aprilp_katje should take note because we're probably in for something that looks a lot like one of her "Meet the Yammmersons" strips. Of course, Lynn doesn't intend it thus; she WANTS us to sympathize with Poor Put-upon Elly as she struggles with her 'impossible' children.
I'm close; what we've got is John telling us how incredibly boring Elly's life is.
Panel 1: It's late at night on what's probably the Sunday evening before John goes back to work and boasts about his vacation to Jean; as she gets ready for bed, Elly tells the back of John's head "So I went through all the stuff in the crawl space today and gave most of it to the church."
Panel 2: As she plucks her eyebrows, she tells him that the bake and bargain sale is next week and that they're hoping to raise enough money to fix the stairs.
Panel 3: She next foreshadows Annie's pregnancy by saying that she saw Anne at the mall and she looked a bit pale; she hopes she isn't coming down with something.
Panel 4: Since it's just hit her that John hasn't even murmured a response to her torrent of consciousness, she asks him if he's asleep; he says "Almost."
Panel 5: She then frowns in despair as he tells her to keep talking.
Summary: Isn't it odd how these people say that they communicate when it's clear that having to hear about the other person's life is sooooo boooooooring? My guess is that if John tried to describe his day, Elly would soon find an excuse to change the subject; I also guess that we'd be expected to sympathize with her. John? Not so much.