I've got some interesting news to share this month: starting this September, I'm only going to work one day a week. Unlike Elly, who simply quit, I'm going to take my retirment a bit more gradually. Granted, some things may take longer to do and other things may not get done because of the money but I think we have enough to live on fairly decently as long as we're really careful. Despite what Elly would have you believe, I'm not Johnny Spendthrift. We can cover the costs of April's undergrad years quite nicely but post-grad is her look-out. We don't want her to feel entitled or anything. I got enough of that noise from Mike and Liz, thanks loads, and I do not need it from her. This brings me to a confusing incident at the beginning of the month. There I was, waiting for dinner when Elly came down bellowing about how she was through with motherhood. Acording to her, April stood there giving her all sorts of lip about her cooking. I put a stop to that nonsense and got her to apologzie. I felt confident I'd done the right thing until Ted pointed out that Elly was the one who'd had me convinced it was just April's hormones and entitlement that made her act all upset last year. I had to find out from Elly last August she was feeling left out and abandoned. Teddy Boy made a snide remark about how Elly, who he uncharmingly calls "The Martyrdom Junkie", probably amplified and distorted the testy politeness he calls April's hallmark into something far worse than it was. I hope he's wrong. I don't want to be the tool of a hysteric again. Unfortunately, he has a track record of being right. He was even right even about the "Fiona" incident. Y'see, Jean actually thought I was having an affair with Fiona Brass. Who knew? Anyway, Elly's on edge because Deanna is taking Merrie and Robin to therapy. According to her, talking about the fire and fixing Robin's speech impedient is spoiling them or something. Dee's sort of on the outs with her but she makes such a good case for talking about things it makes you almost wonder if Elly is scared of what she'd discover about herself if she went. Heck, even Mira makes the talking cure sound like a good idea. Anyway, I've got to get going. HO track waits for no man.
Yours,
John.