thick green you would expect to see in Ireland. The envy of the neighborhood. Ha!) Next, I gave S his second “quarantine haircut”. I did pretty well if I do say so myself. For lunch we had turkey with roasted veggies and mashed cauliflower. So good! I wish I’d have taken a photo.

In other news, I DID NOT win the 2020 HGTV Dream Home. Very depressing! Ah well, maybe next year. One thing I cannot wait for is to be able to go to a garden center. It’s almost flower-planting time!

Alright! You should now consider yourself officially up-to-date with all that’s going on in the “Almost Country”. XOXO